Direct materials represent the majority of spend at manufacturing companies, and yet virtually every procurement technology innovation of the past decade has been built for indirect. The result: engineering teams source in isolation, procurement arrives too late to change outcomes, and companies routinely overspend and miss launch windows. This session makes the case for a fundamental reorder of how procurement operates in product-intensive businesses, putting sourcing intelligence at the center of the design process, not at the end of it. Spencer Penn shares how AI-native platforms are finally making this possible, and what CPOs and supply chain leaders need to do right now to get ahead of the curve.

What can Apple’s rise in China teach us about scale, supply chains, and global dependency? Join New York Times bestselling author Patrick McGee as he unpacks the story behind Apple in China and what it reveals about business, geopolitics, and the shifting dynamics of global trade.