The Thought leadership on the sales profession Conference

Keynote Speakers

TBD

Sampling of Past and Present Corporate Thought Leaders

Jim Lecinski

Associate Professor of Marketing, Northwestern University, Former Vice President Customer Solutions, Google

Mark V Hurd

Co-CEO Oracle Corporation

Gilles Grapinet

Senior Executive Vice President of Global Functions and CEO of Worldline, Atos SE

Byron Matthews

President and CEO at Miller Heiman Group

Kris Vervaet

CEO Medialaan/De Persgroep Publishing

Marc Boissonnet

Executive Vice president Corporate & External Affairs chez Bureau Veritas

Thierry Collet

Vice President Corporate Affairs at Dassault Systèmes

Hajo Rapp

Advisory Board Member at Springer Fachmedien Sales Excellence

Carl Roberts

Chief Commercial Officer, Epsilon Telecommunications

Alberto Moriana

Vice President of Sales for Latin America, Procter & Gamble

Erik Charles

Vice President Of Strategic Marketing at Xactly Corp

Cor Dubois

Leader Value Based Sales/Pursuit Excellence at Nokia

Maxime Laugier

Area Vice President at Salesforce

Paul Helmore

Director of Global Accounts at Schlumberger

Joe Stallard

VP of Human Resources at Sewell Automotive Companies

Chris Suhoza

VP Global Sales Operations at FedEx Services

Huw Tippett

Chief Commercial Officer at Allecra Therapeutics

Volkhard Bregulla

VP Global Industries Manufacturing and Distribution, HP

Mike Moorman

Managing Principal, Sales Business Area, ZS Associates / Consultant / Kellogg Exec Adjunct / Board Member

Mark Roberge

Senior Lecturer at Harvard HBS; Former CRO @HubSpot

David Skok

General Partner at Matrix Partners

Rhonda Kallman

Founder and CEO of Boston Harbor Distillery

Pedro Miranda

Corporate Vice President of Siemens AG in Munich and global Head of Siemens One

Rosemary Heneghan

Director, International Sales Organization at IBM

Geoff Williams

Vice President, Global Accounts at Danfoss

Sampling of Past and Present Academic Thought Leaders

Michael Lenox

Tayloe Murphy Professor of Business Administration, University of Virginia and Chief Strategy Officer

Baba Shiv

Sanwa Bank, Limited, Professor of Marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University

Andy Zoltners

Professor Emeritus, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University & Founder, ZS Associates

Anne Coughlan

Professor of Marketing, at the Kellogg School of Management

Michael I. Norton

Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration Harvard Business School

K. Sudhir

James L. Frank Professor of Marketing, Private Enterprise and Management

Das Narayandas

Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration, Harvard University

VK Kumar

Regents Professor of Marketing, Robinson School of Business, Georgia State University

Doug Bowman

McGreevy Term Chair and Professor of Marketing, Emory University

Goutam Challagalla

Professor of Marketing and Strategy, IMD

Gary Frazier

Professor of Marketing, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California

George John

Professor & General Mills Chair in Marketing, Carlson School of Managment, University of Minnesota

Ajay Kohli

Professor of Marketing, Gary T. and Elizabeth R. Jones Chair, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech University

Doug J. Chung

MBA Class of 1962 Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard University

Frank V. Cespedes

MBA Class of 1973 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, Harvard University

Margaret Ann Neale

Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emerita, Stanford GSB

Gary L. Lilien

Distinguished Research Professor of Management Science , Research Director, PennState

Harikesh S. Nair

The Jonathan B. Lovelace Professor of Marketing, Stanford University

Mark Bergen

Professor, James D. Watkins Chair in Marketing, University of Minnesota

Mark Houston

Eunice and James L. West Chair in Marketing, Texas Christian University

Rajdeep Grewal

The Townsend Family Distinguished Professor of Marketing, UNC

Sandy Jap

Sarah Beth Brown Professor in Marketing, Emory University

Shantanu Dutta

Dave and Jeanne Tappan Chair in Marketing and Professor of Marketing, USC

Sunil Gupta

Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration Chair, Harvard University

Werner Reinartz

Chair for Retailing and Customer Management, University of Cologne

Please Check Back Frequently for Updates on the 2025 The Thought Leadership on the Sales Profession Conference

The conference is a two-day event, broken into both morning and afternoon sessions. Morning sessions include keynote presentations as well as plenary panels delivered by distinguished authors and industry experts. Afternoon sessions consist of TED-style talks in which academics will present their research in the areas of professional selling and sales force management and practitioner panels will respond with key insights and suggestions for future research. Some events have been planned for attendees outside of the normal hours of the conference that will provide additional opportunities to both see more of the city and network.

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where is the conference?

Registration begins on June 17, 2025 at noon, with opening remarks scheduled for 1:30 pm. In the evening, some keynote addresses will be delivered. The conference will conclude on June 18, 2025 at 5:00 PM. The Conference will be held at UCLA Anderson School of Management. Please visit the venue link at the top of the page for additional information.

What did the Agendas of the Past conferences at Stanford, HEC Paris, Harvard, Columbia and UVA Darden look like?

The most recent agenda for the 2023 conference can be found here. The agenda for the 2019 conference held at Stanford can be found here. The agenda for the 2017 conference held at HEC Paris can be found here, the schedule of the 2014 conference held at Columbia can be found here, and the program from the 2012 conference at Harvard can be found here. This site will be updated as the programming is finalized, so check back soon for more information.