Bill Knittle
Global Procurement Director – Refining and Marketing Segment, BP

William Knittle leads a global team that has the responsibilities to capture internal and external procurement capabilities (‘best practices’), and deploy them across a very diverse BP set of business models within the Manufacturing and Marketing operations. He has led strategic supply-chain management and technology integration initiatives in the energy, oil and gas, financial, and petrochemicals industries. He helps clients maximise the value of their operational strategies through supply-chain strategy development and deployment.

Over past 25 years Knittle has held a variety of senior planning and operations positions at Amoco and BP plc, and five years of external supply chain / procurement consulting. He also served on three different merger/acquisition integration teams, including the BP-Amoco merger and Arco acquisition team, to help determine the synergies for assimilating the new companies, and organisational delivery model. He has a led a number of global industry committees around supply chain and procurement best practices.

Knittle received a BS in industrial engineering and organisational behavior from Utah State University, and MBA in Global Business Development from Indiana University.

Jamie Anderson
Programme Director, London Business School

Jamie Anderson is a Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Innovation with the European School of Management and Technology, Berlin, and visiting lecturer with the Centre for Management Development, London Business School. Jamie’s current research interests focus on the link between technology adoption and competitive advantage.

His articles have appeared in publications such as Business Strategy Review, Finance Today and Financial Times. He has written case studies and articles on the e-procurement and strategic sourcing strategies of companies such as Unilever, Royal & Sun Alliance and British Airways.

Jamie has written a monthly column on technology-based innovation for The Times of London, and has also appeared as a strategy and technology commentator on the BBC's World Business Report and CNN.

David McCormick
President, Ariba Inc.

David McCormick is President and serves on the Board of Directors of Ariba, Inc., the global leader in Spend Management software and services solutions. In this role, he is responsible for working with the CEO and Chairman to set the vision and the strategy for the Company and overseeing all day-to-day software and service operations across 25 offices and over 1200 employees worldwide.

Prior to Ariba, Mr. McCormick served as President and CEO of FreeMarkets, Inc., a publicly-traded supply management software and services company. In 2004, Mr. McCormick led FreeMarkets through a strategic merger with Ariba, Inc. Before joining FreeMarkets, Mr. McCormick was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Prior to McKinsey, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division where he was a veteran of the first Persian Gulf War.

Mr. McCormick holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Ph.D. in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University.

Michele Lane
Global Implementation Manager - eSourcing, Commerzbank

Michele Lane leads the global implementation of Ariba Sourcing at Commerzbank. Jointly the e-enablement team and the Commerzbank Procurement Group focus on purchasing processes and identifying efficiencies to be gained through eSourcing. This use of technology enables Commerzbank to adapt quickly to meet the continually evolving needs of its clients throughout Europe and around the World.

Michele joined Commerzbank AG in July 2004. Previously she worked at JPMorgan on the implementation of Ariba Buyer, focusing on Change Management Initiatives, Training and promoting user acceptance.

Alf Noto
Vice President Operating Resource Sourcing, Nokia

Alf is Vice President of Operating Resource Sourcing (ORS) for Nokia reporting to the Nokia board and is responsible for all Nokia’s spend on indirect goods and services.

Alf’s career has focussed in Purchasing & supply chain related roles, starting with the Automotive industry in the 80’s with first Rover then Nissan, followed by senior leadership roles at Reckitt & Colman, SmithKline Beecham, CGU Insurance and TomorrowFirst.