15TH ANNUAL
PASA CPO Exchange Gold Coast.
20th & 21st August 2026 | Broadbeach Sofitel, Gold Coast
An invite-only exclusive retreat for CPOs featuring high-level content and networking opportunities with vendors and sponsor partners.
ABOUT THE EXCHANGE
A Strategic Conversation for Australia's Procurement Leaders.
Now in its 15th year globally, the PASA CPO Exchange brings together senior procurement leaders for high-level discussion, benchmarking, and peer collaboration in an exclusive retreat setting.
The 2026 theme centres around Adaptability in Procurement — exploring how leaders must respond to geopolitical volatility, economic uncertainty, AI disruption, ESG expectations, and evolving stakeholder demands.
Strategic Keynotes
World-class speakers on critical procurement challenges
CPO Roundtables
Closed-door peer-led discussions under Chatham House Rules
Curated Partner Meetings
Structured engagement with leading solution providers
Executive Networking
Intimate dinners and social events with fellow leaders
PROGRAM FOCUS
2026 Focus Areas.
- Navigating geopolitical and economic risk
- Procurement's evolving strategic role
- AI & cyber security in supply chains
- The procurement talent challenge
- Global priorities for CPOs
- Gen AI in procurement – practical realities
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Two-Day Program.
A thoughtfully designed agenda featuring keynotes, panel discussions, case studies and strategic networking opportunities.
DAY ONE
A brief explanation of the event format and culture of the CPO Exchange event, including Chatham House Rules, as a senior level retreat. An introduction to the generic PASA theme of ‘adaptability’ for 2026 and its relevance to this event … as well as the rest of the PASA programme throughout 2026
Navigating the uncertain, complex and volatile global economy is tough. Asia-Pacific is not immune and perhaps even more vulnerable given its critical role in global supply chains.
Sticky inflation, interest rate uncertainty, currency volatility and geopolitical tensions, needs an eyes wide open approach to ensure global sourcing still provides value-for-money, while effectively managing risk.
What is the 2026 economic outlook? What are the top 3 risks facing the global economy? Which countries are at risk of creating supply threats downstream? How should this influence your ANZ INBOUND supply-chain management strategies?
Includes Q&A …
Procurement teams in 2026 are under pressure from every direction: navigating supply constraints, responding to new legislation and ESG expectations, harnessing rapidly evolving technologies and AI, delivering sustained cost-out, and continuing to provide more for less — all while maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders.
Against this backdrop, how should procurement be best positioned to navigate these challenges? And how can leaders guide their teams through increasing complexity while still delivering commercial, risk, sustainability and innovation benefits?
To support delegates in exploring these questions, Dan is leading a targeted benchmarking study aligned with the themes of this session. By completing the pre-event survey, you’ll receive a personalised benchmarking report showing how your team compares with peers, where your strengths lie, and which capability gaps deserve focus to best position your organisation for the future.
Extrapolating the first five years data from The Economist Impact Survey of global CPOs: sponsored by SAP
After five years of the largest CPO survey of its type, the trend data from The Economist/SAP Impact survey 2020-25 offers real insights into the true priorities for procurement leaders in future.
How can we use the data and its more subliminal messages to direct our strategic pathway forward?
- What is procurement’s role, in future, on RISK management?
- What risks take priority – sourcing risks, financial, operating, strategic, supply chain, compliance, cyber-security or business continuity risks?
- In fact, are procurement becoming the de facto owner of enterprise risk, are we truly equipped for this responsibility?
- What resources and skills do we need for procurement to do a better job of a wider risk portfolio?
- What does DMWL look like in practice? What examples and CASE STUDIES of success can we share?
- What core strategies are useful for busy procurement teams?
Eg: Self-serve or guided buying systems, internal consultancy role, using consultants/contractors v staff, agile teams, utilising aggregators, deploying self-serve and AI intake tools?
- What do the compromises look like really, the risks, and the likely costs of less resources?
- And, what does MORE truly look like – just savings? Or, more value – what is that and how do you measure it?
- How can technology and AI help ease the growing productivity burden in procurement ?
How do you draft KPI’s to measure value beyond cost?
- The centre-led or centre-of-excellence models are the most popular operating models in ANZ say the SAP/Economist survey – then, Hybrid, decentralised or purely centralised. Which is best now?
- How do you decide which is best for you – or to rebalance and optimise your ‘hybrid’ model, just right?
- And how to incorporate other roles for procurement like risk management, P2P processing, corporate services? How do they best fit our operating model options and approach?
The informal CPO Exchange dinner is an opportunity to unwind with your peers and be entertained by our special guest star. Always a relaxed and fun affair, the dinner is the networking highlight of the event and partners are welcome to attend. Dress is QUEENSLAND smart-casual.
DAY TWO
Includes executive summary of Day One with MC, Jonathan Dutton
In a year when adaptability dominates the conversation, it is worth pausing on a harder question: is adaptability the right answer, or the frame through which we avoid asking a better one?
The CPOs who lead the profession through the next five years won't just be more agile; they'll be more deliberate about what deserves to change, what deserves to be defended, and commercial enough to insist on the difference.
Drawing on 30 years of global experience across procurement, supply chain and executive leadership, Chris Sullivan will share an honest perspective on where CPO decision-making goes right, goes wrong, and what separates the two.
Chris was until recently Global Chief Supply Officer at Ramsay Health Care, the 4th largest private health provider worldwide, following 20 years in CPO and senior executive roles across Coca-Cola Amatil and Mars. He now works with CEOs, CFOs and boards on enterprise transformation, commercial leadership and procurement optimisation through his advisory practice Alturis.
With cost of living rising, unemployment rates remaining stable (and forecasting upwards), all in the context of a skills shortage, and A.I. threatening to replace white-collar workers, the procurement JOBS market has never been more uncertain.
Procurement is not exempt from these mega-trends, yet also bears real regional pressures that can inflate procurement wage rates – Perth (mining), Adelaide (defence) and Brisbane (Olympics)
Many CPO’s are uncertain on recruitment & retention strategy, some are defaulting to using contractors, others fighting internally for budget, and externally in the market for candidates.
Plenty are innovating to attract candidates (parental packages, dress-down modernised offices, creative leave allowance, WFH policies). Too few, perhaps, seem to be investing in training and retention strategies.
And what of the candidate market for CPOs – is the ‘bottleneck’ for CPO roles real?
So, what is the truth of it all? Can a leading procurement recruiter nationally offer a balanced, evidenced and yet incisive view – with data, case studies and trend analysis that fits our understanding of procurement recruitment & retention today?
And, crucially as well, what developing skill sets are C suiters demanding from procurement in future?
Procurement is being reshaped by a force that goes far beyond digitisation or automation. Agentic AI and the deployment of intelligent, task-specific agents to perform procurement work autonomously.
Unlike previous technology shifts, this one doesn’t just optimise work, it changes the work to be done. Maybe even to the point where “AI won’t take your job, but someone using AI will.”
Kearney have been at the forefront of the AI revolution in procurement and share how agentic AI aligns to five strategic themes shaping the future of procurement: Includes Q&A.
The 8 ways Procurement practitioners are using Gen AI – whether allowed or not …
Some procurement managers have received an email from their CIO insisting that they either do not use Gen AI at all in their roles, or only using Gen AI without UPLOADING anything, or maybe only using Co-pilot and no other AI programmes:
This short, practical & informative seminar on how exactly people are navigating such rules in 2026, implementing guardrails, or how staff are just doing it anyway, regardless of rules. Plus some real insight into how suppliers are using Gen AI in their proposals right now -
- The new laws, regs, policies and compliance demands:
Modern slavery amendments, indigenous procurement policy expansion, Net Zero scope 3, Social procurement opportunities, buy local, inclusion & diversity priorities, new govt procurement rules
- What are the best strategies and the best business cases for both action & resources?
- Examples of good practice to share – by topic …
- How are people actually using AI in procurement in ANZ right now, practically?
- Gen AI in the office
- Other AI functionality within systems or the back-office process?
- What restrictions are people working to from CIO’s or new guardrails to manage both AI risks and Cyber-risk?
- How do we ‘think big – start small’ with trials of AI in practice?
- What measurable value are people looking for from AI? How do we measure its value or productivity created?
- How does AI affect the future of procurement as we see it? How do we begin today?
- How do we attract young talent to procurement in the face of AI doing junior roles?
- What are the ramifications of AI use in procurement – how do we need to change?
Complimentary coach leaves for Coolangatta Airport (OOL) airport for those leaving immediately [45 mins drive] – but the weekend commences for those that are staying on …
THE SETTING
Sofitel Broadbeach.
A Gold Coast luxury hotel greeting guests with contemporary style and cosmopolitan indulgences. Sofitel Gold Coast Broadbeach offers a modern experience of Australia’s celebrated holiday destination, thriving commercial centre and convention king. Light-filled rooms embrace a fresh aesthetic of chic simplicity. Each room and suite features a private balcony with captivating views of the Pacific Ocean or hinterland. Guests revel in discretely luxurious accommodation.
The Sofitel’s guests enjoy an elegant 5-star Gold Coast hotel with sophisticated spaces, gracious service and a location just moments from fabulous shopping, the Braodbeach cafe and restaurant strip, the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Jupiters Casino, beloved theme parks and golden beaches.
PARTNERS
Event Sponsors.
We thank our partners for their support in making this event possible.
PARTNER & SOCIAL FUNCTION SPONSOR
