Speakers

As a procurement specialist with more than twenty years of experience in multinational companies such as Ikea, Innogy, Makro and Amazon, he has held strategic leadership positions and gained procurement experience in all its complexity. He is a major promoter of e-procurement and other modern tools for efficient procurement, as well as maximum transparency in the tender process. He currently applies his experience as Procurement and Operations Manager at ESET.

Tom leads the procurement team in the Asahi Brewery Group, aiming to make a lasting contribution to the strategic development of Asahi Europe & International in terms of savings, innovation, risk management, and environmental sustainability through advanced category management, and close relationships with suppliers and internal customers.

Experienced procurement manager with more than 15 years of experience in various procurement positions, with experience in service, manufacturing and commercial sectors. He is currently Chief Procurement Officer at Penta Hospitals International, where he is responsible for procurement for 36 hospitals and a network of polyclinics in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland. He focuses on developing the strategic role of procurement, maximizing procurement synergies and digitizing procurement processes.

It may come as a bit of a surprise that the domain of Zdeněk Pytlíček, who has worked his way up from buyer to strategist, is all procurement activities that do not involve "buying". At GasNet, he is currently focusing on digitization, automation and robotization of procurement processes, implementation, and development of procurement systems, reporting and analysis, and procurement legislation. Example? In 2017, the first robotic procurement process was launched and now more than 92% of procurement transactions are carried out by machines, without the intervention of buyers.

Leona’s involvement in responsible public procurement has a long-term character. She was the director of the non-profit organization Nová ekonomika (New Economy), and since 2014 has been the Head of the Public Procurement Department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, where she also led the project "Socially Responsible Public Procurement." She sees the potential of public procurement in strategic procurement. Previously, she experienced, among other things, the Presidency of the Education Committee of the Council of the European Union. In addition, she works at the Ministry of Regional Development as a Director General of the Public Investments, Construction, and Social Inclusion Section.

He started in public procurement as part of his internship while studying law and this field immediately appealed to him, largely thanks to his great colleagues at the South Moravian Regional Authority, who taught him a great deal and who he is currently honoured to lead. He sees public procurement as an opportunity to contribute to the development of the environment which we inhabit from day to day, so he tries to approach it responsibly and with common sense, but at the same time so that the award process is not only the same merry-go-round of formalities, but it is able to satisfy our goals and priorities.

Jan has been gathering experience in international procurement and logistics since 1995. He has led procurement teams in smaller and larger companies such as Unipetrol, KUKA and BLANCO. He is involved in projects covering process management, mapping and analysis, process improvement, experience transfer, lecturing, translation, personal development training, and his own B2C project. In the latter, he combines his love of good beer and creative fulfillment in graphic design. He lives in a small village in the Ore Mountains and likes to walk with his partner and their dog. He plays bass and sings in a thrash metal band. Among other things, he also likes Pratchett's Earthsea, its characters and stories.

Over the last 16 years, he has experienced the procurement world from different perspectives, from a buyer and sourcing manager to a procurement solutions consultant and sales representative. As a Senior Sales Executive of Procurement Solutions at SAP, he helps Czech and Slovak's customers find optimal digital transformation methods in procurement, finance, and logistics. In addition, in the spirit of "versatility is the key to success," he enjoys studying foreign languages, beekeeping, and martial arts in his spare time.

Adéla is a lawyer specializing in public investment and public procurement law. Today, she is Of Counsel at HAVEL & PARTNERS, where until 2023, as a partner, she built a team specialized in the public sector (40 lawyers), which during her tenure won four awards in the Public Procurement Law Firm of the Year competition. Since January 2023, she has assisted the Ministry of Regional Development (MoRD) team in preparing the National Public Procurement Strategy following the Responsible Procurement Project (RPP) at the MoLSA. In addition, Adéla Havlová serves on the boards of professional associations (Association for Public Procurement - AVZ and Union of Administrators - UNIAVEZ) and is a member of the MMR Expert Group on Public Procurement Legislation. She is dedicated to developing best practices and innovations in public procurement, including computerization, circular economy, procurement practices and systems, quality assessment, etc. Since 2014, she has been a member of the Appeals Committee of the Office for the Protection of Competition. She draws on know-how from other EU Member States, particularly Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Slovakia. She regularly lectures and publishes in professional periodicals.

Rasto co-founded Cequence, a Slovak solution that uses the latest technologies (machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP) and integrates ChatGPT from Open Ai for modern contract management. He brings to the Cequence team 15 years of experience in leadership positions within contract management, process engineering, and digital innovation in procurement. He has negotiated contract terms for multinational companies in purchases worth more than 50 million Euros. His interest in technology has applied to continuous process improvement in procurement, contract management, team efficiency, and internal company collaboration. Today, his ideas and vision for smart contract management have translated into the Cequence solution, which helps clients save thousands of hours of work every day. When he's not thinking about the future of contract creation and negotiation, he's interested in street art and alternative art forms, planning his next trip to an exciting destination, or evaluating the quality of a local beer.

Jaroslav Lexa is an eternal optimist who has never lost faith in the possibility of procuring in Slovakia in a funny, engaging, economical, and compliant with the law. He writes contracts, objections, articles, and books and used to have a blog. As a public procurement trainer, he can shed light on where common sense is found in the law. He is a recognized public procurement expert, promoting innovative practices in this area, including social and environmental aspects. Moreover, he is a co-founder of the Slovak APUeN. He currently serves as Vice-Chairman of the Office for Public Procurement, to which he was appointed by the Government of the Slovak Republic in 2020.

Although she jokingly says her relationship with public tenders and eAuctions is like a marriage, it is simply a world that has become a great hobby for Alena Ševčíková, Head of Procurement and Public Tenders at Nové Město na Moravě Hospital. Although it sometimes brings joy and bitterness all at once, she believes that it’s always necessary to overcome obstacles and move on. However, as a woman who managed to save tens of millions of crowns in investment tenders, she well knows how to face the difficult challenges.

Jan Janek is a Director in the Consulting Department at Deloitte Austria and leads the Procurement Excellence team. He has 15 years of professional experience in strategic procurement and Procure-to-pay transformation. He is an expert in managing complex projects ranging from governance, change, and automation to digitalization. In addition, Jan focuses on optimizing the operating model using appropriate methodologies and tools.

Where chaos rules and there are no rules, order and systemization must one day prevail, otherwise we’d get nowhere. Michal Kristiňák, a lawyer with a wealth of professional experience in procurement and logistics, knows this as well as anybody. In recent years, he has overseen the development of procurement and legal teams at energy and gastronomy concerns, such as the Medusa Group, where digitisation and centralization of procurement contributed to significant savings. Currently, he works as Procurement Manager at Amazon Fulfilment Slovakia.

Procurement Officer, Commodity Purchaser and Procurement Manager: these are all positions that have been held by Hana Sušková during her career. She is currently the Procurement Director at AL INVEST Břidličná. She gained her experience in leading teams, implementing new systems, electronic procurement processes, and negotiating with industrial suppliers in companies such as Škoda Vagonka, OKD, OKK Coking Plants and Tatra Defence Vehicle.

He started to develop his experience in procurement at the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, where he focused mainly on commercial products and information technologies. He currently works at the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic as Director of the Department of Public Procurement. He has successfully implemented sales of surplus state property through electronic auctions, he is a specialist in Dynamic Purchasing Systems and participated in the creation of mithe FLASHBONE system, which he used at the Ministry of Health for the purchase of respirators in the critical period around the COVID-19 pandemic and at the State Material Reserves Administration for the purchase of PPE. As a lecturer and trainer, he regularly participates in various training courses on public procurement and holds a certificate for technical preparation and administration of eAuctions and Tendering.

Peter has been the Chairman of the Public Procurement Office since 2022. He started his career at the Public Procurement Office, working his way up from clerk to Director of the Legislative and Legal Department between 2005 and 2012. This was followed by experience managing the public procurement team at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, City of Trnava. He has been a lecturer in public procurement for many years and is a specialist in the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union. His goal as the Office of Public Procurement Chairman is to make the concept of public procurement a simple, efficient, and transparent process that will benefit the public.

From his position as Head of Global Commodity Management at the multinational concern Siemens Energy, he oversees the strategic development and implementation of sourcing processes. His responsibilities include production plants for industrial steam turbines, industrial generators and gas engines worldwide. He is a respected expert in the field of centralized procurement and project management in the implementation of new procurement tools and procedures. He has also utilised his experience in other procurement teams, such as the RWE energy group.

You’ll undoubtedly come across him wherever there are events supporting and providing education on the digitisation of public procurement and the use of eAuctions for evaluating bids. Jan Zahálka is a legal expert specializing in healthcare and at the top of his agenda are healthcare funding and issues surrounding medical equipment. In the context of providing advice to legislators he has managed to design and enforce a "small user amendment" to the law on public procurement.

Kateřina Koláčková is dedicated to her mission, which is to provide highly active support to contracting authorities and to simplify and accelerate public procurement 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. She certainly has ways to inspire others in public procurement, whether through her experience implementing various contracts across sectors or different forms of evaluating bids. Since 2004, she has been actively involved in public procurement from the perspective of contracting authorities. As a result, she has implemented tenders in the tens of billions.

He studied law at the University of Westminster in London and the University of Trnava. Since 2012, when he finished his legal practice in London, he has been practicing law in Slovakia as a partner and founder of Grand Oak Legal. He focuses on public procurement law, European Union law, competition law, personality protection, company law, and state aid. He also teaches at the Faculty of Law of the University of Trnava the subjects of public procurement law, state aid, and common law basics. Furthermore, he regularly contributes to several professional journals on public procurement law. In addition, he lectures at seminars focused on the same law, Euro funds, and personal data protection.

As Head of Public Procurement at the Slovak Ministry of the Culture, Daša Paláková says that if you stuck a pin in the map at the workplace of all of her staff who needed to buy something, then you’d end up with a hedgehog in the shape of the Slovak Republic. It follows from this that her expertise must be just as abundant. She has been working in public procurement since 2006 and, among other things, was involved in the successful implementation of the Electronic Contract System.

In public procurement one must really know the law inside-out, says Miroslav Knob, who first put his legal education to use at the Office for the Protection of Competition for five years. He was involved in public procurement as an analyst and later as head of one of the departments responsible for its control. Since 2018 he has been working at OTIDEA as an administrator of public contracts, which he considers to be a superb field with the opportunity to be creative and to get concrete results along with others.

His impressive career within Procurement has included several expert and managerial positions. Before the transformation of Procurement in the MOL Group, he served as Director of Procurement at Slovnafta and currently manages the strategic team responsible for Category Management of materials, equipment, and maintenance services at the MOL Group. He is a SEED/Corvinus Executive MBA graduate and the CIPS Practitioner one-year course. In his spare time, he likes having fun.

Marketing specialist, consultant and head of the PROEBIZ project, Milan Kaplan has frequently shared his experience at conferences in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. In the 1990s he founded NAR which specialized in marketing for industrial concerns. Subsequently, he began to develop and put into practice eBusiness technologies, such as using eAuctions for supplier selection and the digitisation of the procurement process. The PROEBIZ project is now the most widespread eAuction platform and a source of know-how throughout Central Europe.

Michal studied Procurement and Logistics at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. After his studies, he returned to the Czech Republic where he started working in procurement and he has been gaining practical experience and a general overview of procurement and logistics in multinational companies. In 2017 he became interested in digitalization, automation, and robotization of processes. At that time, he worked at Innogy, where he was involved in the development of automation and robotics in the procurement department and later across other departments in the company. He currently works as a Senior RPA consultant at NEOOPS. He is behind developing dozens of robotic processes in various companies.

He graduated from the University of Economics in Bratislava, majoring in Finance, Banking, and Investment. After school, he started working as a consultant, becoming an expert in procurement transformation, implementation of Strategic Sourcing methodology, and Strategic Procurement. He has managed significant materials, services, and investment purchases for prominent Slovak and European companies as a consultant and in-house. For the last five years, he has been working again as a consultant, helping major global companies to find room for savings even during peak inflation. He aims to maximize the use of analytics and data to maximize win-win partnerships with suppliers.

Martin has extensive experience in supply chain management, procurement, strategic and operational purchasing, logistics, replenishment, planning, forecasting, S&OP, distribution systems management, and general operations in retail, wholesale, distribution, manufacturing, and co-production.

Since graduating from law school, she has been involved in public procurement, gaining experience as a Representative of the Controlling Body of EU funds and as a contracting authority. At that time, she was the Director of the Pilsen Region Public Procurement Department, which administers public procurement for 115 contributory organizations. In 2022 alone, her team saved the regional government more than CZK 400 million. She promotes modern and innovative ways of public procurement and the digitalization of public administration. In her spare time, she enjoys diving, sports, and traveling.

In the past, I participated in creating the Customer Centre for Veolia Energy Group, which I also managed for over ten years. In 2019 the opportunity came along, and I was offered to become part of the Central Procurement Team. As I was looking for a change, I accepted the challenge. Currently, it has been my fourth year as Head of Materials and Operational Procurement at Veolia Energy CR and Procurement/ Commodity Manager of its subsidiary Solutions and Services.

Ondrej is a counsel at HAVEL & PARTNERS and focuses on advising the public sector, commercial relations, and contract law. In addition, Ondrej advises on complex ICT, innovation, transport, energy, insurance, and infrastructure construction projects. Ondrej also focuses on rail and passenger road transport regulation and often supports foreign clients in implementing their projects in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, he is the author of many professional articles, co-author of the MMR methodologies in the field of VR, and an active participant in professional groups and conferences.

Jozef is the Head of Public Procurement at the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. He is actively working to increase procurement innovation, professionalization, and centralization of public procurement. To strengthen the role of public procurement in the security sector, he joined the European Commission's Expert Group on European Research and Innovation in Security (CERIS). In addition, he leads the working group "Suppliers and Innovators" within the Horizon 2020-funded iProcureNet project. The project focuses on methodologies to conduct joint cross-border procurement and steps to make procurement a catalyst for innovation in the security sector. He studied law at Palacký University in Olomouc and public procurement management at Tor Vergata University in Rome.

Since 2004 she has been involved in procurement in international concerns. She has held various positions in procurement. She is intensively involved in the streamlining of procurement processes using modern IT technologies and the development of procurement competencies in the areas of strategic procurement. She also works as a mentor in Business & Professional Woman CR z.s. Currently, she holds the position of Head of Procurement at GasNet, s.r.o., which operates the most extensive gas distribution system in the Czech Republic.

Lubomír graduated from the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava. After ten years in commercial and civil law, he moved into the dramatic environment of public procurement and deals with public procurement. He is currently the Director of the Public Procurement Department of the Economics Section at the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic. In his spare time, he puts up a fight against the nonsense around us.

He has been involved in public procurement for over ten years, working through academia and the private sector to anchor public administration at the Office of the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region. Here, as Head of the Public Procurement Department, he set up the processes related to public procurement from scratch and fully streamlined them. In addition to public procurement, he is involved in the investment process as Director of the Public Procurement and Investment Department.

Director of the Public Procurement Department II at the Office for the Protection of Competition. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at Charles University, he worked for almost ten years at the Prague 2 Municipal Office, where he was involved in public procurement; in 2012 he moved to the other side of the imaginary barricade and has been supervising the procedures of contracting authorities ever since. He participated in the formulation of the thirteenth part of the currently effective Public Procurement Act regulating supplier protection, i.e., objections and supervision of compliance with the Act by the Office for the Protection of Competition. In addition to its undeniable complexity, he believes that public procurement is also characterized by its dynamism and the diversity of the problems addressed, which require a comprehensive approach to solving them. He regularly lectures and publishes on topics of public procurement. He is a member of the expert group of the Ministry for Regional Development on the Public Procurement Act.

Since his studies at the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague, he has been involved in the legal profession, with which he has linked his professional life. The founding of OTIDEA LEGAL enabled him to combine his legal experience with OTIDEA's know-how in public procurement. He has acted as a defense counsel in several media-oriented criminal cases and thus deals, among other things, with the criminal aspects in public procurement.

He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava. He gained work experience as a business and project manager in the energy and construction industry. Since 2014, he has worked at NAFTA, where he held the position of Senior Procurement Specialist and was involved in the comprehensive computerization of the procurement process. He currently works at Svet zdravia, a.s. ProCare, a.s., Chief Operating and Procurement Officer, covers procurement and operations for a network of 17 hospitals and 14 polyclinics in Slovakia.

Turnover is vanity, profit is reason, but cash is reality. So says Michal Kolesár, with whom we will be discussing the topic of price fixing through hedging at the eBF. At Asahi Europe & International, he holds the position of Group Treasury Manager, recognizing that proper risk management and governance is essential to the survival and growth of any business. He previously worked at the consulting firm PwC, the Molson Coors brewing group, and ING Bank.

Michal has nearly 20 years of experience in procurement in various international companies (FMCG, consulting, energy sector) with clear objectives to optimize procurement activities. His career also includes a mission in FMCG sales to understand the entire supply chain from customers to production and back. Recently, he has been focusing on optimizing the procurement process, Problem-Solving, Simplification, Sustainability, and Risk Management areas and leadership. Moreover, he likes assisting with the personal development of his colleagues. He is the Procurement Director at Orkla Foods Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Agata Szymczak can be briefly described as a Procurement Specialist focusing on procurement at the global Amazon company. Together with her colleagues from Amazon, she will present at the eBF, among other things, basic business principles that are transferable to any industry. It's all about customer obsession, passion for innovation, commitment to operational excellence and long-term thinking.

Jan has over 15 years of operational experience in purchasing as well as strong strategic and transversal insight, especially in the field of direct and indirect purchases. Jan has built and utilised professional, procurement tools and supply chain processes with efficiency. Jan works as a Chief Procurement and Chief Technical Officer in Penta Hospitals CZ (Its mission is long-term development of its health care facilities and to become a sought-after health care service provider and a responsible employer). He is focused on technological, facility and supply chain issues. He has worked as a Purchasing manager in AeskuLab 2012–2017 (one of the largest providers of medical laboratory services in Czech Republic). He was Supply chain manager (2007–2012) in ČD – Telematika (one of the largest providers of internet, data and voice services).

Leoš Vrzalík has been tasked with introducing the principles of sustainability into the central purchasing of the Asahi CE. In his position of Sustainability Procurement Lead he focuses mainly on packaging, carbon footprint and raw material supplies. Prior to this, he worked for 17 years in managerial positions at Skanska. The fact that he has linked his professional life with the principles of sustainability is well illustrated by the fact that he was also the Chairman of the Board of the Czech Green Building Council.

During my time at 2N Telekomunikace, I managed to create and lead the Strategic Procurement, Industrialisation, and Development Operations department. My work involves quite a lot of negotiation, traveling across Europe, and an annual month-long stay in China to develop our business relationships. After the company was acquired by Axis (Canon group) in 2016, I have been managing all procurement integration activities. Outside of work, I enjoy a wonderful life with my family, friends, music, and good food. I love road cycling and when asked if I play basketball, the answer is: "YES" :).

Engaged in public procurement for over a decade, and since 2011 Head of Public Procurement at Masaryk University in Brno, Martin Hadaš, along with his colleagues, carries out central procurement by means of DPS and framework agreements, manages public procurement co-financed by EU programmes, and coordinates the use of eProcurement. Occasionally he lectures. Previously, he ran the tenders in a consulting firm.

For the last twenty years or so, he has been managing the logistics department of the energy company ZSE, so he knows all the routes from suppliers to the right place in the company. He responsibly and creatively manages strategic procurement, operational procurement and warehousing with transport. Thanks to his specialization, he is a member of the "Corporate Supply Chain" and the "Grid BAP" in the E.ON Group. He promotes maximum digitalisation, transparency of the entire procurement process, and the creation of qualification systems for suppliers.

Branislav Šarmír will come to Ostrava with news from brotherly Slovakia, with whom we understand each other very well linguistically and philosophically. During his professional career, he has worked since 1996 in large companies such as EuroTel, UPC, VUB, and IBM Slovakia. In addition, however, he has traded management positions in marketing, sales, and customer service for public and corporate procurement, which is his current "job" at obstaráme, s.r.o.

Martin has been involved in public procurement issues almost all his professional life, from his position as a clerk at the Public Procurement Section of the Public Procurement Office, a student and teacher at Mendel University in Brno, where he lectured and actively published professional articles on this topic, and currently as the head of the Public Procurement Department at the Brno University of Technology. He regularly participates in conferences, seminars, and workshops on public procurement issues and publishes in professional journals. He advocates and promotes an open, less conservative, less formalistic, rational, and innovative approach to public procurement. The contracting authority's energy should not be focused only on the procedural side of the procurement, which does not play a vital role in the 'search for quality.' Instead, the main focus is developing the BVA/m4E method as an effective and versatile tool for selecting a quality supplier. Since 2021, Martin has been a member of the Public Procurement Appeals Committee of the Office for the Protection of Competition.

Zdeněk has worked as a lawyer in the public domain for nearly thirty years and has been involved in public procurement for more than fifteen. He was, for instance, the Director of the Public Procurement and Central Procurement Department at the Ministry of the Interior. Since 2014, he has headed the Public Procurement Department at Charles University, and among his responsibilities belong university-wide procurement and methodological support for staff. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Association for Public Procurement and represents the University in the Responsible Public Procurement Platform. When outside work, he enjoys cooking and cycling.

After more than 20 years, Barbara is a savvy buyer. She is always up for a conversation and is generally good-spirited. Her extensive experience in procurement of various levels and types (from purchasing materials, chemicals, or services) is rather impressive. She is also no stranger to energy purchasing. Her scope of procurement ranges from no-frills, unified, and strategic to niche items. She enjoys her work, finds it creative, and loves coming up not only with procurement strategies but also with a personalized approach to every case. Barbora has a creative and positive attitude. She is currently involved in investment procurement for Mondi Štětí a.s. and Mondi Štětí White Paper s.r.o.

Barbora Brabcová is an enthusiastic professional with more than 20 years of experience in the Supply Chain field, among others, from the international company Kiefel GmbH, where she specialized in procurement. In 2019, she founded her consultancy firm that focuses on smaller and medium-sized engineering companies and helps to optimize their processes. Barbora is also a passionate lecturer at the University of ZČU in Pilsen. She is dedicated to education in artificial intelligence and its use in everyday practice. She has capitalized on her experience and enthusiasm for modern technologies in Lernfix, an application she created that addresses the area of Lessons Learned. In addition, Barbora has excellent insight into procurement and strategic management, allowing her to promote associated modern tools and technologies.

Long-time manager of the PROEBIZ project. Consultant and innovator in digitalizing corporate and public procurement systems with more than 20 years of experience in the field. He strives to spread computerization in procurement processes not only in the private but also in the public sector. Currently, he is the Executive Director of PROEBIZ Group.

Marcela is the CEO and co-founder of the consulting company APUEN AKADÉMIA s.r.o. and Vice President of APUeN SK, an OZ founded to promote the electronicisation of procurement. In her professional practice, she is mainly engaged in advisory and consulting activities for contractors and public procurers. In addition, she contributes to the development of legislation and application practice in public procurement. It also cooperates with non-profit organisations such as Transparency International Slovakia, the Stop Corruption Foundation, and slovensko.digital. She is passionate about public procurement and she gives many inspiring lectures in this area, she participates at international conferences and streams on her youtube channel. She is a member of the Procurement Board, a collective of inspirational buyers and procurement professionals.

She started working in public procurement in 2018 while studying at the Faculty of Law of Trnava University. She is currently working at the Municipality of the Capital City of Bratislava, surrounded by the top and inspiring public procurement experts, who make her believe that public procurement can be done well and inspire qualitatively.

Apart from a few years spent abroad, she is one of PROEBIZ's core employees. Since 2000 she has been involved in implementing the PROEBIZ TENDERBOX tendering tool in the first manufacturing companies and institutions in the Slovak market and, since 2013, also in developing, implementing, and improving the JOSEPHINE system. In addition, she has e-procurement as a hobby and always takes pushing the boundaries in e-procurement as a challenge. Kristýna is currently working in the organizing team of the eBF procurement festival and is part of the Procurement Board training.

Adam is a graduate of Law and History. He is involved in the Responsible Approach to Public Procurement - Strategic Procurement project at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Moreover, he focuses on sustainability issues in public procurement.

Bernadett has been working in the field of logistics for six years, currently representing IKEA as project manager for zero-emission home delivery in the Czech-Hungarian-Slovak region, and is also a valued member of the regional sourcing team. She is leading the sustainability and strategic steps IKEA CZHUSK is taking to achieve a 100% electric, environmentally friendly home delivery service for all their customers in 2025. She addresses the various challenges encountered during the project, such as partner negotiations, fleet procurement or leasing contracts, the development of the electricity grid, and the connected internal and external stakeholder management.

European transformation catalyst, feminine leadership & burnout coach and facilitator. Formerly a European Commission policy expert driving policies ranging from e-procurement through Brexit negotiations to gender equality mainstreaming. Recognised as the voice of a new culture of leadership, Lucia transforms service careers through authentic self-expression and aligned impact of empowered women - via her leadership programs, mentoring circles, or her podcast and bestseller Lights on Europe.

Jan is an experienced procurement professional with a comprehensive understanding of both the purchasing and selling aspects of the procurement process. Having worked in procurement since the start of his career, he possesses a deep knowledge of the industry and the latest trends and best practices. Jan has a deep passion for technology and is utilizing his knowledge and expertise in the procurement field to use modern technologies to achieve better outcomes. In IKEA, Jan is working in the strategic sourcing team responsible for Hungary, Slovakia, and Czech Republic, where he is working to ensure financial stability, build and maintain a strong relationship with external partners and provide the highest quality services for IKEA’s customers.

Jonathan is a Senior Manager at BearingPoint, leading the Central & Eastern European market for Sourcing & Procurement consulting.

Jonathan designs procurement strategies, operating models, processes as well as implements various best-in-class eProcurement solutions, such as SAP Ariba. He is an SME on Digital Transformation as well as Resilient Supply Chain, supporting the region’s leading companies.

Currently holds the position of Head of the Public Procurement Department at the Technical Administration of Communications of the Capital City of Prague. He is the Head of the Public Procurement Department of the City of Prague. He is a qualified lawyer specialized in public procurement with experience in legislation and methodology at the Ministry of Regional Development, where he dealt with central procurement, ICT procurement and at the Ministry of Agriculture, where he was responsible for construction contracts, technology, framework agreements and DNS. He is an enthusiastic lecturer in public procurement. He has initiated pre-market consultations, promoted responsible procurement, been inspired by several working visits to the UK, and completed the Public Procurement Excellence course. He has been a member of several government working groups on public procurement. He's a keen innovator.

Graduate of the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava. He has been involved in public procurement since 2013, starting with "euro-fund" contracts for beneficiaries of NFA (non-refundable financial contribution). Since 2019, he has been the Head of the Central Procurement Management Department at Comenius University in Bratislava, the largest university in Slovakia. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling and announcing contracts in the DNS.

An experienced procurement manager, trainer and consultant; Karel Otýs is all of these things. He left his senior management procurement position in 2011 to establish his own consulting and training practice. He is enthusiastic about teaching, connecting, advising, sharing, discussing, motivating, training and coaching not only buyers and procurement managers, but also their internal clients and occasionally suppliers. He’s able to find novel solutions with an emphasis on efficiency and simplicity, but also has the ability to break down a complex problem into simple, understandable molecules.

At eBF it will be hard to miss an expert who has carried out corporate purchases worth more than €3.5 billion. Jacek Jarmuszczak, who has 17 years of experience in supply chain management, is undoubtedly one of the most sought-after speakers in global procurement. Previously, he held the positions of Strategic Buyer in the Philips Group and Global Category Manager in the Carlsberg Group and Danfoss Group. Then Vice President at Nextbuy. Now he works in his own venture as a founder of OperaPro Procurement Consultancy and Okiem Kupca - YT channel.

What path we follow is important, but even more important is the goal we want to achieve. Juraj has been working in public procurement since 2010. Three years later, he switched from the bidder to the contracting authority. He anchored at the Eastern Slovak Institute of Heart and Vascular Diseases, where he and the procurement department embarked on a path of gradual computerization to streamline their work. He created and implemented pre-market consultations, an inherent part of most executed contracts. This year, they have started the implementation of pre-market consultations through an electronic system.

Gabriela Vysocká has had a part to play in the fact that the Regional Authority of the Moravian-Silesian Region prioritises the corporate governance of public administration, including procurement, being transparent and effective. She has been working there since its inception in 2001. She started in the IT department as an application administrator, then moved to the Corporate Management Support Department, where she developed a communication tool called the Regional Portal. For the past years she has been the head of this department.

She has been in the oil industry for over ten years, gaining practical experience in sourcing and tender negotiation or supplier relationship management. Mariann Kurucz is now in charge of Procurement Digital Strategy & Delivery at the multinational MOL Group. Previously, she has also worked as a buyer and as a team leader in procurement at a global level. She has also experienced building strategic relationships with suppliers through her position as a Category Manager.

Petra is an expert consultant in the field of health care. She has been intensively involved in public procurement with quality elements in recent years. She brings her experience procuring medical devices from EU countries to the Czech Republic. She is dedicated to raising awareness of the Value-Based Procurement methodology and its practical implementation. In addition, she develops tools for defining and evaluating quality.

Matěj is a lawyer and head of the Public Procurement Department at the University Hospital Pilsen and a member of the Minister of Health's Advisory Group on Public Procurement. He actively participates in professional and educational events focused on public procurement, especially in the healthcare sector. Recently, he has been engaged more in quality consideration in public procurement and multi-criteria evaluation.

Petr Dovolil is a member of the Presidium of the Czech Business Council for Sustainable Development (CBCSD). He represents PwC in the CBCSD and has been an ESG Manager and Senior Consultant since 2021. He has over 23 years of experience in public policy, regulation, institutions, public procurement, and sustainability. In addition, he has extensive experience in EU-funded infrastructure projects, EU policies and laws, international contracting standards, PPPs, and Czech private and public law. In the last ten years, he has been heavily involved in numerous infrastructure projects and technical assistance to EBRD, EC, and EIB in the Czech Republic and abroad across infrastructure sectors (mainly water, transport, energy, waste, and buildings) around green transition, including ten projects (as Team Leader) on the EBRD "GET Policy Framework - Water Window" (Green Economy Transition). Peter also led the Mott MacDonald team on behalf of the EBRD Green Cities Framework contract. His current focus is on sustainable development, green and digital transformation, and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) compliance, including the EU Taxonomy, screening (climate, environmental and social), and EU sustainability finance.

Vladimír's professional activities include life cycle assessment (LCA), product ecology, the carbon footprint of products and organizations, and sustainability of organizations. In addition to VŠCHT Prague, he lectures on product ecology at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague, the Faculty of Science of the Charles University in Prague, and the University of Arts and Industry in Prague. He has been involved in determining the carbon footprint of products and organizations since 2005 and has produced several dozen LCA and carbon footprint studies for commercial and non-commercial entities. From 2014 to 2022, he held the Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Technology position at the University of Technology in Prague. He leads the Institute of Sustainability and Product Ecology at the University of Science and Technology Prague. He is also the principal investigator of several research projects focused on LCA. He practices in the field of product ecology focused on LCA studies and the carbon footprint of products and organizations at LCA Studio, s.r.o., which he founded in 2021. In addition, he independently assesses LCA and EPD studies for The International EPD System.

Tomáš has been involved in procurement since the beginning of his professional career. For the last 15 years, he has worked in the telecommunications industry. He has spent a significant part of his career with České Radiokomunikace a.s. as a procurement and PMO manager, where he was involved in projects related to the transition from analog to digital television broadcasting, the digitalization of radio broadcasting, as well as the construction of data centers and the development of IoT. Since 2019, he has been the Executive Director of Central Procurement and PMO at Letiště Praha a. s. He is, therefore, fully responsible for implementing all tenders and RFPs, as well as for the performance of strategic projects related to the operation and development of the airport.

Branislav works at the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development, and Informatization of the Slovak Republic as the Director of the Public Procurement Department. He also performs tasks for the Central Coordination Body Section, coordinating entities implementing EU-funded projects. He has more than 17 years of public procurement experience, including the Public Procurement Office, where he started, the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, and the private sector. At the Ministry, he performs tasks related to the public procurement of goods and services for the needs of the Ministry and coordinates. Furthermore, he provides methodological guidance to entities involved in the EU funds management system in public procurement. He is the author of the Unified Guide for Applicants and Beneficiaries on the Process and Control of Public Procurement for the 2014-2020 programming period and the new guide for the 2021-2027 programming period. In May, he will join the Public Procurement Office and head the unit responsible for methodology and training. He studied law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bratislava. In addition to his application practice, he also lectures and publishes.

Cloud Solution Architect currently at Microsoft. His main goal is to help find the right path to the optimal solution through Microsoft's cloud technologies. His focus is on Modern Cloud and Power Platforms. His motto is: “Everything can be automated if it makes sense; you just need to find the right solution and approach.

Tibor Szabó has led the software company inQool a.s. for 13 years. The company has been focusing on the public procurement and digitalization of government in the Czech and Slovak Republics for more than a decade. It has been active in associations, communities, and committees working on a transparent public procurement environment, such as Slovensko.Digital. He is famous not only for his business talent but also for his typical humor, endless energy, and enthusiasm for sports.

Marcel works as an independent marketing expert. He has many years of experience in marketing and has worked in senior marketing positions in large corporations such as Oskar or ING. He can help companies do a brand audit from an external perspective, set the right strategy, define the brand, define goals, and build an internal team. All on a project basis. In recent years, he has been involved in marketing outsourcing, working as an external expert on projects tailored to client's needs, for example, for the Wine Fund, combining his passion for wines with his professional competence. In addition, he works with several strategic and research agencies in the Czech market, so he knows the segmentation and lifestyle of Czech consumers.

After years spent in a manufacturing environment, he moved into the turbulent world of e-commerce. At Notino, one of Europe's top 10 online cross-border retailers, Matěj manages the procurement process and supply chain. He uses his experience in procurement, logistics, and manufacturing to combine operation and automated procurement management with the feverish business pace and steady 30% year-on-year growth of Europe's number one beauty e-commerce company.

Alexandra is a Responsible Procurement Officer at MOL Group, located in Budapest. Her primary responsibility include Sustainable development within Group procurement, improving and promoting Sustanability practices within the supply chain and continuously improve the calculation the Scope 3 emission. Before joining MOL Group, Alexandra worked as a Sustainability consultant and spent 9 years with an Electronics manufacturing company as an Environmental compliance expert. She is a certified ISO 9001 and 14001 lead auditor. Alexandra has a Master’s degree in environmental engineering and quality engineering. She started her professional career as a purchasing specialist at a Cosmetics manufacturing company. She has more than 10 years of experience in the field of environmental engineering and environmental consultancy. She has always been passionate about the environment and sustainability , learning has always been the force in her life. When not working, Alexanda prefers spending her free time with her family and traveling, she is also active in sports.

Przemyslaw is a cost management executive with over 15 years of experience in leading domestic and international procurement organizations in financial and aviation industries. He is focused on developing teams, also in diverse and international organization. He develops and executes a consistent strategy including setting up, transforming, and managing supply chain organization to ensure effective support of business goals. Przemyslaw worked in role of CPO in Polish and international banks. Currently, for 2 years supports procurement and supply chain transformation in role of CPO for Polish Aviation Group and LOT Polish Airlines.

Marcin Zawadzki - Indirect Purchasing Category Manager at the Pfleiderer Poland Group, a leading manufacturer of wood-based boards in Poland and Europe and a leader in the use of recycled wood in production. A member of the Pfleiderer Group, the company offers comprehensive services for the furniture, interior finishing and construction markets. He has been with the Pfleiderer Group since 2007, during which time he has been in charge of, among other things, purchasing of raw wood and, after the transformation of the purchasing role, he is responsible for managing "indirect" purchasing. Fan of the digital transformation of purchasing and the evolution of the role of purchasing "from sourcer to buyer". He was responsible for a number of projects including the implementation of the SAP Ariba purchasing platform in Polish companies of the Pfleiderer group.

Specialist in Microsoft business applications Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.

Jakub is a consultant at Deloitte. For the last six years, he has been working in strategic procurement and implementing related SAP Ariba solutions, helping clients fully exploit the potential of electronic procurement solutions. After several successful projects and years abroad, he returned to the Czech Republic, where he currently deals with local clients.

He graduated from the University of Economics in Bratislava, majoring in Economic Policy. He is an analyst at the Institute of Transport Policy of the Slovak Ministry of Transport. He came to the field of public procurement by chance during the development of methodological guidelines related to the increase in input prices. He loves his data and its use in various areas.

Pavel is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Charles University, after which he held positions in public administration, especially in connection with the Czech Presidency of the EU Council in 2009 and electronic justice. Since 2014, he has worked at Škoda Auto a.s. as Head of Strategy in Procurement and Capacity Management. He is also responsible for sustainability support within Škoda Auto, a.s. ‘s supply chain risk management. By virtue of his position, he has been involved in resolving supply crises and insolvencies across European jurisdictions from the ŠA and VW Group perspectives while also providing expertise in monitoring and ensuring sustainability principles in complex automotive supply chains.

Martina has more than ten years of experience in various positions in procurement, finance, and IT projects, specializing in digitalization and change management. While working at SAP Ariba, she focused on ensuring the efficiency of crucial customers' automated processes within SAP Ariba solutions with their business partners. Since joining the e-Invoice Team at Novartis, she has designed and managed the onboarding of suppliers into SAP Ariba and met various requirements for efficient and compliant electronic data and document exchange in 34 countries (solution configuration, procurement, invoicing). Moreover, Martina focuses on the analysis, design, implementation, standardization, and continuous improvement of systems and processes in different countries to ensure customer satisfaction and maximize digital solutions' efficiency.

His area of expertise is complex contracts and the search for solutions. Tomáš graduated from the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava. After more than ten years in the legal profession, he joined the Public Procurement Office, which he considers his alma mater. Since 2020, he has been working on a unique outreach mission in public procurement at the Slovak Ministry of Transport as head of the Public Procurement Department. In March, he strengthened the Council of the Public Procurement Office.

Purchasing expert with more than 20 years of experience in purchasing organizations, commercial negotiations, supplier selection, construction, and implementation of purchasing strategies, project management of purchasing support systems implementations. Pawel’s industry experience is primarily in the oil and gas industry, railroads, heavy industry, retail and e-commerce, in addition to leading the team of the Central Europe purchasing competence center at PwC, the project team for the implementation of the ticket sales and reservation system at PKP Intercity, the implementation team for the Connect integrated purchasing system for 15 companies in the Orlen Group, the change management team for the service purchasing process at airlines, banks and telecoms, and leading dozens of projects in purchasing, purchasing system implementations and organizational changes. In addition to purchasing, Pawel is involved in photography and his own flying school Warsaw Flight Safety, where you can learn aerobatics www.warsawflightsafety.pl

Blažej is currently in charge of catalogue sales at Mercateo, one of the largest b2b e-commerce platforms in Europe. He claims to be a receptive, flexible person, always willing to learn new things, with a high level of agility to change and eager to face new challenges. He can motivate himself and others with energy and enthusiasm to achieve committed goals, quality, and service. Blažej is an innovative person, a team player with excellent communication skills and a good sense of humour.

She joined ČEZ, a. s. in 2006 and became a part of the SAP SRM system implementation team in the Group where she participated in the centralization of procurement and the introduction of e-communication to suppliers. Andrea is involved in the ongoing development of the existing procurement system and during her career trained thousands of new users. She now leads the Process and Methodology Support Procurement team, which is, after 15 years, facing the challenge of migrating to the new SAP4HANA Central Procurement system and implementing the SAP Ariba solution.

Tomáš has worked at the Public Procurement Office since 2015, where his agenda focuses on developing and promoting green public procurement. In May 2022, he was certified as an expert in public procurement in a course delivered by the Austrian Central Procurement Organization (BBG) and the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Executive Academy).

Luděk Sr., was at the birth of Optimal - energy a.s., the largest energy consultancy company in the Czech Republic, which brings together more than 20% of licensed energy consultants. For its 160,000 clients, its unique project Blue-Green Savings, they provide services and savings for the segment of households, public administration companies and large corporations. Both Ondráčky share a love of music, sports and especially travel. By joining Group4energy, they bring tremendous strength and experience in the energy industry

Viktoria works at Deepview, s.r.o., and has over 10 years of experience working in the IT field. Throughout her working career, she has been involved in many projects in various positions both in the Czech Republic and abroad. She has vast experience in project management, including delivery for the preparation phase, solution development phase, as well as the actual implementation of projects. For ČEZ she handles the delivery of SAP4HANA Central Procurement and SAP Ariba solution implementation.

Pavel works at Česká pošta as a team leader of the SAP Competence Centre. With his team, he participates in several ICT projects aiming at the deployment of SAP technologies and subsequent support and development of implemented functionalities. Among other things, his team is responsible for supporting procurement processes using SAP SRM. For ICT, he succeeded in the first implementation of the SAP Ariba Network cloud solution in the Czech Republic for e-communication with suppliers. Recently, he actively participated in the implementation of cloud solutions for customer relationship management (SAP Cloud for Sales and SAP CPQ).

She is a business consultant at con4PAS, who has been involved in consulting in the field of procurement processes for 6 years. She finds cloud-based SAP solutions to be a well-explored area from order request, through supplier selection to invoicing. Moreover, she specializes in procurement catalog deployment and supplier management. Quynh graduated from the University of Chemical Technology in Prague and the Technical University in Brno.

Petra is a Project Manager at con4PAS, where she has been managing projects in the field of procurement processes and workflow for almost 21 years. She has led projects that are often the first customer implementation of a particular solution in the Czech Republic. She enjoys operational and strategic procurement. She graduated from Charles University in Prague (Information Science), Banking Institute College (Information Technology and Management), and Czech Management Institute - ESMA Prague (MBA program).

Head of International Cooperation and Public Procurement Development, Public Procurement Office.

Peter is the co-founder and CSO of Cequence, a Slovak solution that uses the latest technologies and integrates Open Al's ChatGPT into a modern contract management solution. He brings to the Cequence team the research and innovative spirit of the academic world, the need for discovery, and the drive to get to the heart of the matter. As a data scientist, analyst, and bioinformatician with two PhDs (from Slovakia and the US), Peter has authored over 30 peer-reviewed articles on artificial life, artificial intelligence, and artificial chemistry. From 2015 to 2020, he was responsible for data analysis on Parkinson's disease at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, where he was also the head of the machine learning team of the DREAM competitions. In addition to research, Peter has extensive experience in the IT world, having worked as a team leader and senior developer for a multinational company and software architect for one of the first smart-grid implementations in the US. Within Cequence, his main focus is on research and development related to machine learning, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. Today, his ideas and vision for corporate solutions built on the best of modern digital design have translated into Cequence solutions that help clients save thousands of hours of work every day.

Zuzana is a Senior Enterprise Technology and Performance - Procurement team Consultant. She has worked in procurement technology for four years and helps clients with digital procurement transformation, specifically selecting appropriate technologies.

P2P process expert focused on procurement team transformation, SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing, Strategic Sourcing and Digital Supplier Network solutions, integrated to SAP backend (ECC or S/4HANA incl. the cloud version). Holds a portfolio of over 45 procurement projects across 10 industries: from long-term and highly complex global digital transformation projects, to agile and time-challenging projects in the mid-market where he acted in several roles from a process consultant and PM, to Quality Assurance Manager and Solution Architect. His career path includes the development of a rapid deployment methodology based on SAP Ariba Snap, being the holder of a record P2P deployment in 5 weeks (Ariba standard is 22w), but also participation in Ariba Guided Buying Go-To-Market strategy. Has a Master of Sciences degree in Economics and Management and a Diploma in Law. With overall 15 years of professional activity in e-commerce, business management and procurement consulting, has a rich experience in system integration and process automation. Agile and curious by nature, with a conceptual thinking and system oriented, he will contribute the best in challenging projects with complex architecture requiring his problem-solving skills.

Martin co-founded Cequence, a Slovak solution that uses the latest technologies (machine learning, artificial intelligence, NLP) and integrates Open Ai's ChatGPT for modern contract management. To the Cequence team, he brings international experience from the start-up environment. He has worked through various roles in Business Development, Customer Success, and Digital Transformation. He became interested in innovative solutions that moved his industry forward by leaps and bounds while studying at universities in Denmark and Sweden. Then, he came to Cequence from the US, where he helped public institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area with the digital transformation towards citizens. Today, his ideas and vision for corporate solutions, built on the best of modern digital design, translate into Cequence solutions that help save clients thousands of hours of work every day. In his spare time, you can find him tackling the paths on his bike, cooking a delicious meal, or shredding hiking boots in the mountains.

Mária is the Digital Procurement Lead at Deloitte. She has ten years of procurement experience and helps companies with digital procurement transformation. For the last four years, Mária has focused on implementing SAP Ariba solutions, focusing on strategic sourcing. In addition, Maria gained experience in procurement in the oil and pharmaceutical industry.

Alena has been implementing construction projects within the South Moravian Region for more than ten years, mainly in the field of health care but also in engineering and services. The original "classical procedure" of projects - first the preparation of project documentation and then the actual implementation - has been replaced in recent years by the design & build method (from architectural design to handover to the operator) and the BIM method (construction with documentation almost only in electronic form). The use of renewable resources and ecological water management is already commonplace in the implementation of projects.

Patrik is a passionate expert in applied energy and electrical engineering with rich experience as a business and marketing manager at an international level and in the entrepreneurial sphere. His studies at the Faculty of Economics at VŠB-TU, specializing in Systems Engineering and Informatics, provide him with a broad perspective and the ability to apply his knowledge in various professional fields. Patrik is the founder of his own company focused on applied energy and electrical engineering. In addition to professional success, he enjoys spending time with his family and four children. His hobbies include active sports, traveling, meeting friends, music, and gastronomy. His involvement in the Group for Energy brings many years of experience and a professional approach to the community.

Jan, a civil engineer authorized in the field of Civil Engineering, has had a winding career path from being the head of a scaffolding company through construction manager on revitalizing prefabricated houses, biogas plants, and wooden membrane architecture to technical supervision and project management of buildings. At INVIN s.r.o., he has taken a liking to the role of Construction Manager associated with projects under the FIDIC International Contract Standard, the Yellow Book (Design & Build). And from this perspective, he will introduce us to his latest project for the South Moravian Region, the Children's Spa with speleotherapy in Ostrov u Macochy.

Tomáš is a BIM consultant who has gained experience on various projects across the Czech Republic using the BIM method.

Peter is a top Solutions Sales Advisor with over 15 years of experience leveraging business data, analytics, and artificial intelligence to help companies worldwide take meaningful action and gain competitive advantage. He has spent much of his career with Dun & Bradstreet, a global leader in providing credit, trade, and market intelligence that enables users to reduce risk and increase revenue.

After graduating from the University of Economics in Bratislava, Pavol worked for nine years at Tatra banka, financing large multinational companies and real estate and energy projects. Later he worked as CEO of Bionergy, a.s. (a subsidiary of Bratislava Water Company). He is currently engaged in management consulting, professional procurement, and public procurement, focusing on energy and energy commodities.

Marek graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Trnava where he is currently finishing his Ph.D. programme. In the field of public procurement, he combines experience from working for a public contracting consultancy as well as preparing bids for bidders from the position of an internal employee. Over the years he has gained extensive experience in the procurement of major transport, infrastructure, and IT projects as well as bid preparation. He has published numerous articles on public procurement and co-authored the Great Commentary on the Public Procurement Act (Wolters Kluwer, 2016) as well as several other publications focused on this area.

Petra has been working for the South Moravian Region since 2014. She has always been interested in public procurement but only got into it after several years of working for the Governor and the Regional Council. Since 2019, she has been part of a friendly and experienced group of procurement specialists around Jakub Váňa. What she appreciates most about public procurement, alongside her colleagues, is the variety of activities and the fact that her contribution creates something concrete and tangible that benefits other people. She believes that the region, as a major contracting authority, should set an example and cultivate the contracting environment, try to make the best use of public funds, and consider social and environmental issues. She is captivated by innovative practices and solutions that she can implement in public procurement thanks to the support of the county.

For more than 10 years, Matej has been amazed by the world of procurement and above all, e-procurement. He has always worked either on the side of the technology vendor or its partners. He currently holds position as Business Transformation Advisor helping customers move to SAP cloud solutions. His goal is to find an optimal and individual path for each company during such a digital transformation. In his spare time, he is engaged in a variety of sports (kayaking on wild rivers, cross country skiing or even telemark skiing), but as well spends his time passing experience to his kids.

Tomáš is the Head of HR for the regional headquarters of Asahi Europe & International. Tomáš has been working in HR since 2011, when he joined Plzensky Prazdroj. He studied psychology and has been using it in a business context for a long time. In recent years, he also had a chance to participate in various business transformations and organizational designs, including procurement ones. Since then, he has continued on his mission to design organizations by aligning their purpose, strategy, and culture.

Martin is the Go-to-Market Manager for Business Applications at Microsoft, responsible for the overall strategy of the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform product families for the Czech and Slovak Republics. Business Applications can be described as a suite of business information systems that help customers transform processes from marketing and customer service to finance and process digitization. In the past, he was a Sales Executive for Business Applications at Microsoft, helping to find innovative solutions for specific customers in the Enterprise segment.

He has worked in procurement his entire career, mostly in banking. He started in IT and project sourcing at Komerční banka, then spent nine years building procurement at the newly formed Equa bank. After the bank merger with Raiffeisenbank, he oversaw Central Procurement. After the experience running procurement teams in banking, he decided to go independent and now works as a procurement consultant for various banking and industrial companies, mainly in the IT sector. Apart from that, he likes to buy anything with an engine and at least two wheels. He also finds meaning and mission in being involved in various charitable activities.

By creating his tools, he makes life easier for contracting authorities, from the largest database of procurement contracts to screening for anti-Russian sanctions. Not only does he and the Datlab team analyze contracts across Europe, and he also leads the Zindex project in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Moreover, he is involved with the Ministry of Industry and Trade as an author of the methodology for small-scale procurement. He will contribute to the annual report and the forthcoming Public Procurement Strategy this year.

Experienced Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Responsible for developing new business opportunities for an organization by growing its revenue, finding and developing new business opportunities and expanding the brand. Oversee client-relationship management and sales. Responsible for SaaS procurement products - developing public procurement process in over 1500 public administration units

Nikola works at Microsoft as an implementer of marketing activities using the partner ecosystem for the Central Europe region for enterprise applications. His unofficial role is Digital Transformer because of his deeply rooted belief that you need to get the most out of IT and systems and use them to improve the world. He joined Microsoft in 2013 and has held several roles, particularly marketing roles. Before that, he was a marketing manager at IT consulting firms Software AG and IDS Scheer. In his spare time, he enjoys admiring the hustle and bustle of nature and the beauty of nightlife.

Kristína Zárubovová works currently as Buyer at Amazon Fulfillment Slovakia, where she focuses mainly on the electronic sourcing, negotiation and managing relations with suppliers. She also deals with the purchase of some commodity categories and with the contract management. She has gained previous purchasing experiences from automotive industry, where she was in charge of purchasing indirect materials for the French sites of PSA Group Stellantis. She went through the digitalization of purchasing processes in both of these companies. In her work, Kristína follows leadership principles and works on creating a stable supply chain, which she describes as an important key to success.

The legendary trainer of the PROEBIZ platform was at the beginning of the computerization of procurement negotiation processes. From his position as a specialist in dynamic bid comparison, he has handled thousands of eAuctions in terms of setup strategies, processes, and evaluation of even the most complex cases. Not surprisingly, he also invented his type of electronic auction, which bears his name. He is currently involved in the Digital Procurement Team and eProcurement.TV educational projects and several other developmental educational projects.