Private Equity
International
International
Operating Partners Forum New York 2022
19 - 20 October 2022,
Convene, 117 W 46th St, New York
The largest global event for private equity value creation
Private Equity International’s Operating Partners Forum New York is the world’s largest event dedicated to operating partners. The 12th annual event is focused on best practices in private equity portfolio operations and value creation across all functional business areas.
Join the PE operating partner community to discuss and debate the best strategies to deliver maximum portfolio growth this October in-person in New York City.
Extensive opportunities to network, compare best practices, build new relationships, and influence the future of value creation models make this an event not to be missed.
Featured Fireside chat
Underwriting for growth in times of economic uncertainty
Topics include:
- How will changes in valuations impact the hurdle for investing in capital projects?
- If hold periods become extended, what opportunities and challenges does this represent?
- With thinner margins for error, what controls can be put in place to monitor costs and transformation outcomes?
- How does the role of partners change in this new climate?
- And more…
“You have to keep yourself current and our firms are not academies for becoming better operating partners…The PEI International Operating Partners Forum is the only academy that exists for Operating Partners.”
Aaron Miller
Head of Apollo Portfolio Performance Solutions
Apollo Global Management
Create the most operationally efficient portfolio companies
Hear first-hand perspectives on how to further develop your operational efficiencies by looking at successful models.
Network with top value creators
Meet with the largest community of operational experts in one place over 2 days.
Learn key strategies for cross-portfolio initiatives
Find the right tools and knowledge to create value.
Agenda highlights
The 2022 agenda will feature the most prominent functional areas in value creation for your portfolio companies. Our unique agenda offers interactive working group discussions, think tanks, panels, plus our women in PE lunch. Click the headings below for a snapshot of some of the top features:
Value Creation
- One hour invitation-only think tanks each day for operating partners to select:
- advanced/seasoned operating partners
- emerging operating partners
- human capital operating partners
- digital operating partners
- How operating teams work best with investment teams
- Operating partner engagement models: what will the future of value creation look like?
- How 100-day plans are changing in the current environment and years to come
- Governance – selecting and managing boards as a value creation lever
- Effective value creation strategies for carveouts and M&As
- The archetype of a world class operating team
Sales & Revenue Growth
- The future of sales: virtual sales best practices and the impact of virtual workforces
- Improving pricing strategy during inflationary times
- Uncovering the most important GTM levers
- Leveraging customer success initiatives for growth
- Uncovering revenue growth stories and early warning signs with operating partners
- Developing a successful ecommerce strategy in an increasingly digital world
Human Capital
- Human capital operating partners think tank: a one hour value creation war room led by and exclusively for operating partners
- Working with CEOs: dos and don’ts
- Big data & workforce analytics
- What will the future role of the human capital operating partner look like?
- Talent acquisition, development, and assessment best practices during challenging times
- Integrating culture for success
- Accelerating management team performance post transaction
- The future of human capital and virtual workforces: what lies ahead
Technology
- Digital and technology operating partners think tank: a one hour value creation war room led by and exclusively for operating partners
- Digital transformations: how things will change
- Working with CIOs/CTOs: dos and don’ts
- Digitizing the customer journey: keys to success
- Unlocking the cloud revolution for portfolio value creation
- Advanced data science to govern the business throughout the investment life-cycle
- Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning for value creation
- Cybersecurity in the modern age: dos and don’ts
ESG
- Leveraging your portfolio’s supply chain to maximize ESG impact
- How to execute a decarbonization and energy efficiency/renewable strategy across your portfolio, including funding solutions that eliminate capital constraints to scale savings
- ESG due diligence best practices
- What is the role of the operating partner in driving ESG initiatives?
- How are ESG based KPIs and metrics being used?
- How does your firm think about ESG, and what specific areas within E, S, and G are covered?
Supply Chain & Procurement
- Navigating supply chain disruptions and post-COVID best practices
- Impact of technologies and today’s fast paced e-commerce on your supply chain
- Supply chain cost optimization: individual company vs. cross-portfolio programs
- Procurement transformations in the first 100 days
Finance
- Add-on acquisition readiness: adding value through the finance function
- How can PE best support portco CFOs?
- Transforming finance from a cost-center into a value-creation engine
- Identifying, attracting, and recruiting top CFO talent
- Enabling a data-driven CFO
Marketing
- What it really means to have a shared methodology and common language across Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success
- Marketing as a growth lever in the first 100 days
- How are you tracking your marketing performance and the effectiveness of marketing spend, what channels do you use?
- Digital marketing best practices: operating partners share their thoughts
- How does marketing support sales: what works and what doesn’t?
- Marketing due diligence: understanding what needs to be done pre-acquisition
2022 Speakers
2022 confirmed attendees include:
Meet the largest operating partner network
What our attendees say
Dana Allen
Gauge Capital
Was great to trade ideas with peers across other firms to see how they are tackling similar challenges & to learn areas they are able to drive more value.
Kush Tulsidas
One Rock Capital Partners
It is a fantastic place to network with top talent in PE and learn the cutting edge work that their firms are doing to create value. I highly recommend.
Greg J Pappas
Berkshire Partners
The Operating Partners Forum is the foremost event where the largest ecosystem of operating partners, suppliers and resources gather annually.
2022 Agenda
Download the agenda covering value creation challenges and opportunities for PE and portfolio companies across all functional areas: Human Capital, Finance, Technology/Digital, Sales, Marketing, Revenue Growth, Supply Chain, ESG, and more.
If you are interested in a speaking role please contact Marc Mele at marc.m@peimedia.com.
All times are listed in Eastern Time (ET)
View agenda page
Agenda
Day 1 - Wednesday 19th
07:20 - 08:00
Registration and breakfast
08:00 - 08:20
PEI’s welcome and chairman’s opening remarks
Tim Sanders
Seth Kerker, Director of Events, Americas, PEI
Chairman:
Tim Sanders, Vice President, Client Strategy, Upwork
Plenary sessions
08:20 - 09:00
Building agility in the current economy: the next chapter of the value creation playbook
Markus Lahrkamp,
Liraz Evenor
- Value creation playbooks in a recessionary/inflationary environment: how is the recipe changing? How are operating teams addressing this unprecedented turbulent market?
- Developing an agility playbook to navigate through this period of instability and build sustainable EBITDA
- Essential steps/countermeasures for your portfolio companies: how is PE “future-proofing” and building resilience into its portfolios? What levers should be triggered to weather whatever comes next? How important will liquidity become during this downturn/recession?
- Discussing the trends/factors that will have the largest impact on PE — lessons learned from other downturns: what has PE done historically to deal with recessions? What works and what doesn’t?
- How is PE investing its time and resources during these difficult times: what are the real challenges and opportunities?
- Uncovering longer term investments and operational approaches in looking at valuations as interest rates are rising — estimating the severity of its impact across various industries
- How can PE sponsors help portfolio management navigate issues and disruptions? With hold periods decreasing every year, how do you manage and improve the relationship with your portfolio companies and work together effectively?
- Strengthening operational alignment: improving the linkage between sales, operations, and finance to survive
- Investment and exit strategies in a recession: what are you doing differently to acquire companies and prepare companies for sale?
Moderator:
Markus Lahrkamp, Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal
Panelists:
Liraz Evenor, Operating Partner, Bain Capital
Jeffrey Nagel, Operating Partner, AEA Investors
09:00 - 09:40
PE operating partners: what do your CEOs need from you?
Dan Hawkins,
Doron Grosman,
Nick Leopard
PE investors are placing big bets on CEOs and their management teams. The partnership between the investment team and CEO is one of the most critical levers to get right early in the hold period. When it is off track, the investment is at risk. While much attention is placed on how operating partners drive growth and returns; has anyone ever asked the portfolio CEOs what do they really need? CEOs will make or break your value creation plan and operating partners can benefit from hearing directly on how they can collectively drive returns for all key stakeholders.
This very insightful panel of portfolio company CEOs will share their experiences on ways to best leverage the operating partner alliance in looking at:
- How can your Operating Partners quickly earn your trust and management team’s support?
- What aspects of the 100-day plan work well?
- What does a productive CEO/OP relationship look like?
- How should tough topics and issues be addressed?
- What level of communications and transparency are important?
- As CEOs, where do you need the most help?
- Where can Operating Partners continue to develop their skills and capabilities to be seen as value partners?
- Other advice and tips for Operating Partners to help CEOs drive value creation (in the eyes of the CEO)
Moderator:
Dan Hawkins, Founder and CEO, Summit Leadership Partners
Panelists:
Martin Coulter, Operating Partner, Arsenal Capital Partners
Doron Grosman, Former President/CEO, Global Container Terminals & Former Operating Partner
Nick Leopard, CEO and Founder, Accordion
Eric McGlade, CEO and Co-Founder, VPL
09:40 - 10:20
Accelerating the pivot to growth with rapid, tactical commercial effectiveness levers
Joanne Taylor,
Kevin Kerby,
Beth Neumann,
Jorge Rosales,
Kush Tulsidas
- Focusing on tactical, quick-hit revenue growth that’s tangible and measurable
- Sustaining a growth trajectory: aligning the organization for longer-term revenue levers across the investment lifecycle
- Maximizing effective use of marketing and trade spend
- Utilizing digital capabilities to automate, improve targeting, and identify and focus on profitable growth
- Re-investing cost savings to fuel growth
- Driving performance visibility, accountability and P&L impact through margin and revenue wins
Moderator:
Joanne Taylor, Director, AlixPartners
Panelists:
Kevin Kerby, Operating Partner, Bain Capital
Beth Neumann, Partner Head of Portfolio Operatons, Kelso & Company
Jorge Rosales, Senior Vice President, Growth Team, Serent Capital
Kush Tulsidas, Operating Partner, One Rock Capital Partners
10:20 - 10:40
Networking break
10:40 - 11:15
Tech value creation roadmaps: digitizing across the entire investment lifecycle
Greg Petraetis,
Thomas Fountain,
Greg Kegeles,
Kasra Moozar,
Carsten Weber
- Tech strategy roadmaps across the lifecycle: pre-acquisition, 100 days, hold, and exit
- In what ways are investors identifying opportunities to leverage technology to unlock operational value creation during due diligence given limited time/information/resources?
- Achieving alignment through leadership, strategy, IT teams, and tech capabilities
- Finding gaps in the first 100 days
- Which areas are most often misaligned and how do you address the issues created by these misalignments?
- Tech playbooks and strategic roadmap execution – typical challenges, best practices for execution, and related mitigation strategies? What works and what doesn’t?
- In what ways does your technology/digital value creation change, shift, or evolve over the course of the hold period?
- Sharing best practices in digitizing before the exit
Moderator:
Greg Petraetis, Managing Director, Midmarket and Partner Ecosystem, North America,SAP
Panelists:
Thomas Fountain, Operating Partner, One Rock Capital Partners
Greg Kegeles, Operating Partner, Digital Transformation, Newlight Partners
Kasra Moozar, Principal, Operations Team, Novacap
Carsten Weber, Technology Director, The Sterling Group
11:15 - 11:45
Unlocking the due diligence imperative to rapidly achieve the value creation plan
Sean Mooney,
Kalyan Mukherjee,
Cici Zheng
- How is your due diligence playbook changing in the current economic environment?
- Conducting diligence in a stressed/distressed environment
- Operating partner-deal partner dynamics in understanding a company’s potential pre-acquisition
- Partnering with deal teams for success: how to manage the collaboration between the deal side and value side and integrate both sides effectively
- Where are PE Firms investing time and resources across functional areas in due diligence?
- Refining your due diligence playbook in identifying risks and value creation opportunities: how operating partners are involved in the process to accelerate and determine the value creation levers
- Pre-deal assessments of the leadership team – how to know if/when to switch out members to rapidly achieve the value creation plan
- Understanding how due diligence impacts the holistic cycle and your value creation journey
Moderator:
Sean Mooney, Founder and CEO, BluWave
Panelists:
Mara Edgar, Managing Director, Human Capital, The Riverside Company
Kalyan Mukherjee, Operating Partner, Apollo Global Management
Cici Zheng, Partner, ParkerGale Capital
11:45 - 12:20
All-weather commercial strategy: no regret moves for the current environment
Jim Corey,
Jerry Hughes,
James Potter,
Richard Wyckoff
- Use predictive targeting to increase sales rep productivity and shift revenue mix
- Take share from competitors weakened during the last two years
- Build an integrated sales enablement process to attract, onboard, ramp and retain high performing sales talent
- Sharpen your differentiated value proposition and codify it in sales engagement software
- Create stronger alignment between sales and operations
- Design and roll out the next generation of price optimization
- Address headcount imbalances that crept into commercial organizations over the last two years (e.g., revenue ops, sales engineers)
Moderator:
Jim Corey, Managing Partner, Blue Ridge Partners
Panelists:
Jerry Hughes, Director, Commercial Excellence, American Securities
James Potter, Chief Commercial Officer, Dunes Point Capital
Richard Wyckoff, CEO, Arctic Glacier
12:20 - 12:30
Coffee break
Interactive Working Groups Series I
12:30 - 13:10
Interactive Working Group 1 (for operating partners only) | Operating Partner-Chief Information/Chief Technology Officer dynamics: dos and don’ts
Lisa Baldwin
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- Understanding how the office of the CIO/CTO is becoming more strategic and what to look for in a CIO/CTO?
- What are the challenges? How are operating partners influencing portco CIO/CTO decision making? How is the engagement approach changing in the modern workforce setup?
- Cooperation and collaboration tech value creation partnerships: comparing dynamics
- Looking at best practices in working with different types of companies to deliver value
- What will the future role of the Chief Information/Technology Officer look like?
Facilitators:
Lisa Baldwin, Operating Executive, Evergreen Coast Capital
Don Dickinson, Partner, SAP Practice, Navisite
12:30 - 13:10
Interactive Working Group 2 (for operating partners only) | Modernizing your finance function: uncovering the most important elements to drive value for organizations
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- Financial transformations to support modern organizations: operating partners share their thoughts
- Modern approaches to finance to ensure the organization’s people, processes, data, and technology work in concert
- Uncover stories of how modern CFOs and finance teams are embracing automation and tech integrations as a value-add service: what areas of automation in finance and accounting have been the most successful?
- Drive forward-looking insights and improved performance management with advanced data and analytics
- Data uses to enable predictive financial planning and analysis (FP&A)
- Upskill and evolve people capabilities to be successful in a modern finance environment
Facilitator:
Eric Markovich, Managing Director, Riveron
12:30 - 13:10
Interactive Working Group 3 (for operating partners only) | The future 100-day plan recipe: operating partners share viewpoints
Neal Cao,
Lane McDonald
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- 100-day plans in a recessionary environment: how does your recipe change at this inflection point and what will the future look like?
- Fast start: coming out strong from day one in onboarding new portfolio companies even in the face of recent uncertainty
- Exposing the challenges of getting management to maintain focus in the first 100 days: what does your engagement model look like and how do you go about achieving alignment?
- How to prioritize and identify the most important value creation areas to focus on: what’s key for your first 100 days to convert to execution?
- Best practices for the first 30–100 days vs. 365+
- Day 1-100: structured approaches, pragmatic actions, tools, and resources to bring about rapid alignment and focus
Facilitators:
Neal Cao, Principal, Transaction Advisory Services, RSM US
Lane McDonald, Managing Director, Strategy and Operations, OMERS Private Equity
12:30 - 13:10
Interactive Working Group 4 (for operating partners only) | Creating carveouts and greenfields – the new reality to put capital to productive use
Paul Lennick
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- PE dry powder needs to be put to good use, but, with limited assets to buy or invest in, PE firms must be creative
- Deal teams and operating teams are confronted with the new challenge of formulating new businesses in the form of creative carveouts and greenfield startups
- Proactivity in identifying sectors, unmet needs, and building a business case and investment thesis will become more critical in the future
- Establishing a playbook to address these new challenges will differentiate one firm over another in the competitive PE space
Facilitator:
Paul Lennick, Senior Vice President M&A Services, ContinuServe
13:10 - 14:10
Networking Lunch
13:10 - 14:10
Women in PE and VC portfolio operations lunch (invitation-only for operating partners)
Toya Asbury ,
Bobbi Kommineni,
Melissa Mounce
This closed-door lunch discussion will explore what it’s like being a woman in PE and VC portfolio operations:
- Uncovering what being a woman operating partner means and how to be successful in your role
- What are the issues causing a disparity in genders?
- Exploring career paths, development, and how to position yourself as female leaders
- Is your firm focused on women’s leadership at portfolio companies?
- Does your company have any specific programs, leadership coaching and assessments geared towards promoting women’s leadership?
- Are there any changes in recruiting that will create a more equal playing field?
- Looking at trends and stats in gender in PE and VC
Facilitators:
Toya Asbury, Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal
Bobbi Kommineni, Operating Partner, Terminus Capital Partners
Melissa Mounce, Managing Director, Leadership Talent and Diversity, GTCR
Sponsored by:
Breakout Series I
14:10 - 14:50
Track 1 | Operationalizing data analytics playbooks and reporting to augment your decision making
Prashanth (PV) Bóccasam ,
Richard Spencer,
David Venker
- Using predictive analytics, and data integration for smarter decision making
- Advanced data science and predictive analytics to open up new revenue streams
- Looking at high value use cases per sector
- Managing cross functional data/KPIs and tying it to the company’s strategy
- PE portfolio management new tools: best methodologies for portfolio company reporting and benchmarking
- How do you help a company become more data-oriented? How do you avoid the pitfalls of sitting on data without operationalizing it?
- What has been the biggest challenge in collecting the “right” data? How are you dealing with it?
- Applying growth KPIs and ongoing metrics in different stages to track portco performance
Moderator:
Philip Moyer, Vice President, Strategic Industries, Google
Panelists:
Prashanth (PV) Bóccasam, Operating Partner, Cota Capital
Richard Spencer, Co-Founder, Kamylon Holdings
David Venker, Vice President of Portfolio Operations, HCI Equity Partners
Nicholas Wood, Co-Founder and CTO, Trident
14:10 - 14:50
Track 2 | Practical approaches for operating partners to improve the linkage between ESG and value creation
Tania Carnegie,
Donna Bebb,
Cornelia Gomez,
Amisha Parekh
The pandemic, climate change, and both regulatory and LP pressure have combined to make ESG an inescapable item on the agenda of every PE fund. Here we will look at how your ESG efforts can, in this new environment, evolve from a risk mitigation and compliance exercise towards identifying and driving long-term value creation:
- ESG due diligence best practices: How are GPs viewing ESG through the lens of value creation? How is ESG influencing the investment thesis?
- Driving ESG performance across the portfolio: What are common areas of misunderstanding about the purpose of ESG? How are operating partners prioritizing ESG? Where are they finding value creation opportunities in climate, DEI, and talent management?
- Enabling resilience: How does ESG enhance a company’s relevance in turbulent markets and over the long-term?
- Role of ESG data: How are GPs standing up efficient and insightful ESG tracking across the portfolio? How are GPs balancing the needs of portfolio companies and LPs? How is ESG resulting in better decisions?
- ESG considerations for exit: How can ESG enhance a portfolio company’s equity story? Where are GPs focusing ESG efforts ahead of exit?
Moderator:
Tania Carnegie, Global and US Lead for ESG, Private Equity and Asset Management, KPMG
Panelists:
Donna Bebb, Head of ESG, Thoma Bravo
Cornelia Gomez, Global Head of ESG, General Atlantic
Amisha Parekh, Managing Director, Global Head of ESG for Private Equity, Blackstone
Emily Welch, ESG Director, Audax Private Equity
14:10 - 14:50
Track 3 | Better leadership: accelerate time to value across the deal cycle
Kevin O'Neill,
Jamie Jacobs,
Kelly Carlson,
Geoffrey Lurie,
Melissa Mounce
- Custom fit your human capital playbook to optimize each stage of the investment – pre-deal, closing, 100 days, mid-deal, pre-exit, exit
- Practices for bettering executive team due diligence, pre-deal to post-close
- Even more ways to achieve max momentum in the first 100 days
- Drive exceptional outcomes on executive searches in the current business climate
- Using executive assessment as a strategic weapon
Moderator:
Kevin O’Neill, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Acertitude
Panelists:
Jamie Jacobs, Chief Talent Officer, Oak Hill Capital
Kelly Carlson, Managing Director, Head of Talent, STG Partners
Geoffrey Lurie, Managing Partner, Traub Capital Partners
Melissa Mounce, Managing Director, Leadership Talent and Diversity, GTCR
14:10 - 14:50
Track 4 | The changing lens of the CFO: how to position and leverage your finance function in the current environment
Nick Leopard,
Aaron Miller,
Kelley Morrell
- Recession-proof your portfolio companies: understanding how a recession will impact the role of the CFO and what must be done
- Transforming finance from a cost-center into a value-creation engine
- Operating partners share extensive value creation experiences in building out finance and accounting to position a company for scale and growth especially over the last four months
- Discovering tools and tactics currently being employed by finance executives and PE partners and what will be required in future
- Understanding what an optimized F&A function looks like in this environment and why this is critical to prioritizing the value creation plan
- Looking at effective ways to mitigate risk across the portfolio
Moderator:
Nick Leopard, CEO and Founder, Accordion
Panelists:
Aaron Miller, Partner, Head of Portfolio Performance Solutions, Apollo Global Management
Kelley Morrell, Senior Managing Director, Portfolio Operations, Blackstone
Jonathan Waggoner, Managing Director, Co-Head North America Operations, SVPGlobal
Jill Wight, Managing Director, Operating Partner, Morgan Stanley Capital Partners
Breakout Series II
14:50 - 15:30
Track 5 | Delivering faster time to value through service transformation
Misha Logvinov
This session will allow you to learn from companies that implemented service transformation with quick time-to-value and hear insights from key players responsible for sales and service excellence. Key points to be covered include:
- Planning, and project preparation recommended to deliver value quickly
- Service strategies with fast time-to-value
- Case example(s) of project end-to-end and financial impact
Moderator:
Meredith Flynn-Ripley, Senior Vice President CRM Product Management & GM Lab 1449, Salesforce
Panelists:
Margo Hays, Managing Director, Digital Strategy, TSG Consumer Partners
Misha Logvinov, Managing Director and Head of IT Strategy, EQT
Shivani Tejuja, Advisory Director, Charlesbank Capital Partners
14:50 - 15:30
Track 6 | Building a culture of innovation: key success factors to transform your companies
Steve Niesman,
Liraz Evenor ,
Amar Ghai,
Hannah Gräfin von Waldersee
- Best practices in driving innovation through people: how do you equip your people to deliver innovation and create an environment that nurtures their efforts?
- Understanding how sustainable innovation requires the right: leadership, processes, capabilities, resourcing, and culture
- Unlocking the right new technologies and tools to deliver value and drive revenue
- Understanding how to improve enterprise planning and automate processes
- Driving continuous innovation and augmented intelligence across the different functions
- Looking at how to deliver innovation in a downturn
Moderator:
Steve Niesman, President and CEO, Americas Region, NTT Data Business Solutions
Panelists:
Liraz Evenor, Operating Partner, Bain Capital
Amar Ghai, Head of Digital Value Creation (Americas), KKR
Hannah Gräfin von Waldersee, Vice President, Strategy and Innovation, Insight Partners
14:50 - 15:30
Track 7 | Human capital due diligence done right: uncovering opportunities for PE
Shannon Gabriel,
Kristin Brown Patrick,
Drew Scielzo,
Nick Winter
- Talent due diligence dos and don’ts: operating partners share lessons learned
- New challenges in assessing management teams and talent across all levels
- How are operating teams working effectively with investment teams when it comes to talent due diligence?
- Understanding where the opportunities lie in the current environment
- What tools and resources are most effective in executing your talent due diligence playbook
- Turnover cost savings identification practices in due diligence
Moderator:
Shannon Gabriel, Managing Director, Leadership Solutions, TBM Consulting Group
Panelists:
Caleb Clark, Partner, Palladium Equity Partners
Kristin Brown Patrick, Senior Operating Partner, Human Capital, New State Capital Partners
Drew Scielzo, Operating Partner, ACON Investments
Nick Winter, Managing Director, Head of North America Portfolio Operations, Värde Partners
14:50 - 15:30
Track 8 | Winning after the deal: the key to smooth post-acquisition integrations
Scott McGurl,
Jessica Castillo ,
David Feierstein,
Daniel Goetz,
Sheheryar Shah
- Achieving cohesion between the diligence phase and integration planning process to move toward long-term performance
- Effective synergy modelling, value capture and governance throughout the transaction lifecycle
- Effective talent management, communications, and culture alignment through the transaction lifecycle
- Getting the synergies right post acquisition and ensuring day 1 readiness through effective assessments, engagement, and strategy
- Developing 90–100 day integration playbooks: identifying the value drivers
- Mitigating risks through successful integration planning and execution support at the overall transaction level and at the functional levels
Moderator:
Scott McGurl, Principal, Strategy and Transactions, Grant Thornton
Panelists:
Jessica Castillo, Operating Partner, Sovereign’s Capital
David Feierstein, Managing Partner, Ronin Equity Partners
Daniel Goetz, Managing Director – Value Creation, Siris Capital
Sheheryar Shah, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, ZT Corporate
Breakout Series III
15:30 - 16:10
Track 9 | Effectively managing healthcare across the portfolio: a Blackstone story
Andreas Mang
Healthcare is one of the largest challenges in the US; it’s typically the second biggest expense for companies behind only salaries. Here we will explore components of Blackstone’s platform and lay out six initiatives which do not rely on significant scale or healthcare expertise to drive exceptional outcomes to make healthcare healthier for the portfolio. PE and operating executives have a huge opportunity to make healthcare better when it comes to managing spending and keeping costs flat. Giving the HR leaders what they need for it and tracing the roadmap of what you can do will help you to think about enacting this change through:
- C-suite engagement
- Broker RFP/evaluations
- Carrier (insurer) RFP
- Leveraging pharmacy collectives and stoploss collectives
- Dependent eligibility audit
Presenter:
Andreas Mang, Senior Managing Director, Portfolio Operations, Blackstone
15:30 - 16:10
Track 10 | Leveraging technology and data to unlock value
Andy Johnson,
Michael Kingston,
Raj Kushwaha,
Michael Song
- Identifying, quantifying, and enhancing conviction of digital opportunities during diligence
- Unlocking the value of existing data to drive behaviors and improve performance
- Enhancing the moments that matter in the value chain through digital enhancements to capture value across all stakeholder groups including customers, vendor partners, and talent and labor
Moderator:
Andy Johnson, Partner, Mergers & Acquisitions, West Monroe
Panelists:
Michael Kingston, Managing Director, Chief Information Officer Americas, The Carlyle Group
Raj Kushwaha, Managing Director, Co-Head Value Creation and Chief Digital Officer, Warburg Pincus
Michael Song, Managing Director, Portfolio Operations, Providence Equity Partners
Prerak Vohra, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Raj Kushwaha
Managing Director, Co-Head Value Creation and Chief Digital Officer, Warburg Pincus
Read bio
15:30 - 16:10
Track 11 | CFO-PE operating partner dynamics: critical factors in creating a value generating finance function
Steven Siwinski,
Joseph Gwozdz
- Understanding how investor-backed CFOs are optimizing for growth
- Accelerating your finance value creation function through people, processes, and technology
- Sharing how CFOs of investor-backed businesses must adapt their finance and accounting functions to drive operational gains faster
- Creating an impactful portfolio company CFO: how can PE best support portco CFOs?
- Establishing roadmaps for CFOs: expectations vs. reality
- Finance and accounting reporting and assessment best practices
Moderator:
Bartley O’Dwyer, Managing Director of Private Equity & Venture Capital, Consero Global
Panelists:
Brian Barnum, Operating Partner, Shamrock Capital
Joseph Gwozdz, Operating Partner, Edison Partners
Steven Siwinski, Operating Principal, Accel-KKR
15:30 - 16:10
Track 12 | GTM levers for today’s market realities
Matt Greenstein,
Amanda Good,
Michael Monagle,
Seckin Ozdamar,
Andy Pickens
- Gaining insight and building momentum through commercial diligence
- Mobilizing management on commercial VCP initiatives that move the needle
- Leadership – installing the commercial talent needed to bring the deal thesis to life
- Pricing – putting up quick wins and building foundational disciplines
- Segmentation and targeting – directing the business to markets that matter
- Channels – diversifying routes to market
- Revenue operations and enablement – establishing visibility and preparing the organization to scale
- Engaging management teams throughout the hold and sustaining change adoption
Moderator:
Matt Greenstein, Principal, Alexander Group
Panelists:
Amanda Good, Partner, Global Head of Value Creation, Searchlight Capital Partners
Michael Monagle, Principal, Portfolio Operations, Providence Equity Partners
Seckin Ozdamar, Operating Vice President, General Atlantic
Andy Pickens, Managing Director, Data and Digital Transformation, Apollo Global Management
Andy Pickens
Managing Director, Data & Digital Transformation, APPS, Apollo Global Management
Read bio
Breakout Series IV
16:10 - 16:50
Track 13 | Riding the talent wave into 2023 and beyond: an inside look at challenges and opportunities for PE
Tony Buffum,
Natalie Ings,
Alice Mann,
Steve Schloss,
Debra Somers
During economically challenging times, companies find themselves whipsawed from feast to famine when it comes to resourcing their work. In the short term, hiring freezes and layoffs create delivery problems. This leads to more emphasis on operating expense budgeting until the next wave of adding back employees commences.
This panel will discuss how leaders ride this wave, create value through it all and emerge stronger on the other side. Key points to be covered include:
- Hiring freezes, spending limitations, and layoffs: operating partners share lessons learned from previous downturns
- How to deliver speed during times of constraint: how can companies stay fast while operating under constraints?
- Sharing innovative ways companies are solving talent challenges in the current environment: what leadership skills are necessary in this operating context?
Moderator:
Tony Buffum, Vice President of HR Client Strategy, Upwork
Panelists:
Natalie Ings, Managing Director, Head of Portfolio Solutions, Lightyear Capital
Alice Mann, Partner, Human Capital, Sentinel Capital Partners
Steve Schloss, Operating Partner, Leadership Center of Excellence, Edison Partners
Debra Somers, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Recruitment, Warburg Pincus
16:10 - 16:50
Track 14 | Operating partners: what does your tech scorecard look like in a downturn?
Aswatha "Amar" Amarnath ,
Misha Logvinov,
George Mashini,
Chris Satchell
- Operating partners share key tech portfolio initiatives being delivered in a downturn
- What can tech and tech operations do to protect EBITDA?
- How the profile of tech-spending changes during a downturn?
- Looking at steps to remedy: how to transform from problem solving to maximizing value in the years to come
Moderator:
Aswatha “Amar” Amarnath, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales Operations, Wipro
Panelists:
Misha Logvinov, Managing Director and Head of IT Strategy, EQT
George Mashini, Operating Partner, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Chris Satchell, Operating Principal Technology and Digital, Clayton Dubilier & Rice
16:10 - 16:50
Track 15 | Optimizing revenue across the full bowtie: driving sustainable growth during a downturn
Lauren Goldstein,
Yvonne Hyland,
James LiVigni
In order to maximize recurring revenue and increase efficiency and productivity, the most successful companies are employing a full funnel strategy, using a ‘bowtie’ rather than ‘funnel’ and applying a common operating system across Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success.
The panel will cover the current market, and the strategies PE operating partners are applying to drive sustainable growth during turbulence such as:
- How to achieve sustainable growth, rather than growth at all costs
- How to improve revenue productivity per rep, rather than hiring more reps
- What it really means to have a shared methodology and common language across Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success
- How to optimize recurring revenue from existing customers
- Developing an action plan by company stage to drive sustainable growth
Moderator:
Lauren Goldstein, Private Equity Practice Lead, Winning by Design
Panelists:
Rebecca Granne, Director, Portfolio Support Group, Advent International
Yvonne Hyland, Head of Portfolio Business Development, B Capital Group
James LiVigni, Operating Advisor, JMI Equity
16:10 - 16:50
Track 16 | Navigating supply chain disruptions: a first-hand look at PE responses and initiatives
Jake Wojcik,
Rami Cassis,
Gabriel Mesanza,
Jud Morrison,
Zaid Nesheiwat
- Uncovering severe supply chain disruptions that have had significant impacts on timely delivery and product costs
- How is inflation/price inflation affecting distribution costs and your supply chain strategy overall?
- What new/recent strategies have you adopted to enhance resiliency and meet customer demand?
- Are you looking at more solutions in region for your region?
- How have constraints affected your ability to grow and drive innovation in companies?
- What are some innovative examples of supply chain management that worked through the pandemic?
- Supply chain cost optimization in this environment: individual company vs. cross-portfolio programs
Moderator:
Jake Wojcik, Executive Vice President, Insight Sourcing Group and SpendHQ
Panelists:
Rami Cassis, Founder and CEO, Parabellum Investments
Gabriel Mesanza, Partner, Resource Group, Huron Capital
Jud Morrison, Operating Partner, The Sterling Group
Zaid Nesheiwat, Vice President, Portfolio Operations, ORIX Capital Partners
16:50 - 17:00
Networking coffee break
Interactive Working Groups Series II
17:00 - 17:40
Interactive Working Group 5 (for operating partners only) | Uncovering the keys to operational improvement success factors
Alex Olano,
Kyle Sarausky
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
ERP implementation alone does not equate to operational improvement. Operational improvement is far more nuanced and involves the effective balancing of technology, management, and human capital elements. Achieving true operational improvement requires the implementation of a robust ERP ecosystem that serves as a technology backbone to support optimized business processes that are supported by an effective change management strategy, an accountable management team and capable and well-trained users.
This interactive roundtable will explore the keys to operational improvement success in terms of both technology and general operational improvement transformations by looking at:
- Realistic expectation setting and effective change management strategy
- Sound implementation partner and methodology advice
- The importance of data migration strategy and timing
- Successful blueprinting, testing, and training planning approaches
- Cutover planning tips
- Maintenance and support planning best practices
Facilitators:
Alex Olano, CEO and Managing Partner, Trajectory
Kyle Sarausky, Former Operating Partner, Parthenon Capital
17:00 - 17:40
Interactive Working Group 6 (for operating partners only) | An inside look at the metaverse and what the future holds for PE operating partners
Sebastian de Meel ,
Karl Meyer
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- Understanding what the metaverse means to you in your value creation journey as an operating partner
- Uncovering key elements in looking at the enterprise, consumer, and infrastructure side
- How the metaverse ties in with ongoing IT trends like IoT, AR/VR, and gaming
- Sharing what will be needed from a data and network functionality perspective to meet the consumer side
- Understanding different use cases for the metaverse by industry and customer segment
- Grasping the importance of having the right infrastructure in place to meet the required level of interaction and experience within the metaverse
- In what ways will it impact and influence PE and your future tech roadmap
Facilitators:
Sebastian de Meel, Partner, PwC
Karl Meyer, Managing Director and Head of Portfolio Operations, Digital Alpha
17:00 - 17:40
Interactive Working Group 7 (for operating partners only) | Human capital strategies for mitigating risk and driving growth throughout the investment lifecycle
Chris "Mitch" Mitchell
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- Underwriting and assessing human capital impact during diligence – how to measure the people side of the deal
- Reducing new portfolio company onboarding times – and gaining faster traction towards delivering on the investment thesis
- Preventing costly organizational derailments during the hold period – and how to identify development opportunities that will have outsized impact on performance
- Leveraging outcomes and human capital excellence to achieve exit premiums – maximizing the return on your development investment
Facilitator:
Chris “Mitch” Mitchell, Principal, Private Equity, FMG Leading
17:00 - 17:40
Interactive Working Group 8 (for operating partners only) | When supply chains fail: repairing them now while building agility and resiliency
Thom McLeod
The pandemic was the “black swan” event that precipitated many of the current supply chain problems, but it was not the cause. This session will dissect this concept by allowing the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with a designated facilitator:
- Examine and discuss recent examples of supply chain failures and share specific solutions that fixed difficult problems while ensuring greater agility and resiliency in the future
- Reveal pre-existing vulnerabilities, deeper root causes, and valuable lessons for the future
- Uncover expert insights, practical solutions, and “future proof” designs to avoid known pitfalls, build agility, and become more resilient to future disruption
- Operating partners share recent challenges and lessons learned with their peers to help each other build stronger, more resilient supply chains
Facilitators:
Bill Angeloni, Founder and Director, Tenzing Consulting
Thom McLeod, Founder and Managing Director, Tenzing Consulting
17:40 - 18:40
End of day one and cocktail reception
Hosted by:
Agenda
Day 2 - Thursday 20th
07:45 - 08:30
Registration and breakfast
07:45 - 08:30
Breakfast deep dive discussion (invitation-only for operating partners) | Working with CEOs: dos and don’ts
Ted Bililies,
Clark Perry
- Setting up productive relationships with CEOs across the deal lifecycle: managing tension and helping to bridge alignment
- How to best partner with CEOs in creating value in a recessionary environment
- If you had to hire a new CEO today what profile and characteristics would you prefer?
- Supporting new CEOs as well as CEOs new to PE to help them operate at full power
- How do you do good CEO performance reviews: what is the right process for it
- What does the next generation CEO look like? What can be done to identify that next generation and coach them?
- Sharing of lessons learned and do overs: what works and what doesn’t?
Facilitators:
Ted Bililies, Managing Director and Chief Talent Officer, AlixPartners
Clark Perry, Director, AlixPartners
Hosted by:
Think Tank Series 1
08:30 - 09:15
Think tanks for full-time operating partners: value creation war room (invitation-only)
Lee McCabe ,
Carsten Weber,
Christopher Kim,
Ori Ben-Moshe ,
Jerry Hughes,
Prital Kadakia
This closed-door discussion will allow you to learn and share best practices of successful operating partners. The think tank will allow you to submit topics to be introduced by the facilitators and discussed in the room. It will allow you to select one of the rooms:
Room 1: Digital and Technology Operating Partners
Facilitators:
Lee McCabe, Operating Partner, AEA Investors
Carsten Weber, Technology Director, The Sterling Group
Room 2: Human Capital/Talent Operating Partners
Facilitator:
Christopher Kim, Principal, Head of Human Capital, Platinum Equity
Room 3: Sales and Revenue Growth Operating Partners
Facilitators:
Ori Ben-Moshe, Director of Portfolio Operations, ORIX Capital Partners
Jerry Hughes, Director, Commercial Excellence, American Securities
Prital Kadakia, Partner, Serent Capital
Think Tank Series 2
09:15 - 10:00
Think tanks for full-time operating partners: value creation war room (invitation-only)
Jeff Goodman,
Jon Weber
This closed-door discussion will allow you to learn and share strategies together with your operating partner peers. It will also allow you to submit topics to be discussed in value creation:
Room 1 Emerging Operating Partners (1-2 years in PE)
Facilitators:
Matt Hively, Operating Partner, Angeles Equity Partners
John Sander, Principal, Portfolio Solutions, Lightyear Capital
Room 2 Advanced Operating Partners
Facilitators:
Jeff Goodman, Senior Operating Partner, The Riverside Company
Jon Weber, Global Head of Portfolio Operations, Elliott Management Corporation
10:00 - 10:10
Chairman’s welcome
Tim Sanders
Chairman:
Tim Sanders, Vice President, Client Strategy, Upwork
Plenary Sessions
10:10 - 10:50
The evolution of value creation: PE operating partners compare models
Amy Daly,
Anne Arlinghaus,
Marco Mendes,
Aaron Miller
- Comparing operating partner models: how are operating partner models evolving in PE and at your firm? How is the operating model different/unique at your firm?
- Comparing team designs/structures from generalists to functional specialists
- How to deploy an operating team throughout the phases of the investment lifecycle
- What types of companies/industries does your model work well in and not work well in?
- Embedding your deal teams in your operating model: bridging the gap between the investment teams’ model and what happens in reality
- Making the “magic quadrant” work: how the deal partner, operating partner, CEO, and board can work together to deliver value creation
- Uncovering where successful operating partner teams focus their attention: value creation team processes, resources, and playbooks
- What does your engagement approach with portfolio companies look like? How is the engagement approach changing? How do you build trust?
Moderator:
Amy Daly, Americas Private Equity Consulting Leader, EY
Panelists:
Anne Arlinghaus, Managing Director, Co-Head of Americas, KKR Capstone
Marco Mendes, Partner, Head of Portfolio Group North America, Advent International
Aaron Miller, Partner, Head of Portfolio Performance Solutions, Apollo Global Management
10:50 - 11:30
Fireside chat: Underwriting for growth in times of economic uncertainty
Martin Taylor,
Paul Zimmerman
- How will changes in valuations impact the hurdle for investing in capital projects?
- If hold periods become extended, what opportunities and challenges does this represent?
- With thinner margins for error, what controls can be put in place to monitor costs and transformation outcomes?
- The ability for a portfolio company to react quickly to market conditions is more important than ever but agility is not easily quantified. Discuss successful ways to value and enable business agility.
- Despite the economic slowdown, there is still expected to be a talent gap for the foreseeable future in areas like digital transformation and machine learning. What are some effective strategies that help mitigate this risk? What role does automation play?
- How does the role of partners change in this new climate?
Presenters:
Martin Taylor, Managing Director and President of OneVista, Vista Equity Partners
Paul Zimmerman, Managing Director, Global Private Equity, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
11:30 - 12:00
Strategically managing pricing in an inflationary and recessionary environment
Mark Billige ,
James Wood
- Uncovering how pricing is a key element of organic growth in a recessionary/inflationary environment in looking at market, market share, consolidation
- Implementing urgent and opportunistic pricing changes in current times
- Looking at inflation and current opportunity for different industries
- Engaging with companies to successfully execute pricing projects
- Aligning value delivered with willingness-to-pay by using strategic pricing and packaging for longer-term pricing change
- Leveraging segmentation, value positioning, and value communication to improve and sustain price realization in the medium-term
- Using data and other tools for better pricing and adjustments
Presenters:
Mark Billige, Chief Executive Officer, Simon-Kucher & Partners
James Wood, Senior Vice President, Pricing Strategy, Insight Partners
12:00 - 12:20
Networking break
Interactive Working Group Series III
12:20 - 13:00
Interactive Working Group 9 (for operating partners only) | Value creation for employee benefits and risk programs: strategies to create sustainable value inside your portfolios across the entire lifecycle
Todd Miller,
John Weaver
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- Remove excess costs and waste from employee benefits programs without cost-shifting, plan degradation, or member disruption
- Learn how to take back and maintain control of your benefits program with a best-in-class governance framework
- Discover ways to evaluate commercial insurance programs for coverage enhancements, savings opportunities, and market checks
- See what an optimal sourcing process entails for both risk management and benefits programs
Facilitators:
Todd Miller, CEO, Risk International
John Weaver, Senior Director, Risk International
12:20 - 13:00
Interactive Working Group 10 (for operating partners only) | Cybersecurity: operating partners share war stories
Chris Hueneke ,
Marcos Marrero
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- How to raise your standards in the current cyber epidemic in working with your portfolio companies and their functional areas of business?
- How do you define good cybersecurity? What is enough security? How prescriptive are you on cybersecurity?
- Cyber assessments and resource allocation: how is security diligence changing?
- How do you engage with portfolio company teams about cyber?
- First-hand stories in dealing with cybersecurity breaches: what to do and what not to do
- What are current implications for PE when it comes to cyber in the changing geopolitical and financial world? How are these challenges being met?
- Cost effective portfolio security measures and risk management
- Addressing cyber liability insurance carrier requirements
Facilitators:
Chris Hueneke, Chief Information Security Officer, RKON
Marcos Marrero, Chief Information Security Officer, H.I.G. Capital
Kris Radhakrishnan, Director, Financial Excellence, SK Capital Partners
12:20 - 13:00
Interactive Working Group 11 (for operating partners only) | Digital transformation dos and don’ts across different industries: operating partners share specific elements
Greg Kegeles
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- What are the boundaries of Digital, and what does it mean to Digitally transform?
- What are the 2 – 3 plays that drive the most value with regard to Digital in your Industry/Sector?
- How do you approach Digital transformation in the transaction lifecycle…when do you asses, design, implement and how do you sequence this relative to other activities?
- What are the biggest challenges and opportunities in driving Digital (people, process, technology, adoption)
- Where’s the tipping point with regard to value creation vs not worth the effort (i.e. are you up for the tough Tech projects and multi-year efforts)
- What are the examples or stories that really showcase success?
Facilitators:
Ryan Jones, Principal and Private Equity Leader, Deloitte Consulting
Greg Kegeles, Operating Partner, Digital Transformation, Newlight Partners
12:20 - 13:00
Interactive Working Group 12 (for operating partners only) | Procurement after transformations: why great assets and operators keep creating value
This session will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- Value creation from procurement needs more than a one-off transformation – what ensures ongoing value delivery in procurement?
- What do great assets with sustained procurement performance look like – KPIs and qualitative indicators?
- How to uncover performance of your assets outside of a transformation
- Effective approaches and interventions to improve ongoing value delivery post transformation
- How Operating Partners can unblock common challenges – sponsorship, resourcing, finance partnering, ambition levels
Facilitators:
Jose Oliveira, Vice President, Efficio
Patrick Traynor, Vice President, Efficio
13:00 - 13:50
Networking Lunch
Breakout Series V
13:50 - 14:30
Track 17 | Improving lives and the bottom line: EBITDA growth through healthcare navigation
Todd Grove,
Ingrid Evans,
Michael Frain
The next few years will provide significant challenges for companies to manage medical costs while supporting employee health. Learn how a leading technology company provides solutions to questions such as:
- How can CFOs break the cycle of medical spend creep?
- Can your portfolio executives improve employee engagement while simultaneously eliminating wasted spend?
- Healthcare navigation: balancing employee needs with financial realities
- Can CHROs/CFOs change the model of health insurance to improve outcomes & employee satisfaction – while driving EBITDA?
Moderator:
Todd Grove, Vice President, Private Equity, Quantum Health
Panelists:
Ingrid Evans, Vice President, Human Resources, Insight Enterprises
Michael Frain, Senior Vice President, Shared Services, Warburg Pincus
13:50 - 14:30
Track 18 | Maximizing ESG impact across your portfolio’s supply chain
Bob Brennan,
Jill Dumain,
Brian Slobodow,
Jana Wayne
- Procurement’s role in achieving sustainability goals, while reducing costs, managing risk and improving your competitive position
- How to execute a decarbonization and energy efficiency/renewable strategy across your portfolio, including funding solutions that eliminate capital constraints to scale savings
- Exploring solutions for managing emissions throughout the supply chain across portfolio companies
- Delivering on supplier diversity and inclusive procurement practices with an ESG framework
- Uncovering data and key metrics in supplier diversity and ESG for the supply chain
Moderator:
Bob Brennan, Executive Vice President, Integrated Solutions, SGS-Maine Pointe
Panelists:
Jill Dumain, Former Director of Global Environmental Strategy, Patagonia
Brian Slobodow, Operating Partner, HGGC
Jana Wayne, Director of Portfolio Procurement, SK Capital Partners
13:50 - 14:30
Track 19 | Tech due diligence imperatives: aligning and leveraging technology with your investment thesis
Jessica Pizzo,
Eric Taylor ,
Andrew Vittetoe
- Operating partner anecdotes recounting successful tech due diligence and post-close technology readiness in partnering with investment teams, providers, and target companies
- What is most critical to accurately understand a company’s technology environment pre-deal?
- How do you connect buy-side technology diligence to company valuation?
- How do you leverage technology diligence to start value creation within your portfolio company?
- What role do you see for technology diligence on the sell side?
Moderator:
Riley Scott, Partner, Cuesta Partners
Panelists:
Ishan Manaktala, Operating Partner, STG Partners
Jessica Pizzo, Resource Partner, Court Square Capital Partners
Eric Taylor, Founder and CEO, Trident
Andrew Vittetoe, Private Equity – Technology, Partners Group
Breakout Series VI
14:30 - 15:10
Track 20 | Leveraging strategic providers and partnerships in driving value creation across the portfolio
Gregory Beutler,
Theresa Ciullo,
Michael Frain
- Why partnerships for value creation should not be limited to only procurement/preferred pricing/savings (although this is an important benefit of establishing these partnerships)
- Vetting partners to identify them as leaders in what they do as part of the initial alignment before deploying them into the portfolio community
- Creating a framework for how you engage/work with your partner network in identifying opportunities for optimization and value creation
- Setting expectations and communicating effectively to keep your partner network working within the framework and guidelines of your operating strategies
- Monitoring and tracking your successes and impacts to the business
Moderator:
Simon Roberts, Managing Director, UKG
Panelists:
Bryce Ashcraft, Vice President, Human Resources, SonicWall
Gregory Beutler, Operating Partner, Blackstone
Theresa Ciullo, Head of Procurement – North America, Asia and Pacific, Merlin Entertainments
Michael Frain, Senior Vice President, Shared Services, Warburg Pincus
14:30 - 15:10
Track 21 | Key considerations in commercial due diligence: operating partners share their thoughts
Tim Foster,
Elizabeth Dresdale,
Jonathan Konkoly,
Amy Kramer,
Christopher Young
- Understanding how to make your companies more successful early on in looking at how customers think
- Sharing thoughts on how effective design of commercial due diligence makes you a better PE owner
- Unlocking capabilities in commercial diligence to enable key growth decisions post acquisition
- Uncovering key commercial diligence considerations in looking at your: market, customers, competitors, the resiliency of your target companies, key value generation and integration initiatives
Moderator:
Tim Foster, Managing Partner, Maple Street Advisors
Panelists:
Elizabeth Dresdale, Principal, The Catalyst Group, Incline Equity Partners
Jonathan Konkoly, Vice President of Portfolio Operations, HCI Equity Partners
Amy Kramer, Operating Partner-Growth, Level Equity
Christopher Young, Managing Director, Operations and Strategy, OMERS Private Equity
14:30 - 15:10
Track 22 | Tech M&A playbooks: operational improvement driven by technology efficiencies
Richard Spencer
- Organizations around the world are undergoing business transformations but how are we determining and measuring the real impact to the business?
- How do we best ensure that the original goals of the business case carry through beyond Go-Live?
- How do you empower employees and key stakeholders to get the most out of the transformation?
Moderator:
Stephen Williams, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Transformation and Value Realization, Oracle
Panelists:
Richard Spencer, Co-Founder, Kamylon Holdings
Michael Weingart, Operations Executive, TPG Capital
Breakout Series VII
15:10 - 15:50
Track 23 | Building an effective talent function for your PE firms and portfolio companies
Kate Berkeley,
Kristen Chang,
Christopher Grillo,
Jimmy Holloran
- How operating teams are using talent to drive value creation plans: what does your model look like?
- What makes a great PE talent partner/human capital operating partner team? What will the future role of the human capital operating partner look like?
- What does transforming your talent function look like?
- Best practices in finding transformational talent across key functional areas (not just the CEO and CFO)
- Rapid acceleration of the talent value creation plan: sharing what must be done
- Sharing creative practices that talent functions are embarking on with the competitiveness and challenges there are now in looking at talent
Moderator:
Shannon Carlson, Principal, Private Equity, Beecher Reagan
Panelists:
Kate Berkeley, Managing Director, Talent Acquisition, Gryphon Investors
Kristen Chang, Managing Director, Human Capital, LLR Partners
Christopher Grillo, Private Equity Vice President, Partners Group
Jimmy Holloran, Partner, ParkerGale Capital
15:10 - 15:50
Track 24 | Unlocking cloud transformations for value creation
Rohini Williams,
Ali Shams,
Craig Vosburgh
- Cloud transformation external and internal business aspects: how to handle it with your portcos
- Leveraging the cloud for security, scalability, and reliability
- Create value through cost optimization and product modernization using Cloud
- Multi-cloud vs. single cloud vs. hybrid cloud
- Understanding the financial aspects of strategic cloud partnerships on revenue and costs
- Looking at the challenges of building and hiring cloud expertise in your companies: how are you dealing with it?
Moderator:
Rohini Williams, Global Head of Private Equity, Infosys
Panelists:
Ajaykumar Kutty, Technology Operating Principal, KKR
Ali Shams, Technology Operating Partner, H.I.G. Capital
Craig Vosburgh, Chief Technology Officer, Strattam Capital
Plenary Session
15:50 - 16:30
Operating partner-leadership team alignment to rapidly accelerate the value creation plan
Jan Jamrich,
Kenneth Horne,
Ken Weaver
- Understanding why it is now essential to rapidly accelerate value creation and transform companies faster
- Fast start: coming out strong from day one in onboarding new portfolio companies (even in the face of recent uncertainty)
- Accelerating management team performance post transaction: how to do it quickly and robustly for it to have an ongoing impact in the lifecycle sooner and sooner
- Aligning value initiatives with management: how do you influence CEOs/management teams? How do you get management teams aligned when shifting management teams?
- Engaging with your portfolio companies throughout the investment lifecycle: how do you get them to let go of the reigns? How do you build trust to be able to scale faster?
- Looking at executing in the four phases: the legacy team, the middle management team to get where needed, the more specialized team, and the exit phase
Moderator:
Jan Jamrich, CEO and Founder, Entromy
Panelists:
Kenneth Horne, Director of Portfolio Operations, Spring Lane Capital
Dan Meyer, Talent Partner, Align Capital Partners
Roya Rashtchi, Vice President, Portfolio Operations, Arcline Investment Management
Ken Weaver, Managing Director, TVV Capital
16:30 - 16:35
Closing remarks and end of conference
Pre-Event Resources
2022 Speakers
For speaking opportunities, contact Marc Mele at marc.m@peimedia.com or call +1 646 581 9295.
Aswatha "Amar" Amarnath
Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales Operations, Wipro
Aswatha Amarnath (Amar) is a Senior Vice President at Wipro. He has global responsibilities for sales and go-to-market functions. This includes leadership for large & complex deals globally, Wipro’s sales operations, responsible for Private Equit… Read full bio
Anne Arlinghaus
Managing Director, Co-Head of Americas, KKR Capstone
Anne Arlinghaus (New York) joined KKR Capstone in 2008 and is a Managing Director and Co-Head of KKR Capstone in the Americas. She worked in the Menlo Park and London offices before joining the New York office in 2016. Ms. Arlinghaus works with the F… Read full bio
Toya Asbury
Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal
Toya Asbury is a Managing Director specializing in driving operational process and performance improvement and business transformation through A&M’s Rapid Results Program™. With over 15 years of experience, she has driven performance and process… Read full bio
Lisa Baldwin
Operating Executive, Evergreen Coast Capital
Lisa Baldwin is an Operating Executive at Evergreen Coast Capital, the private equity affiliate of Elliott Investment Management L.P. Ms. Baldwin assists the Evergreen investment team in the areas of IT systems, services, and cloud operations in dili… Read full bio
Donna Bebb
Head of ESG, Thoma Bravo
Donna Riley Bebb is Head of ESG at Thoma Bravo. Based in San Francisco, she joined the firm in 2022 to lead Thoma Bravo's enterprise-wide ESG strategy and build upon the firm's long-standing commitment to environmental, social and governance efforts.… Read full bio
Ori Ben-Moshe
Director of Portfolio Operations, ORIX Capital Partners
Ori Ben-Moshe is a Director, Portfolio Operations at ORIX Capital Partners (“OCP”). Mr. Ben-Moshe is responsible for leading operational improvement and growth initiatives at portfolio companies, in the technology, industrial and business services sp… Read full bio
Kate Berkeley
Managing Director, Talent, Gryphon Investors
Kate joined Gryphon Investors in 2020 as a Managing Director to lead and scale the firm’s talent acquisition capabilities, both internally at Gryphon and externally with Gryphon portfolio companies. She is also Co-Head of Gryphon’s Diversity, Equity… Read full bio
Gregory Beutler
Operating Partner, Blackstone
Greg Beutler is an Operating Partner in Blackstone’s Portfolio Operations Group based in New York. Since joining Blackstone in 2005, Mr. Beutler has been involved in portfolio management focused on supply chain and global cross-portfolio procurement… Read full bio
Ted Bililies
Managing Director and Chief Talent Officer, AlixPartners
Ted is an internationally-recognized expert on leadership and organization development. He advises investors, CEOs, and boards globally to help them position the right leaders for key roles and to support those leaders and teams for maximal value cre… Read full bio
Mark Billige
Chief Executive Officer, Simon-Kucher & Partners
Mark Billige is CEO of Simon-Kucher & Partners. He was elected to lead the consultancy alongside Andreas von der Gathen in 2019. During his 15-year career with the company, he has grown the UK business as managing partner and served on the compan… Read full bio
Prashanth (PV) Bóccasam
Operating Partner, Cota Capital
PV Boccasam joined Cota in 2021 as a Partner on the investment team. Prior to Cota, PV was a General Partner in a $600M Mid-Atlantic early-stage fund investing in industry shaping companies focused on enterprise software. He started his career at Mic… Read full bio
Bob Brennan
Executive Vice President, Integrated Solutions, SGS-Maine Pointe
Bob Brennan is a senior executive with 35 years of experience in manufacturing operations leadership, private equity advisory and general management. He has played a pivotal role in turning around troubled operations and succeeded in generating lasti… Read full bio
Kristin Brown Patrick
Senior Operating Partner, Human Capital, New State Capital Partners
Kristin joined New State Capital Partners in 2019 as Senior Operating Partner, Human Capital with more than 25 years of hands-on growth strategy, executive search, talent acquisition and talent development experience. The bulk of Kristin’s career has… Read full bio
Tony Buffum
Vice President of HR Client Strategy, Upwork
Tony Buffum is VP of HR Client Strategy at Upwork. As a key member of the senior-level executive client strategy team, Buffum is responsible for accelerating growth of current and prospective Upwork enterprise clients, helping them solve HR challenge… Read full bio
Neal Cao
Principal, Transaction Advisory Services, RSM US
Neal has over 25 years of technical and executive experience (CIO & CTO) in software product development and delivery, global IT operations, IT strategy, and enterprise transformation. Throughout his career, he has focused on delivery of commerci… Read full bio
Kelly Carlson
Managing Director, Head of Talent, STG Partners
Kelly Carlson is Managing Director, Head of Talent with STG, where she is leading the firm’s talent efforts, working across the portfolio to attract CEOs and executive leadership teams to drive results. Kelly’s mandate includes the curation of a CEO… Read full bio
Tania Carnegie
Global and US Lead for ESG, Private Equity and Asset Management, KPMG
Tania is the Global Lead for ESG and Impact Investing services for KPMG’s Private Equity and Asset Management clients. Based in New York, she is a Partner in KPMG’s ESG and Climate Strategy practice. She advises institutional investors on strategies… Read full bio
Rami Cassis
Founder and CEO, Parabellum Investments
Rami Cassis has proven success growing companies ranging in size from $5m to $150m in revenue, leading transactions including reverse takeovers / IPO’s, and take-privates. Rami is an international operational investor specialising in lower mid-market… Read full bio
Jessica Castillo
Operating Partner, Sovereign's Capital
Jessica Castillo is the Operating Partner at Sovereign’s Capital focused on growth investments across their Lower Middle Market Private Equity Funds. In her role, Jessica partners with investment and executive teams on their comprehensive value creat… Read full bio
Kristen Chang
Managing Director, Human Capital, LLR Partners
Kristen Chang joined LLR Partners in 2011 and is a leader on LLR’s Value Creation Team. She partners with LLR’s portfolio companies on executive search, Board recruitment, talent assessment, compensation, and broad HR practices that drive growth. LLR… Read full bio
Theresa Ciullo
Head of Procurement - North America, Asia and Pacific, Merlin Entertainments
Theresa has worked in the Theme Park and Resort Hotel Industry for 45 years. Before joining Merlin in 2018 she held senior leadership positions for other industry leaders such as Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, Universal Orlando, Palace Entertai… Read full bio
Jim Corey
Managing Partner, Blue Ridge Partners
Jim is a co-founder of Blue Ridge Partners and serves as the firm’s Managing Partner. For 35 years he has assisted companies in North America, Europe and Asia accelerate profitable revenue growth. Jim has advised over 300 companies on revenue-related… Read full bio
Amy Daly
Americas Private Equity Consulting Leader, Ernst & Young
Amy Daly is Americas Private Equity Consulting Leader responsible for helping Sponsors and Portfolio Companies transform their business to achieve top-line growth and operational improvement. Amy has over 25 years of experience, combining both global… Read full bio
Sebastian de Meel
Partner, PwC
Sebastian is a partner within PwC's Deals practice focusing on Private Equity Value creation. Previously, he served as an operating partner with Arcline Investment Management. He is focused on operations value identification and capture support for b… Read full bio
Elizabeth Dresdale
Principal, The Catalyst Group, Incline Equity Partners
Elizabeth Dresdale is a Principal at Incline Equity Partners. She is responsible for identifying, assessing, and recommending sales and go to market strategies and improvements for portfolio companies. Elizabeth is based in the firm’s New York office… Read full bio
Jill Dumain
Global VP of Sustainability Solutions, Patagonia
With more than 30 years working in sustainability and supply chain, Jill Dumain stepped into the role of Global VP Sustainability Solutions at SGS in June 2021, after completing her time as CEO at bluesign technologies. Though she joined bluesign tec… Read full bio
Ingrid Evans
Vice President, Human Resources, Insight Enterprises
Ingrid Evans is a Vice President of Hunan Resources with Insight Enterprises, a Fortune 500 solutions integrator. Ingrid leads Global Total Rewards, HR Systems, HR Projects and North American HR Business Partner Teams supporting over 12,000 teammates… Read full bio
Liraz Evenor
Operating Partner, Bain Capital
Liraz Evenor is an Operating Partner at Bain Capital Private Equity. Since joining in 2014, Liraz has been focused on leading transformations across the portfolio by building high performing transformation teams, pivoting business strategies, impleme… Read full bio
David Feierstein
Managing Partner, Ronin Equity Partners
David is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ronin Equity Partners. Before he formed Ronin, David was the Head of the Transformation Office at Diversey, the second largest industrial cleaning business in the world, joining the team as part of its pu… Read full bio
Tim Foster
Founder & Managing Partner, Maple Street Advisors
Tim is the founder and Managing Partner of Maple Street Advisors. Maple Street is a boutique management consulting firm specializing in Pricing and Go-To-Market Excellence. Tim has spent over 20 years working with B2B companies across various industr… Read full bio
Thomas Fountain
Operating Partner, One Rock Capital Partners
Thomas C. Fountain is an Operating Partner focused on driving value creating through the deployment of technology-based solutions and IT excellence for One Rock and its portfolio companies. Mr. Fountain brings over 30 years of technology and leadersh… Read full bio
Michael Frain
Senior Vice President, Shared Services, Warburg Pincus
Michael Frain is based in New York, joined Warburg Pincus in 2008, leads the firm's Shared Services program, which program helps portfolio companies drive strategy and value in areas such as procurement, employee benefits, corporate insurance and rea… Read full bio
Shannon Gabriel
Managing Director, Leadership Solutions, TBM Consulting Group
Shannon Gabriel is Managing Director of TBM’s Leadership Solutions practice where she partners with clients to identify and resolve weaknesses within their organizational structure and hiring process, build bench strength and engage our interim consu… Read full bio
Amar Ghai
Head of Digital Value Creation (Americas), KKR
Member of the Global Innovation and Technology leadership team. Mr. Ghai partners with Americas Private Equity investment teams, focusing on technology-related investment diligence and portfolio company value creation via digital transformation and t… Read full bio
Daniel Goetz
Managing Director – Value Creation, Siris Capital
Mr. Goetz joined Siris Capital in 2013 and is a Managing Director, leading the firm’s Operational Excellence practice. Mr. Goetz works with management teams and operating advisors to identify, drive, and manage value creation initiatives at Siris por… Read full bio
Lauren Goldstein
Private Equity Practice Lead, Winning by Design
Lauren helps transform high growth organizations through go-to-market strategies focused on revenue optimization and delivering excellent customer experiences. She brings incomparable energy, vision, and intelligence across her 25 years of leadership… Read full bio
Cornelia Gomez
Global Head of ESG, General Atlantic
Cornelia Gomez is the Global Head of ESG at General Atlantic. In this role, she oversees the firm’s strategy to advance environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts for its global operations and across its portfolio. Before joining General Atla… Read full bio
Amanda Good
Partner, Global Head of Value Creation, Searchlight Capital Partners
Ms. Good is a Partner and Global Head of Value Creation. Prior to joining Searchlight in 2021, Ms. Good worked as a Partner at Hg for 7 years where she led the portfolio and operations team of over 30 executives. While at Hg, she was also an active m… Read full bio
Jeff Goodman
Senior Operating Partner, The Riverside Company
Jeff leads the Riverside Capital Appreciation Fund operating team, which drives value creation activities across the portfolio. Jeff previously led the Riverside Micro-Cap Fund operating team and served as Chair of the Board of seven Riverside portfo… Read full bio
Hannah Gräfin von Waldersee
Vice President, Strategy and Innovation, Insight Partners
Hannah joined Insight Partners in 2021 to drive the growth of Insight and its portfolio as a strategy and innovation leader. Prior to joining Insight, Hannah worked at McKinsey & Company, Buckingham Palace, and ran a professional development star… Read full bio
Matt Greenstein
Principal, The Alexander Group
Matt Greenstein is a Principal and Partner with Alexander Group, a revenue growth management consulting firm. Matt has been with the firm for more than 15 years and is based out of the New York office. He co-leads Alexander Group’s Private Equity pra… Read full bio
Christopher Grillo
Private Equity Vice President, Partners Group
Christopher Grillo is a Vice President at Partners Group focused on working with company boards and management teams to build better businesses for investors. He has historically worked with industrial services and consumer products businesses. His l… Read full bio
Doron Grosman
Former President/CEO, Global Container Terminals & Former Operating Partner
Doron Grosman is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of GCT Global Container Terminals Inc., with operations in Vancouver BC, Bayonne NJ and Staten Island NY. Doron is a seasoned multi industry executive with experience in a variety of C… Read full bio
Joseph Gwozdz
Operating Partner, Edison Partners
Edison Partners is a leading growth equity firm providing the financial and intellectual capital that CEOs and their executive teams need to grow and scale their companies. The firm’s team brings more than 275 years of combined investing, operating a… Read full bio
Dan Hawkins
Founder and CEO, Summit Leadership Partners
Dan is the CEO and Founder of Summit Leadership Partners. He advises boards, CEO's, investors and business leaders on strategy execution and value creation through leadership and organization performance. After a successful corporate career, Dan foun… Read full bio
Jimmy Holloran
Operating Partner, ParkerGale Capital
Jimmy is responsible for working with portfolio companies on talent strategy focusing on organizational design and development as well as communication both within each company and across the portfolio. Prior to joining ParkerGale, Jimmy worked on ta… Read full bio
Kenneth Horne
Director of Portfolio Operations, Spring Lane Capital
Ken Horne, P.E., PMP is the Director of Portfolio Operations with Spring Lane Capital where he leads technical diligence, asset monitoring, and value creation across all portfolio assets. Prior to joining Spring Lane, Ken served as a Director at Guid… Read full bio
Chris Hueneke
Chief Information Security Officer, RKON
Chris Hueneke leads the Security Practice at RKON responsible for Security Advisory and Security Operations services. He is currently the virtual Chief Information Security Officer for several Private Equity portfolio companies adding value by protec… Read full bio
Jerry Hughes
Director, Commercial Excellence, American Securities
Jerry Hughes joined American Securities, where he helps portfolio companies increase revenue growth by strengthening sales and marketing capabilities, in 2018. Prior to joining American Securities, Jerry spent nine years at Blue Ridge Partners, a bou… Read full bio
Yvonne Hyland
Head of Portfolio Business Development, B Capital Group
Yvonne Hyland joined B Capital Group as Head of Portfolio Business Development in September 2021 with more than 25 years of experience in the high-tech industry. Yvonne’s former experience includes 11 years at Gartner, where she was responsible for s… Read full bio
Natalie Ings
Managing Director, Head of Portfolio Solutions, Lightyear Capital
Natalie Ings is a Managing Director in Portfolio Solutions at Lightyear Capital. Ms. Ings focuses on supporting Lightyear's senior management in enhancing value and driving growth at Lightyear's portfolio companies. Prior to joining Lightyear in 2016… Read full bio
Jamie Jacobs
Chief Talent Officer, Oak Hill Capital
Jamie Jacobs serves as the Chief Talent Officer of Oak Hill Capital. Working across the entire portfolio of Oak Hill funds focusing on all aspects of Human Capital with specialties in Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Organization design and ass… Read full bio
Jan Jamrich
CEO and Founder, Entromy
Jan is CEO & Founder of Entromy, the leading organizational assessment platform that enables private equity firms to rapidly understand organizational network dynamics and critical business areas that affect portfolio company performance. As a ke… Read full bio
Andy Johnson
Partner, Mergers & Acquisitions, West Monroe
Andy guides private equity clients through all stages of the M&A lifecycle, assessing potential acquisition targets, leading cross-functional separation and integration management offices, and leading initiatives to identify and deliver value wit… Read full bio
Prital Kadakia
Partner, Serent Capital
Prital is a Partner at Serent Capital. He leads the portfolio operations team for Serent Capital, working closely with the management teams at Serent portfolio companies on value-creation initiatives to drive measurable and sustained revenue and earn… Read full bio
Greg Kegeles
Operating Partners, Digital Transformation, Newlight Partners
Greg has been with Newlight Partners since 2021. He has over 15 years of technology and operational leadership experience in both start-ups and publicly traded companies. He is responsible for supporting portfolio companies in their data & techno… Read full bio
Kevin Kerby
Operating Partner, Bain Capital
Mr. Kerby joined Bain Capital Private Equity in 2018. He is an Operating Partner and a member of the North American Private Equity team. Mr. Kerby focuses on sales force effectiveness and go-to-market strategies for our portfolio companies. Prior to… Read full bio
Christopher Kim
Principal, Head of Human Capital, Platinum Equity
Chris Kim is a Principal and leads the Human Capital Management team, which is responsible for performing diligence on all Human Capital aspects of prospective additions to the Platinum Equity portfolio. Chris also has responsibilities in ensuring a… Read full bio
Michael Kingston
Managing Director, Chief Information Officer Americas, The Carlyle Group
Michael Kingston is a Managing Director, Chief Information Officer for The Americas within the Global Portfolio Services team at The Carlyle Group. In his current role, Michael is part of a team that drives value creation by increasing the speed, sca… Read full bio
Bobbi Kommineni
Operating Partner, Terminus Capital Partners
Bobbi Kommineni is the Operating Partner at Terminus Capital Partners (TCP), a growth-oriented private equity firm focused exclusively on majority investments in B2B software companies. At TCP, she leads a team of experts in sales, marketing, enginee… Read full bio
Jonathan Konkoly
Vice President of Portfolio Operations, HCI Equity Partners
Jonathan Konkoly joined HCI Equity Partners in 2022 as Vice President of Portfolio Operations, with a focus on identifying and accelerating profitable revenue growth at our portfolio companies. Jonathan brings to the position deep experience in go-to… Read full bio
Amy Kramer
Operating Partner-Growth, Level Equity
Amy runs point on go-to-market strategy, leading diligence for new investments and advising Level portfolio companies on scaling customer acquisition and growth. Amy also leads our Level GTM Leadership Group, hosting expert webinars and round tables… Read full bio
Raj Kushwaha
Managing Director, Co-Head Value Creation and Chief Digital Officer, Warburg Pincus
Raj Kushwaha joined Warburg Pincus in 2012 and serves as Co-Head of the Value Creation function. In addition to providing oversight for the Value Creation function, as the firm’s Chief Digital Officer, Raj is also responsible for product and technolo… Read full bio
Markus Lahrkamp
Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal
Markus Lahrkamp is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal Private Equity Performance Improvement in New York. He is one of the head developers of A&M’s proprietary Rapid Results Program™, which he continues to lead. Mr. Lahrkamp is also ex… Read full bio
Paul Lennick
Senior Vice President, M&A Services, ContinuServe
Leader of ContinuServe's M&A practice, focused on serving Private Equity firms in delivering back office outsource solutions and consulting services to drive deal value. Prior to ContinuServe, Paul served in leadership positions at Apollo Global… Read full bio
Nick Leopard
CEO and Founder, Accordion
Nick Leopard is the CEO and Founder of Accordion, the private equity-focused financial and technology consulting firm. Under Nick’s leadership, Accordion has grown significantly since its founding in 2009. The firm now boasts more than 200 of the wor… Read full bio
James LiVigni
Operating Advisor, JMI Equity
James is an Operating Advisor at JMI with over 25 years of experience in Sales, Sales Operations, Lead Development, and Alliances for companies ranging from startups to the Fortune 500. Most recently he was responsible for WW Sales Operations at Kron… Read full bio
Misha Logvinov
Managing Director and Head of IT Strategy, EQT Partners
Misha joined EQT in 2018 as Managing Director and Head of IT Strategy. In his role, he is advising the EQT's investment teams and portfolio companies on digital transformation. Previously, he was Group Vice President of Cloud Customer Success at Orac… Read full bio
Geoffrey Lurie
Managing Partner, Traub Capital Partners
Geoffrey D. Lurie is Managing Partner of Traub Capital Partners, a consumer oriented Private Equity Firm in New York. Traub Capital Partners' portfolio includes Signature Brands, distributor of Betty Crocker cake decoration products, Mana Products, a… Read full bio
Andreas Mang
Senior Managing Director, Portfolio Operations, Blackstone
Andreas Mang is a Senior Managing Director on Blackstone’s Portfolio Operations team where he is involved in managing medical benefits spend across the Blackstone portfolio. Mr. Mang brings twenty years of healthcare experience to Blackstone, having… Read full bio
Alice Mann
Partner, Human Capital, Sentinel Capital Partners
Dr. Alice Mann, Partner, Human Capital, joined Sentinel in 2022. For more than 20 years, Dr. Mann has advised senior executives on building high-performing leadership teams, developing winning talent strategies, and designing organizations that achie… Read full bio
Marcos Marrero
Chief Information Security Officer, H.I.G. Capital
Marcos Marrero is a Technology Risk & Information Security professional with 20+ years of experience establishing and managing Technology Risk & Information Security programs. He started his career in Information Security with Lloyds Banking… Read full bio
George Mashini
Operating Partner, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Currently an Operating Partner at WCAS, a top-quartile private equity firm specializing in healthcare and technology. Previously CEO, CTO and CRO at B2B software companies with a track record of success in technology innovation and revenue growth. Pr… Read full bio
Lee McCabe
Operating Partner, AEA Investors
Lee joined AEA Investors in 2019 and serves as an Operating Partner. In addition to providing oversight for the digital value creation function, Lee is also responsible for digital diligence with prospective investments as well as ongoing work with t… Read full bio
Lane McDonald
Managing Director, OMERS Private Equity
As Managing Director, Operations, Lane works with investment and management teams to assess new investments and define and execute value-creation priorities. Lane is based in New York and joined the OMERS Private Equity team in 2022. Prior to joining… Read full bio
Scott McGurl
Principal, Strategy and Transactions, Grant Thornton
Scott has worked in industry and management consulting environments for over 25 years supporting clients define and achieve their business transformation objectives. He is an accomplished customer centric leader with a reputation for delivering a ste… Read full bio
Thom McLeod
Founder and Managing Director, Tenzing Consulting
As a consultant and executive, Thom has personally advised dozens of senior executives worldwide on issues ranging from strategic sourcing and supply chain to strategy and change management. His track record of bottom-line results for clients across… Read full bio
Marco Mendes
Partner, Head of Portfolio Group North America, Advent International
Marco Mendes joined Advent in 2013. He has worked with more than 40 private equity portfolio companies during his career, 25 while at Advent. Previously, he spent seven years with Doughty Hanson, based in London, as an investment committee partner. B… Read full bio
Gabriel Mesanza
Partner, Resource Group, Huron Capital
Gabe has extensive experience across various industries and facets of company operations. Prior to Huron Capital, Gabe held multiple senior operating roles in Private Equity portfolio companies, including VP of Quality, VP of Operations, COO, and CEO… Read full bio
Karl Meyer
Managing Director and Head of Portfolio Operations, Digital Alpha
Mr. Meyer has been a business development and operational leader in Silicon Valley at both growth stage and large companies for over two decades, during which he and Mr. Shrotri have worked together twice before. At Incorta, Mr. Meyer started the bus… Read full bio
Aaron Miller
Partner, Head of Portfolio Performance Solutions, Apollo Global Management
Mr. Miller joined Apollo in 2019 in Private Equity as Head of Apollo Consulting. Immediately preceding Apollo, Mr. Miller was an Operating Director at Berkshire Partners and Chief Operating Officer of Catalina Marketing, a Berkshire Portfolio company… Read full bio
Todd Miller
CEO, Risk International
Todd joined Risk International in 2015 as Chief Growth Officer. By 2016 he was promoted to President and in July 2017 named CEO. As CEO, Todd is a key member of Risk International’s development team and Board, taking primary responsibility for leadin… Read full bio
Chris "Mitch" Mitchell
Principal, Private Equity, FMG Leading
An experienced and grounded leader, advisor, and business coach, Mitch brings over 30 years of experience to his role as Principal, Private Equity. Mitch partners with investors, executives and management teams to implement human capital strategies t… Read full bio
Michael Monagle
Principal, Portfolio Operations, Providence Equity Partners
Mike Monagle is a principal based in our New York office, where he is focused on portfolio operations. He is actively involved in the firm’s ESG and D&I committees. Before joining Providence in 2018, Mr. Monagle was vice president of operations a… Read full bio
Sean Mooney
Founder and CEO, BluWave
Sean is a former NY-based private equity partner turned entrepreneur, founder and CEO. While in private equity, Sean and his peers in the industry experienced significant and growing pressures to devise new ways to more effectively assess opportuniti… Read full bio
Kasra Moozar
Principal, Operations Team, Novacap
Kasra Moozar is a Principal at Novacap, where he leads value creation initiatives and develops long-term strategic plans for portfolio companies across all funds. In his role, Mr. Moozar works with the leadership team to re-evaluate the full life cyc… Read full bio
Kelley Morrell
Senior Managing Director, Portfolio Operations, Blackstone
Kelley Morrell is Head of Asset Management within Blackstone’s Private Equity businesses. In this role, she oversees the U.S. team of asset managers for Blackstone Capital Partners and a global team for Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Blackston… Read full bio
Jud Morrison
Operating Partner, The Sterling Group
In the role of Operating Partner, Jud works closely with Sterling’s investment professionals and portfolio management teams to drive growth and build capabilities for Sterling portfolio companies. Jud brings over 20 years of operations experience gai… Read full bio
Melissa Mounce
Managing Director, Leadership Talent and Diversity, GTCR
Melissa joined GTCR in 2019 as a Managing Director, Leadership Talent & Diversity and manages the identification and recruitment of Leaders StrategyTM CEOs and management teams. Prior to joining GTCR, Melissa was the Principal of Human Capital at… Read full bio
Kalyan Mukherjee
Operating Partner, Apollo Global Management
Kal Mukherjee joined Apollo in 2020 as an Operating Partner leading the Operational Excellence team, where he partners with our management and deal teams to optimize operations and pricing. Kal also works with Apollo deal teams on sizing the potentia… Read full bio
Zaid Nesheiwat
Vice President, Portfolio Operations, ORIX Capital Partners
Zaid Nesheiwat is a Vice President at ORIX Capital Partners (“OCP”). In this role, he is responsible for operational improvement initiatives at portfolio companies and operations due diligence for new investment opportunities. Prior to joining OCP, M… Read full bio
Beth Neumann
Partner, Head of Portfolio Operations, Kelso & Company
As the Partner at Kelso responsible for Portfolio Operations, Beth leads a team of operations experts who support portfolio company CEOs and management teams, when and where needed, in building capabilities required to deliver the value creation plan… Read full bio
Steve Niesman
President and CEO, Americas Region, NTT Data Business Solutions
Steve Niesman is the President and CEO of NTT Data Business Solutions, North America, directing operations for the leading global, mid-market full-service SAP provider. He has more than 30 years management experience, including 25 years of informatio… Read full bio
Alex Olano
CEO and Managing Partner, Trajectory
Alex Olano is President of Trajectory Group, a firm focused on operational improvement and technology implementations. Throughout his 15-year career at Trajectory, Alex's role has ranged from managing teams and projects to running the professional se… Read full bio
Kevin O’Neill
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Acertitude
Kevin is a mold-breaking entrepreneur, executive search leader, Forbes contributor, and co-founder and managing partner of Acertitude, the executive search firm unleashing human potential for global investment firms and their portfolio companies. Kev… Read full bio
Seckin Ozdamar
Operating Vice President, General Atlantic
Seckin Ozdamar is an Operating Vice President in General Atlantic’s Growth Acceleration Group where he leads the Marketing and Sales practice. He works closely with investment professionals through the deal lifecycle from diligence to value creation.… Read full bio
Amisha Parekh
Managing Director, Global Head of ESG for Private Equity, Blackstone
Amisha Parekh leads ESG diligence, policy development and strategy and reporting for Blackstone’s Private Equity Group. Ms. Parekh joined Blackstone from Bloomberg LP, where she worked for four and a half years, most recently serving as product manag… Read full bio
Clark Perry
Director, AlixPartners
Clark is an internationally recognized specialist in leadership assessment and execution, team development, cultural change, and exceptional performance. He has 30 years of experience with elite sporting teams in Australia and the United States by se… Read full bio
Greg Petraetis
Managing Director, Midmarket and Partner Ecosystem, North America, SAP
As head of Midmarket and Partner Ecosystem for SAP North America, Greg Petraetis is responsible for all facets of the organization’s operations. Along with accountability for sales and field project execution, Greg manages value-added resellers, thir… Read full bio
Andy Pickens
Managing Director, Data & Digital Transformation, APPS, Apollo Global Management
Mr. Pickens joined Apollo in 2018 and serves as Managing Director, Data & Digital Transformation within the Apollo Portfolio Performance Solutions team. In this capacity, Mr. Pickens works closely with investment teams and management teams to def… Read full bio
Jessica Pizzo
Resource Partner, Court Square Capital Partners
Jessica joined Court Square Capital Partners in 2015 as a Technology Resource Partner. She works with Court Square deal teams and portfolio company executives on technology strategy, digital transformation, technology buy and sell-side due diligence,… Read full bio
James Potter
Chief Commercial Officer, Dunes Point Capital
Mr. Potter is the Chief Commercial Offer at Dunes Point Capital. Prior to Dunes Point Capital, Mr. Potter was a Senior Managing Director and Global Practice Leader for Blue Ridge Partners. Prior to Blue Ridge Partners, Mr. Potter was a Partner at Tre… Read full bio
Jorge Rosales
Senior Vice President, Growth Team, Serent Capital
As a member of Serent’s Growth Team and leader of the firm’s Pricing Center of Excellence, Jorge works closely with the management teams at Serent portfolio companies to drive value creation and accelerate top-line growth by identifying and executing… Read full bio
Tim Sanders
Vice President, Client Strategy, Upwork
Tim leads client strategy at Upwork where he helps leaders transform their businesses through the adoption of on demand talent solutions. He began his career as an early stage member of Mark Cuban's broadcast.com and, once acquired, he became the chi… Read full bio
Kyle Sarausky
Former Operating Partner , Parthenon Capital
Kyle is a former operating partner of private equity, specializing in technology at Parthenon Capital in Boston. In this role, Kyle supported deal team investment activities by advising on the technology health of each company, evaluating incoming le… Read full bio
Chris Satchell
Operating Principal Technology and Digital, Clayton Dubilier & Rice
Mr Satchell joined CD&R in 2020. Prior to CD&R, he spent twenty-five years in software and technology industries spanning five different CXO roles. Most recently, Mr Satchell served as CTO of Zume Inc, building AI, logistics and robotic syste… Read full bio
Steve Schloss
Operating Partner, Leadership Center of Excellence, Edison Partners
A modern business leader, accomplished chief people officer, graduate faculty member, and certified executive and team coach. Steve is Operating Partner, Leadership Center of Excellence with Edison Partners, a premier growth equity firm focused on fi… Read full bio
Drew Scielzo
Operating Partner, ACON Investments
Drew Scielzo leads the Operating Group at ACON Investments, which he joined 9 years ago. He is responsible for overseeing ACON’s portfolio in Europe, North America, and South America. In addition, he works directly with a multitude of portfolio compa… Read full bio
Sheheryar Shah
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, ZT Corporate
Sheheryar Shah is responsible for leading mergers and acquisitions activity for current portfolio investments, developing and assessing investment opportunities, providing strategic management support, and monitoring investment performance. Shah led… Read full bio
Ali Shams
Technology Operating Partner, H.I.G. Capital
Ali Shams is a Technology Operating Partner in Dallas, Texas. He specializes in Digital and Information Technology transformation, integration, and implementation. His primary areas of concentration are in strategy development, digital innovation, so… Read full bio
Steven Siwinski
Operating Principal, Accel-KKR
Steve Siwinski is an Operating Principal at Accel-KKR, where he focuses on driving finance, operational and strategic initiatives across the investment cycle and AKKR portfolio. Steve brings a unique combination of private equity, corporate finance,… Read full bio
Brian Slobodow
Operating Partner, HGGC
Brian Slobodow is an Operating Partner of Operational Resource Group, LLC ("ORG")*. Brian advises the firm and portfolio companies in a broad range of supply chain and procurement issues. Prior to joining ORG, Brian was an Operating Executive with Go… Read full bio
Debra Somers
Senior Vice President, Portfolio Recruitment, Warburg Pincus
Debra Somers is based in New York, joined Warburg Pincus in 2019 and is a Senior Vice President of Portfolio Recruitment, focused on senior level recruiting best practices for U.S. based portfolio companies. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, Mrs. Some… Read full bio
Michael Song
Managing Director, Portfolio Operations, Providence Equity Partners
Michael Song is a managing director focused on portfolio operations and is based in our Providence office. Prior to joining Providence in 2010, Mr. Song worked at RSA, the security division of Dell EMC. Prior to joining Dell EMC, Mr. Song was a consu… Read full bio
Richard Spencer
Co-Founder, Kamylon Holdings
Richard is the architect of the Kamylon Management System and has led portfolio management for the Firm for 15 years. Richard has over thirty five years of experience as a private equity investor, serial board member, general manager and consultant.… Read full bio
Eric Taylor
Founder and CEO, Trident
Eric Taylor is the Founder, CEO and CIO of Trident, a private equity firm focused on acquiring US-based small businesses in industrial, consumer and healthcare sectors. Trident uses proprietary technology to systematically source and diligence small-… Read full bio
Joanne Taylor
Director, AlixPartners
Joanne offers a unique combination of hands-on strategic, operational, and sales and marketing skills to the businesses and clients she has worked with during her career. She specializes in overall strategic direction for businesses, focusing specifi… Read full bio
Martin Taylor
Managing Director and President of OneVista, Vista Equity Partners
Martin Taylor joined Vista Equity Partners in 2006 and was the initial President of Vista Consulting Group. He sits on the Vista Flagship Funds' Investment Committee and is responsible for driving the transformation and operational improvements of th… Read full bio
Kush Tulsidas
Operating Partner, One Rock Capital Partners
H. Kush Tulsidas is an Operating Partner focused on sales and marketing strategy and execution at One Rock’s portfolio companies. He is responsible for assessing the growth potential of companies in the investment stage and improving profitable reven… Read full bio
David Venker
Vice President of Portfolio Operations, HCI Equity Partners
Dave Venker is a Vice President of Portfolio Operations at HCI Equity Partners, having joined the firm in 2019. He is involved in identifying and executing strategic and operational initiatives at portfolio companies and reviewing new investment oppo… Read full bio
Andrew Vittetoe
Private Equity – Technology, Partners Group
Andrew Vittetoe is an Associate Vice President at Partners Group focused on Technology investments and value creation in the Americas portfolio, including responsibility for portfolio cybersecurity and digital initiatives. He has over 8 years of expe… Read full bio
Craig Vosburgh
Chief Technology Officer, Strattam Capital
Craig Vosburgh joined Strattam as Chief Technical Officer in 2019. In this role, he helps drive technical excellence across the Strattam portfolio. Previously, Craig served as Distinguished Engineer in the Office of the CTO at CA Technologies where h… Read full bio
Jana Wayne
Director of Portfolio Procurement, SK Capital Partners
Jana Wayne joined SK Capital in 2021 as the Director of Procurement and Strategic Sourcing and is responsible for guiding the SK Capital portfolio companies on all matters related to procurement and building out SK’s leveraged procurement program. Pr… Read full bio
John Weaver
Senior Director, Risk International
John joined Risk International in 2019 and is the Senior Director of Private Equity. John works with Risk International teams in both the Risk Management and Benefits Advisory Practices to drive value creation for Private Equity clients and their por… Read full bio
Ken Weaver
Managing Director, TVV Capital
Mr. Weaver is responsible for operations growth and value creation in portfolio companies. Prior to joining TVV, Ken spent over 30 years in a series of increasingly responsible leadership positions with Bridgestone Corporation. His last three assignm… Read full bio
Carsten Weber
Technology Director, The Sterling Group
Carsten joined Sterling in 2021, bringing over 20 years of technology experience in various leadership roles in both industry and consulting. In his role as Technology Director, he is leading Sterling’s Technology Lever and value creation across the… Read full bio
Jon Weber
Global Head of Portfolio Operations, Elliott Management Corporation
Jon is Head of the Global Portfolio Operations Group at Elliott Management Corp, where he works with management and boards of companies in which Elliott funds are an influential investor. Prior to joining Elliott, Jon headed teams responsible for ope… Read full bio
Rohini Williams
Global Head of Private Equity, Infosys
Rohini has a Global responsibility to manage partnerships and relationships with key influencers – Private Equity Firms and Top Consulting firms for Infosys to enable best in class consulting and execution at scale for clients across all Infosys Indu… Read full bio
Nick Winter
Managing Director, Head of North America Portfolio Operations, Värde Partners
Nick Winter is a Managing Director and North American Head of Portfolio Operations responsible for value creation in Värde private equity investments. He is also responsible for Asset Management globally for Värde’s Financial Services investing strat… Read full bio
James Wood
Vice President, Pricing Strategy, Insight Partners
James Wood leads the operating team that specializes in pricing and packaging excellence for Insight Partners. He works closely with portfolio companies to drive growth, maximize value capture and optimize their go-to-market approach through strategy… Read full bio
Jake Wojcik
Executive Vice President, Insight Sourcing Group and SpendHQ
Jake is Executive Vice President at Insight Sourcing Group and it’s spend visibility company, SpendHQ. He has over 20 years of experience in management consulting with a focus on procurement, spend analytics, sourcing, and supply chain management. As… Read full bio
Richard Wyckoff
CEO, Arctic Glacier
Richard Wyckoff is CEO and President of Arctic Glacier, LLC a Carlyle Group PE sponsored company. During his current term at Arctic Glacier, Richard has led the tech-enabled transformation of the service delivery model, stood up a sales team producin… Read full bio
Christopher Young
Managing Director, Operations and Strategy, OMERS Private Equity
Christopher is a Managing Director, Operations & Strategy, in the Toronto office of OMERS Private Equity, having joined the team in 2012. In this role, he works with investment and management teams to assess new investments, and define and execut… Read full bio
Cici Zheng
Partner, ParkerGale Capital
Cici Zheng is Principal at ParkerGale Capital where she is responsible for working with portfolio companies on their growth strategies by developing and implementing programs that amplify go-to-market approaches, product positioning and financial res… Read full bio
Paul Zimmerman
Managing Director, Global Private Equity, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Paul Zimmerman is Managing Director, Private Equity (PE) at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Paul leads a global team focused on the needs of PE firms and their portfolio companies. They offer expertise and programs designed to help PE firms accelerate val… Read full bio
Connect with a community of expert operating partners and C-level executives
Engage with this leading group of private equity executives through thought leadership, brand awareness and more. Sponsorship gives you:
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To explore how your firm can take a prominent leadership position, contact Lawrence Dvorchik at lawrence.d@peimedia.com or call +1 646 545 4429.
