Keynote Speakers

Global AI Leader & Managing Partner, ZS Consulting

President & CEO, Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA)
Panel Discussion: Implementing AI for Success in the Sales Organization

Global AI Leader & Managing Partner, ZS Consulting

Senior Director of Application Development, Service Corporation International

Senior Director of Product Management, Autodesk
To be decided
Panel Discussion: Frontiers in Strategic Account Management

President & CEO, Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA)

CEO, Solecta

Key Account Manager, Owens Corning

Value & Access Business Director at Boehringer Ingelheim
Panel Discussion: Challenges in Motivating and Incentivizing Sales Organizations

Chief Revenue Officer, Ohana Operators

Head, GTM Sales Compensation, Planning and Performance Strategy, Workiva

Senior Director, SalesGlobe

Partner, Simon-Kucher

VP Life Sciences and Healthcare, BI WORLDWIDE
Sampling of Past and Present Corporate Thought Leaders

Jim Lecinski

Mark V Hurd

Gilles Grapinet

Byron Matthews

Kris Vervaet

Marc Boissonnet

Thierry Collet

Hajo Rapp

Carl Roberts

Alberto Moriana

Erik Charles

Cor Dubois

Maxime Laugier

Paul Helmore

Joe Stallard

Chris Suhoza

Huw Tippett

Volkhard Bregulla

Mike Moorman

Mark Roberge

David Skok

Rhonda Kallman

Pedro Miranda

Rosemary Heneghan

Geoff Williams
Sampling of Past and Present Academic Thought Leaders

Michael Lenox

Baba Shiv

Andy Zoltners

Anne Coughlan

Michael I. Norton

K. Sudhir

Das Narayandas

VK Kumar

Doug Bowman

Goutam Challagalla

Gary Frazier

George John

Ajay Kohli

Doug J. Chung

Frank V. Cespedes

Margaret Ann Neale

Gary L. Lilien

Harikesh S. Nair

Mark Bergen

Mark Houston

Rajdeep Grewal

Sandy Jap

Shantanu Dutta

Sunil Gupta

Werner Reinartz
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 17th 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 18th at 5:00 PM. The Conference will be held at UCLA Anderson School of Manangement. 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.
Our Team
Tom Steenburgh
thomas.steenburgh@vanderbilt.edu
Ralph Owen Dean and Professor of Marketing
Dean
Vanderbilt University,
Owen Graduate School of Management
Mike Ahearne
Mahearne@uh.edu
C.T. Bauer Professor of Marketing
Research Director
Sales Excellence Institute
University of Houston,
CT Bauer College of Business
Johannes Habel
jhabel@uh.edu
Associate Professor of Marketing
Associate Professor
University of Houston
CT Bauer College of Business
Conference Coordinator
Randolph E. Bucklin
randy.bucklin@anderson.ucla.edu
Professor Emeritus of Marketing
Professor Emeritus
UCLA
Anderson School of Management
Andres Terech
andres.terech@anderson.ucla.edu
Adjunct Professor of Marketing
Faculty Director
Morrison Center for Marketing and Data Analytics
UCLA
Anderson School of Management