Speakers

Click on the speaker's name for a full bio.

CB Bhattacharya

Chair of Sustainability & Ethics
University of Pittsburgh

CB Bhattacharya is the H.J. Zoffer Chair in Sustainability and Ethics at the Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh. He is a world-renowned expert in business strategy innovation aimed at increasing both business and social value. His research and teaching focus specifically on how companies can use underleveraged “intangible assets” such as corporate identity, reputation, corporate social responsibility and sustainability to strengthen stakeholder relationships and drive firm market value. Prof. Bhattacharya has published over 100 articles and has over 43,000 citations per Google Scholar, placing him among the top 50 cited marketing academics per Google Scholar and the top 1% of marketing academics per a Stanford University study. His latest book entitled Small Actions Big Difference: Leveraging Corporate Sustainability to Drive Business and Societal Value was published by Routledge in 2019. He is co-author of the book Leveraging Corporate Responsibility: The Stakeholder Route to Maximizing Business and Social Value and co-editor of the book Global Challenges in Responsible Business, both published by Cambridge University Press. He has served on the Editorial Review Boards and served as Editor of special issues of many leading publications. Prof. Bhattacharya is the founder of the Center for Sustainable Business at Pitt as well as the ESMT Sustainable Business Roundtable, a forum with more than 25 multinational members, aimed at discussing opportunities and challenges in mainstreaming sustainability practices within organizations. In 2007, he started the Stakeholder Marketing Consortium with support from the Aspen Institute. Prof. Bhattacharya is part of a select group of faculty members that have been named twice to Business Week’s Outstanding Faculty list. He is on the #thinklist of the University of Bath, a list of influential faculty thinkers on issues of responsible business. He has won several best paper awards, teaching awards and research prizes. He was also a finalist for the Aspen Institute’s Faculty Pioneer Award in 2007. In addition, he received the Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award in 1995, the highest teaching award at Emory University.

Pei-yu Sharon Chen

Chair of the Department of Information Systems
Arizona State University

Dr. Pei-yu Sharon Chen is the Chair of the Department of Information Systems and Earl and Gladys Davis Distinguished Research Professor in Business at W. P. Carey School of Business. She also leads the AI and Data Analytics Initiative at Arizona State University. Prior to joining ASU, she served on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University and Temple University. She received her M.S. and PhD from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Chen’s research are interdisciplinary, spanning across Information Systems, Marketing, Economics, Operations and Strategy, and published in leading business journals such as Management Science, Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, Operations Research, and Production and Operations Management. Dr. Chen has also worked with many corporate partners in research, in industries such as E-commerce, Manufacturing and Retailing, Technology, Education, Financial Services, and Health Care. Many of her research has triggered industry interests and been implemented in practice. Dr. Chen has been frequently invited as a speaker at leading research universities and in top conferences/workshops.

Maya Colombani

Chief Sustainability & Human Rights Officer
L’Oréal Canada

Maya Colombani has been appointed Chief Sustainability and Human Rights Officer of L’Oréal Canada in April 2022. Strong of an international career of more than 20 years at L’Oréal, Maya distinguishes herself through a rich and comprehensive career path. She began her career in France, in leading design and advertising agencies as Dragon Rouge, Publicis and Euro RSCG. She then joined the L’Oréal Professional Products Division in 2001. She held positions there in operational marketing as well as in DMI (International Marketing Direction), on the Kérastase and L’Oréal Professional brands. She carried out missions in India, in the then Western Europe Zone, before joining Brazil in June 2010 in Marketing functions. Since the end of 2016, she has served as Sustainable Development Director for Brazil. In this role, she profoundly transformed L’Oréal Brazil’s approach to sustainable development and human rights. She has implemented actions that inspired the L’Oréal Group and positioned L’Oréal Brazil as a national benchmark. L’Oréal Brazil is indeed regularly cited as an example and is used to fuel new reflections, both on environmental issues and on human rights issues and with respect to the relations with the indigenous peoples of Brazil. Her projects have been rewarded by the best rankings such as Guia exame 2017/2018/2019; recognized as The best company in climate change as well as biodiversity management; and has received the WEP gold award 2021 on women empowerment supported by ONU Women and Compact Global. In 2022, thanks to her strong inclusive social programs for indigenous and communities, the GLOBO recognized L’Oréal Brazil as ‘’ The company that makes the difference in term of inclusion and diversity”. In Canada, Maya’s mission is to increase the positive footprint internally and externally in terms of sustainable development and human rights, and to accelerate the actions carried out within the framework of «L’Oréal For the Future». Amongst her first projects, she has already focused, with the Canadian teams, on achieving the company’s full carbon neutrality on all of its sites, as well as accelerating ambitious targets on water management and implementing clean tech partnership and eco-design business with committed brand. Maya graduated from Reims Business School and completed an MBA semester of International Business Strategy in Victoria University, Australia. She now lives in Montreal, Québec, Canada with her family.

Cari Covent

Head of Data, Advanced Analytics & Artificial Intelligence
Canadian Tire Corporation

Cari Covent is a dynamic technology and business executive who has a track record of leading innovative and high-performing teams to drive enterprise transformations. As the driving force behind Canadian Tire’s Intelligent Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Innovation practices over the last six years, Cari has been instrumental in delivering growth, cost reduction and employee engagement. Currently serving as the business lead for Data in Action, Cari is spearheading a strategic initiative that is developing, enabling, and maturing enterprise capabilities centred around data governance, business intelligence and artificial intelligence. The value of DNA lies in its ability to use data as an enabler to change the way people work while creating a more contemporary experience for Canadian Tire’s customers. Cari is also a passionate advocate for inclusivity and diversity in the workplace. She has been a speaker on this topic, participated in the Judy Project, and mentored young women in STEM. Additionally, Cari is an active supporter of the Canadian tech start up ecosystem and enjoys advising, partnering, and collaborating with them.

Gonzalo Gebara

President & CEO
Walmart Canada

Gonzalo Gebara is President and CEO of Walmart Canada, where he leads more than 100,000 associates and is responsible for the strategic direction and performance of Walmart Canada’s more than 400 stores across the country, growing e-commerce business and industry-leading supply chain. Prior to joining Walmart Canada, Gonzalo was President and Chief Executive Officer of Walmart Chile. Gonzalo joined Walmart in 2000, as a member of the Finance, Strategy, and Commercial teams. In 2004, he moved to Bentonville, Arkansas, where he assumed the role of Senior Director of International Integration, leading these company processes in Brazil, Central America, Japan, and China. Later, in 2009, he arrived in Chile to lead the D&S-Walmart integration process. His responsibilities included the implementation of a new corporate culture and the development of a series of value-creating initiatives. In 2013, he became Director of Operations for Walmart Chile. In 2016, he assumed the position of Commercial Vice President of Walmart Chile, in charge of developing the strategy and overall management of all commercial initiatives, for both brick-and-mortar stores and the digital channel and led the Company’s agro-industrial division in the country. During his 10 years in Chile, he also developed and launched the Business Intelligence and Data Analytics division. In January 2019, he was appointed Chief Administration Officer for Walmart in Chile and Argentina, where he was responsible for implementing the company's real estate strategy in both countries, fostering the construction of new stores and remodeling of some existing locations.

Katrijn Gielens

Professor of Marketing
University of North Carolina

Katrijn Gielens is a Sarah Graham Kenan Scholar and Professor of Marketing at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina. She received her PhD in applied economics from KULeuven (Belgium). Her research focuses on the dynamics in the retailing industry and relationships between retailers and brand manufacturers. Her work has been published in leading journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, The International Journal of Research in Marketing (IJRM), Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Retailing and Marketing Science. For two of her papers she received the long-term impact award from the American Marketing Association. She also received a nomination for the Paul E. Green Award and the Shelby D. Hunt/Harold H. Maynard Award. Two of her other articles were awarded the IJRM Best Article Award. She currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Retailing.

Srikanth Jagabathula

Associate Professor of Technology, Operations & Statistics
New York University

Prof. Srikanth Jagabathula is an expert on algorithmic retail execution and Associate Professor of Technology, Operations, and Statistics at the New York University’s Stern School of Business. He obtained his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was Visiting Professor at Harvard Business School. Srikanth is a serial entrepreneur of retail AI start-ups, including the co-founder of Celect Inc. (acquired by Nike Inc.) and recently worked as Chief Scientific Officer for Arena AI. Srikanth has 15+ years of experience in developing AI/ML based algorithms for retail decision making and has won numerous awards for his applied work.

Kostya Polyakov

Partner, Canadian National Industry Leader, Consumer & Retail
KPMG

Kostya Polyakov has over 20 years of experience working primarily with companies in the restaurant, retail, hospitality and sectors. He works with both public and private companies under IFRS, US GAAP and ASPE, and focuses on advising boards and shareholders on key strategic business decisions. Kostya’s clients range in size from large complex multi-national organizations with >$2 billion in revenue through to small and mid-sized private companies. Kostya has spent many years helping teams across Canada on numerous restaurant and retail-related accounting and operational issues. Kostya also leads the Consumer & Retail practice (“C&R”) practice for KPMG in Canada where he works closely with the top restaurant and retail businesses in Canada, advising their management teams on key business decisions, as well as ensuring they are exposed to the top global industry perspectives through his relationships. Kostya has worked with / advised some of Canada’s top restaurant companies including The Keg, Boston Pizza, Recipe, Earls, and many others. Furthermore, Kostya took 3 years to gain valuable industry experience when he left KPMG to take on an operating role with one of Vancouver’s most prominent family-owned businesses.

Barbara Spiering

VP of Marketing Technology & Quality Engineering
Starbucks Coffee Company

Barbara Spiering currently serves as the VP of Marketing Technology & Quality Engineering at Starbucks Coffee Company. Barbara’s focus has been on helping marketers to connect with customers through the use of effective technology and leading her teams to reflect on how to create points of connection that add meaning. Having spent 25 years in the technology space, she has been instrumental in creating industry leading loyalty and personalization programs. Ms. Spiering holds a Masters in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and a BA from Central Washington University. She lives in Seattle, Washington and her favorite Starbucks beverage is a Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew.

Schedule

Friday, September 22, 2023

Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile

1155 Sherbrooke St W
Room: Picasso/Monet-Chagall
Montreal, Quebec H3A 2N3
www.sofitel-montreal.com/en/