Keynote Session | Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 4:00 PM CT
It’s a complicated world. How do successful teams and leaders make sense of all the chaos? Pulling from his 10 books of research and resources, Jon Acuff, bestselling author and Inc. Top 100 Leadership Speaker, will take center stage in his keynote address at GS1 Connect 2025 to unleash tactical, actionable ways you can immediately apply the simple system the best teams in the world always use: Dream, Plan, Do, Review.
Acuff has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people at conferences, colleges, and companies around the world including Chick-fil-A, Comedy Central, FedEx, Microsoft, and Range Rover. Known for his insights wrapped in humor, Acuff shared the stage with an American icon when he opened up for Dolly Parton at the Ryman Auditorium. Jon lives outside of Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Jenny, and two daughters.
Fast Company and GS1 US Present:
Tuesday, June 10, 2025, 3:00 PM CT
The economic turmoil of the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in the global supply chain but also accelerated the adoption of transformative technologies and reshaped the way we do business.
From real-time tracking to 2D barcodes, cutting-edge technologies are revolutionizing supply chain visibility, inventory management, and logistics, empowering corporations like never before.
As businesses now prioritize resilience and responsiveness to consumer demands, predictive technologies are playing a pivotal role in refining demand forecasting and enhancing supply chain flexibility. The question now is: Which pandemic-driven changes have endured, and how are they strengthening supply chains against future disruptions?
In this panel, industry leaders will explore the lessons learned and the innovations shaping supply chains for the next generation of consumers.
Fast Company & GS1 US Present:
Chief Executive Officer & Chief Content Officer, Mansueto Ventures
Stephanie Mehta is chief executive officer and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures, publisher of Inc. and Fast Company. She previously served as editor-in-chief of Fast Company, where she oversaw digital, print, and live journalism. Under her leadership, Fast Company was a National Magazine Award finalist in design for three years in a row, and the title added two new annual conferences. She has worked as a writer and editor at Vanity Fair, Bloomberg Media, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal.
Mehta sits on the boards of the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Women’s Forum of New York, and Airbel Impact Lab, the research and innovation arm of the International Rescue Commission.
Mehta began her career as a business reporter at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia. She received a BA in English and an MS in journalism from Northwestern University. A Chicago-area native, she now lives with her husband and two children in Scarsdale, New York.
President & Chief Executive Officer, GS1 US
As President and Chief Executive Officer of GS1 US®, Bob Carpenter leads the company’s strategic direction, including business solutions, education and training programs, industry initiatives, and community engagement focused on driving broader adoption and use of GS1 Standards. GS1® has more than 2 million customers across 150 countries globally. GS1 Standards for unique, persistent identity—from product origin to disposition—represent a critical foundation for today’s connected commerce and the technologies available to industry.
Senior Vice President, Walmart US Transformation and Innovation
Greg Cathey has been with Walmart for over 30 years. He began as an hourly associate in 1994 at Store 318 (Arkadelphia, AR). Since then, he has served in a variety of ways throughout the organization. Greg spent 10 years at Sam's Club and served as the VP/Regional General Manager in Operations, VP Sam's Club Global Leverage, and the lead merchant over Electronics. He also worked in Walmart International as the VP of Partnership Services and Franchise. In 2019, Greg was named CEO of Sam's Club Mexico, where he oversaw all 165 Sam's Clubs in Mexico, supporting Merchandising, Operations, E-Commerce, Marketing, and membership. Currently, Greg works as the SVP of Transformation for the End-to-End organization. In this role, Greg is responsible for the strategic direction and transformation of Walmart's Supply Chain, Store Operations, and Last Mile & Delivery network. Here, he oversees a team of 10,000+ associates across operational transformation, asset protection, data & analytics, customer care, and general merchandise & food quality. Greg has an impressive background of experience and is most passionate to serve the people he works alongside. Personally, Greg has been a longtime resident of Northwest Arkansas with his wife of 30 years and their four children.
Chief Information Officer & Chief Transformation Officer, Lineage
As Chief Information Officer & Chief Transformation Officer at Lineage, Sudarsan Thattai is responsible for all facets of the company’s technology and digitization efforts. He and his team focus on optimizing technology to drive customer value, expand service capability, and make a global impact. Previously, Thattai served as SVP of IT Services at UTi Worldwide and held technology leadership positions at Cisco Systems and DFS Group.
Tuesday, June 10, 2025, 1:00 PM CT
Consumer and patient preferences are constantly evolving—and often rapidly. From when, where, and how they want to shop or receive care to the external factors influencing their decisions and spending—how can businesses across industries keep up? This session will explore how companies are adapting their operations and harmonizing their vendor partnerships to meet shopper and patient needs while also addressing external pressures, including global regulations and geopolitical stressors. We’ll also discuss emerging technologies—such as 2D barcodes, radio frequency identification (RFID), and AI—that are helping industries stay ahead in an environment that demands speed, transparency, and agility.
Senior Vice President, Customer Success, GS1 US
As Senior Vice President of Customer Success at GS1 US, Melanie Nuce-Hilton leads the teams that help businesses across 25 industries, including apparel, general merchandise, foodservice, retail grocery, and healthcare, unlock the power of GS1 Standards to support supply chain visibility, efficiency, collaboration, and regulatory compliance. Nuce-Hilton oversees GS1 Standards offerings, industry initiatives, education and training, product management, and customer support functions. Additionally, she guides the GS1 US Innovation team tasked with helping businesses explore how technologies—like artificial intelligence, machine vision, and the Internet of Things—can advance supply chain management and sustainability.
Vice President, Global Trade Controls and Enterprise Supply Chain PMO, Johnson & Johnson
Pavan Heda is the Vice President for Value Chain Management for Innovative Medicine Synthetics Portfolio Supply Chain at Johnson & Johnson (J&J). In his current role Pavan is responsible for Supply Chain strategy development and execution for the Synthetics (small molecules) pipeline and portfolio. During his 26-year career at J&J, Pavan gained diverse experiences across Consumer, Pharmaceuticals, and Medical Devices businesses in wide-ranging areas of strategy development, portfolio management, product development, R&D operations, supply chain, project management, and integration of acquired assets.
Pavan is a licensed Pharmacist in the states of PA, NJ, and MD. He earned his B. Pharm from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India. He obtained his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Maryland and later completed a Master’s in Technology Management from Wharton Business School and Penn Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. More recently, Pavan also completed a 9-month Professional Development course in Digital Transformation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Pavan is the Enterprise Co-Chair for the South Asian Employee Business Resource Group at J&J. Pavan serves on GS1’s Global HealthCare LT and is GS1 US Board of Governor Member.
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