Jean Spence, Former EVP, Research Development & Quality, Mondelez International
Jean Spence recently retired as Executive Vice President of Research, Development & Quality for Mondelez International, Inc., a position she held from January 2004 to April 2015. She was responsible for all product and packaging development, research, nutrition, quality, food safety and scientific affairs activities worldwide. She held the same position at Kraft Foods Inc., the $50B predecessor to Mondelez International, prior to the spin-off of the company’s North American grocery operations in October of 2012. In both roles, she reported to the CEO, sat on the Executive Team and was a frequent presenter to the board of directors. She was responsible for technology and innovation strategy for the company. The innovation performance went from bottom to Top Tier – resulting in top 4 customers naming Kraft ‘Innovator of the Year’. (See interview Leading Transformative Innovation: Gaining Speed, Agility and Higher Margins)
Shiv Iyer, Managing Director and Partner, Accenture
Shiv Iyer leads Accenture’s CPG Industry Management Consulting practice in NA. Shiv has over 15 years of Strategy and Operational consulting experience. He focuses on helping clients drive significant operational improvements and broad based transformation of their operating models enabling them to build capabilities and drive reinvestment for growth. He leads Accenture’s Agility to Compete capability and is a known thought leader. Given the intense focus on cost management in the food sector Shiv has structured and led some of the largest ZBB programs in NA for Accenture. He has deep expertise in Enterprise Transformation, ZBB, Growth Strategy and Operating Model design.
Dr. Suna Polat, Director, Collaborative Innovation & Social Product Development Consulting Practice, CIMdata, Inc.
Dr. Suna Polat has over 23 years of experience in technology development, product development, innovation management, implementation of strategic innovation capabilities–including modeling and simulation (M&S), open innovation, knowledge management, and social technologies–and driving change and adoption, through her career at Procter & Gamble (P&G), her consulting practice thereafter and since joining CIMdata in 2014. She is also co-author of Enterprise Innovation Management: Solutions Landscape – Connecting the Dots which proposes an integrated framework for enterprise innovation management solutions to increase ability to innovate more effectively and sustainably.
Conference Chair
Cheryl Perkins, CEO and Founder of Innovationedge, LLC and former Senior VP and Chief Innovation Officer, Kimberly-Clark, is a global thought leader in strategy and innovation as well as a creative catalyst in brand-building initiatives that contribute to rewarding end-user experiences and improved business performance. She has been named a “Top 25 Champions of Innovation” by Business Week and has been recognized as a “top executive driving vision” by Consumer Goods Technology and received an “Excellence in Innovation Award” from the Asia Pacific Congress. In addition, Perkins is a passionate keynote speaker who has inspired audiences all over the world sharing her insights with C-level executives and innovation leaders about discovering design tools to deliver innovation solutions for sustainable growth.