At the Everest Group Engage conference, the panel on “Tackling Supply Risk Across the Partner Ecosystem” brought together leaders from LinkedIn, AbbVie, and BJ’s Wholesale to discuss how procurement teams are confronting risk in an era of permacrisis, a world where disruption is constant, and preparedness is no longer optional.
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Moderated with energy and candor, the session featured:
- Jose Ramirez, Senior Director, Support and go-to-market Global Vendor Operations, LinkedIn
- Shuchita Singh, Vice President, Procurement Strategy and Capabilities, AbbVie
- Sumit Mittal, Senior Director, Shared Services, BJ’s Wholesale
Their conversation unpacked what risk management really looks like today, from the frameworks and human factors to the technology and mindsets needed to stay ahead of what is next.
AI’s promise and its limits
When it comes to technology, the panelists agreed: Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds enormous promise, but the hype often outpaces reality.
At AbbVie, Shuchita is rolling out AI cautiously, focused on scale and practicality. With a complex landscape of thousands of suppliers in spend, automation needs to streamline, not disrupt.
“We are starting with how the business experiences procurement,” she explained. “From demand intake to contracting, to invoices, we want AI to make it easier to do business with us.”
She described a phased approach: building process cohesion across functions like Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and cybersecurity, harmonizing frameworks first, then layering AI intelligently on top.
At LinkedIn, Jose echoed the drive for automation, not to replace judgment, but to free up vendor managers to focus on outcomes. “We are automating the validations so teams can spend more time owning the result,” he said.
Sumit, however, cautioned that AI remains fragmented: “AI is not yet a connected entity,” he noted. “It sits in silos, legal might use it for contracts, vendor management might use it elsewhere, but there is no single, integrated view of supplier risk.”
The next frontier of risk
As the conversation turned to the future, all three leaders converged on one theme: speed.
“The next frontier is the speed with which risk emerges, and how ready we are with a resilient framework.” said Shuchita.
Sumit expanded on the point, emphasizing the role of people and judgment: “The human frontier is asking the right questions. AI can solve problems, but people still need to know what to ask.”
Jose extended the thought to the changing global delivery model, envisioning how real-time translation and AI-powered collaboration tools could redraw footprint strategies:
“If AI allows real-time language translation, do I still need teams in different locations for language support? But then again, that creates concentration risk, and geopolitical risk, in new ways.”
In a world where some risks evolve overnight while others unfold slowly, the real challenge is balancing innovation and prudence.
If we could change one thing…
The panel wrapped with a lightning round, “if you could change one thing in the risk lifecycle, what would it be?”
Jose didn’t hesitate: “The RFP process. It is boring, it is exhausting, and it too often rewards the wrong supplier.”
Sumit called for radical transparency and visibility: “We draft contracts three or five years out, but the world changes every six months. Real-time updates and communication between both sides would change everything.”
And Shuchita focused on integration: “If we could connect supplier performance management, contracts, and invoices in one living system, it would take the emotion out of it and make it fair for both sides.”
Closing thoughts
Four insights stood out from the discussion:
- Risk has moved to the front office. It is now a determinant of business performance, not a safeguard against failure
- People remain the most critical control point. Judgment, curiosity, and leadership define resilience more than process maturity
- Technology must serve clarity, not complexity. Integration, not innovation alone, drives the next leap in risk capability
- Resilience is a muscle, not just a metric. The most prepared organizations treat risk as a continuous exercise, not a quarterly review
In a time of permanent disruption, their message was clear:
Managing risk is not about avoiding failure, it is about building confidence in every decision that keeps business moving forward.
Essential diary dates for 2026
For those looking to continue the conversation, mark your calendars for Everest Group Engage 2026 in London, where sourcing, Global Business Services (GBS), vendor management, IT and digital services, global operations, customer experience, and other shared services functional leaders will once again gather to explore the future of partnerships, performance, and resilience.
Learn more: Everest Group Engage 2026 – London Conference
Everest Group continues to shine a spotlight on the partner ecosystem. To discuss this in more depth, Get in touch, or write to us at Khushboo Hanjura ([email protected]).
If you enjoyed this blog, check out, Third-party Risk Management In The AI Era: Evolving Models And Practices | Blog – Everest Group, which delves deeper into another topic relating to AI and risk management.
