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Yanni Karalis
Managing Vice President
Gartner
Speaker Topics
- Attracting and Retaining Talent
- Leadership Effectiveness
- Cost Optimization
- Supplier/Vendor Risk Management
Speaker Bio
Yanni Karalis is a Research Vice President in the IT Procurement, Asset and Vendor Management team. Yanni supports clients in maturing their competency and discipline in technology procurement and IT vendor management. His focus is on defining and conducting research on the best practices in organization, processes, operations and tools for technology procurement, IT asset management and IT vendor management. He brings over ten years of experience in technology sourcing, procurement and IT vendor management. He led the development and transformation of IT sourcing functions in technology and retail organizations.
Yanni's coverage includes software license commercial terms & conditions contract review (any vendor that is not a specified vendor), SaaS license commercial terms & conditions contract review (any vendor that is not a specified vendor), software license maintenance renewal optimization, contract management process, IT/technology procurement negotiations (General) Tips & Tactics, T&Cs, RFI/RFQ/RFP Development/Review, IT/technology procurement organization and operations, IT/technology procurement practices, processes and metrics, IT/technology procurement transformation including agile contracting, IT/technology procurement strategy, IT/technology procurement governance, IT/technology procurement policies, ITAM Strategy, Policy and Processes, and SAM Strategy, Policy and Processes.
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Yanni's coverage includes software license commercial terms & conditions contract review (any vendor that is not a specified vendor), SaaS license commercial terms & conditions contract review (any vendor that is not a specified vendor), software license maintenance renewal optimization, contract management process, IT/technology procurement negotiations (General) Tips & Tactics, T&Cs, RFI/RFQ/RFP Development/Review, IT/technology procurement organization and operations, IT/technology procurement practices, processes and metrics, IT/technology procurement transformation including agile contracting, IT/technology procurement strategy, IT/technology procurement governance, IT/technology procurement policies, ITAM Strategy, Policy and Processes, and SAM Strategy, Policy and Processes.
Sessions
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM PDT
9 Approaches to Optimize Short-, Mid- and Long-Term Technology Spend Costs
Yanni Karalis,
Managing Vice President, Gartner
This session explains how CPOs and procurement leaders can optimize external technology spend using a time‑phased approach. It focuses on short‑term cost containment through inventory control, targeted negotiations and demand management. It also covers midterm savings via streamlined, data‑driven sourcing and vendor consolidation, and long‑term cost avoidance through AI contract optimization, team upskilling and total cost of ownership (TCO) discipline.
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Tuesday, September 15, 2026 02:30 PM - 03:00 PM PDT
CPOs as AI Champions: From Gatekeeper to Enabler
Yanni Karalis,
Managing Vice President, Gartner
CPOs aiming to take advantage of emerging technologies for their own functions also need to broaden their view on how they can lead that transformation across the enterprise. This session will provide steps CPOs need to take to enable their organization to be successful in the AI era
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Wednesday, September 16, 2026 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM PDT
How Geopolitics Should Reshape Your Technology Sourcing Strategy
Yanni Karalis,
Managing Vice President, Gartner
Geopolitics is reshaping global tech access. The "Greenland Effect" shows U.S. technology may face policy‑conditioned limits, pressuring U.S. and multinational buyers to build sourcing optionality, diversify vendors and strengthen resilience across regions and architectures.
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Wednesday, September 16, 2026 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM PDT
Roundtable: The Evolving Workforce: Strategies to Engage the Next Generation of Procurement
James Smith,
Sr Director Analyst, Gartner
Yanni Karalis,
Managing Vice President, Gartner
CPOs report the need to upskill procurement talent for future needs but struggle with engaging younger talent. GenZ now makes up over 20% and will represent a third of the workforce by 2030. Combining them with the Millennials creates a group of younger talent that will be roughly two-thirds of the workforce. How do you facilitate the knowledge transfer from the GenX? Join this roundtable to engage with fellow CPOs in a discussion about the evolution of the supply base and how they embrace the younger majority.
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