4 keynote speakers on tap for The Future of Supply Chain

FreightWaves has announced two more keynote speakers for the upcoming The Future of Supply Chain event: Billy Beane, executive vice president of baseball operations for the Oakland A’s, and Michael Schrage, research fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Beane and Schrage join previously announced keynote speakers Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Jonathan Hoffman, former spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Future of Supply Chain will take place May 9-10 at the Rogers Convention Center in Northwest Arkansas, where some of the brightest minds and key leaders in the transportation, logistics and supply chain industries will share insights, predict future trends and showcase emerging technology. 

The event will include exclusive VIP experiences, rapid-fire demos, interactive sponsor kiosks and engaging discussions about the key factors impacting the supply chain. Attendees will learn how companies are digitally transforming the management of their supply chains and explore the latest technology, newest applications, trends in education and the continuing evolution of supply chains.


Billy Beane.

Billy Beane

Considered one of the most progressive and talented executives in baseball, Beane has molded the Oakland Athletics into one of Major League Baseball’s most consistent winners since taking over as general manager following the 1997 season. Beane shattered traditional MLB beliefs that big payrolls equated wins by implementing a statistical methodology that led the A’s, one of the worst teams in baseball with one of the lowest payrolls, to six American League West Division titles. 

That strategic methodology has come to be known as the “Moneyball” philosophy, named for the bestselling book and Oscar-nominated film chronicling Beane’s journey from general manager to hero to celebrated management genius. Beane was named the MLB’s first-ever Executive of the Year in 2018.

Today, Beane’s “Moneyball” philosophy has been adopted by organizations of all sizes, across all industries, as a way to more effectively, efficiently and profitably manage assets, talent and resources. He has helped shape the way modern businesses view and leverage big data and employ analytics for long-term success.


To read more about Beane, follow this link

Michael Schrage

Michael Schrage

A research fellow with the MIT Sloan School of Management’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, Schrage focuses on the behavioral economics of models, prototypes and metrics as strategic resources for managing innovation risk and opportunity.

He is the author of the award-winning books “The Innovator’s Hypothesis,” “Who Do You Want Your Customers To Become?” and “Serious Play.” His most recent book, “Recommendation Engines,” was published in 2020. Schrage runs design workshops and executive education programs on innovation, experimentation and strategic measurement for global organizations.

Currently pioneering work in “selvesware” technologies, Schrage’s design research looks to augment aspects, attributes and talents of productive individuals. Ongoing research efforts also examine the interplay of network effects-driven innovation, such as recommender systems, and human capital creation. ‍

To read more about Schrage, follow this link

Gov. Asa Hutchinson

Hutchinson is the 46th governor of the state of Arkansas. He has won recognition for the state as a leader in computer science education, cut taxes by over $250 million and signed a law that exempts the retirement pay of veterans from state income tax.


President Ronald Reagan appointed Hutchinson as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. In 1996, he won the first of three successive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his third term in Congress, President George W. Bush appointed him director of the Drug Enforcement Administration and later as an undersecretary in the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

His experience has established him as a national resource for his expertise on trade, energy, national security and education. The governor has been invited to the White House several times to join discussions about health care, Medicaid and education issues.

To learn more about Hutchinson, follow this link.

Jonathan Hoffman

Jonathan Hoffman

Hoffman has demonstrated expertise in national defense and homeland security policies and programs, public affairs, crisis communications and government relations. He has more than 20 years of experience in communications, government, business and law. Hoffman recently served as the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, the head of communications for the Department of Defense. In this role he was responsible for DOD strategic communications planning and public affairs execution, was the principal adviser to the secretary of defense for all public relations and crisis communications issues and was the chief Pentagon spokesman.
To learn more about Hoffman, follow this link.

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