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  • September 22, 12:30pm ET

Build, Buy, or Integrate: Choosing the Right AI Approach for Direct Sourcing and Procurement

AI has lowered the barrier to building software. With modern tools and vibe-coding, an in-house team can stand up procurement automation solutions more easily than before. For manufacturers under pressure to move faster on direct sourcing, that’s a tempting path. But the build decision is rarely priced correctly. Most teams can estimate what it costs to ship version one. Far fewer can quantify the costs to maintain, secure, and evolve that software over the next few years, or the cost to the business when the person who built it leaves.

This conversation brings together leaders who have faced the build, buy, or integrate decision inside real manufacturing organizations. Amit Patel, Strategic Sourcing Leader at a leading Silicon Valley Tech firm, and Timothy Riordan, Supply Chain Leader for WIKA North America, join Sustainment for a candid discussion moderated by Joseph Kopser.

They will cover how the industry’s best teams are applying technology to direct sourcing and procurement workflows, where building in-house makes sense, where it quietly becomes a liability, and how to choose the approach that fits your team’s size, talent, and risk tolerance.

What you will take away:

  • A practical framework for deciding when to build, when to buy, and when to integrate
  • The hidden costs of in-house software that rarely show up in the initial business case, including maintenance, security, and key-person risk
  • Where AI is delivering real results in direct sourcing and procurement workflows today, and where the hype outruns the reality
  • How leaders at Tesla and WIKA evaluate technology decisions for their sourcing teams
  • Questions to pressure-test any AI initiative before committing budget and headcount

The full discussion happens live. Reserve your seat.

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Speakers

See who will inspire this conversation!

Amit Patel

Strategic Sourcing & Supply Chain Leader

Silicon Valley Tech

Spencer Traver

Director, Marketing & RevOps

Sustainment

Tim Riordan

Director of Procurement, Americas

WIKA Group

Joseph Kopser

Innovation Consultant & President

Grayline Group

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speaker bios

Joseph Kopser – Joseph Kopser is a lifelong problem solver committed to building the teams needed to take on our toughest challenges. He is currently President of Grayline after he co-founded and served as CEO of RideScout, before it was acquired by Mercedes. He advises several organizations including Capital Factor and the University of Texas. He served in the U.S. Army for 20 years earning the Combat Action Badge, Army Ranger Tab and Bronze Star. He is a graduate of West Point with a BS in Aerospace Engineering and also received a Masters from the Harvard Kennedy School and former member of the Army Science Board. He was recognized as a White House Champion of Change for his efforts in Energy and Transportation as well as won the U.S. DOT Data Innovation Award. He co-authored the book, Catalyst, a book focused on helping teams adapt to change. He is the Chair of the Board of Advisors for the CleanTX, an economic development and professional association for energy innovation. In 2025, Joseph was selected for the Texas Business Hall of Fame Future Texas Business Legend Award. Joseph and his wife of 30 years, Amy, live in Austin and they are extremely proud of their three adult daughters.

Amit Patel – With 15+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, global supply chain management, and procurement, I have built a track record of driving operational efficiencies, negotiating multi-million-dollar contracts, and leading supplier partnerships that result in significant cost savings and business impact.

I have worked at industry leaders like Google, Cisco, Argo.AI, Tesla and others, where I’ve successfully:

  • Delivered over $XXM in cost savings through supplier negotiations and strategic sourcing initiatives.

  • Optimized procurement processes to improve supplier performance, reduce risk, and enhance cost efficiency.

  • Led global supply chain operations across Autonomous Vehicles (AV), Data Centers, FTTH, EV, and Last-Mile Delivery industries.

  • Transformed procurement into a strategic function, integrating data-driven decision-making and cross-functional collaboration. My expertise extends across contract negotiations, supplier management, value chain engineering, and supply chain resilience. I specialize in aligning sourcing strategies with business goals, ensuring supply continuity, and fostering innovation in procurement.

Tim Riordan – Global supply management executive with extensive experience driving strategic sourcing, procurement transformation, and supply chain optimization initiatives across diverse industries. Repeated success in establishing procurement as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to executive leadership teams across multiple organizations. Expertise spans sourcing direct materials, indirect spend categories, real estate, capital expenditures, and implementing digital procurement solutions. Proven track record developing high-performing teams that deliver enterprise-wide cost savings and operational efficiencies.

Spencer Traver – I’m currently the Head of Marketing and RevOps at Sustainment, where I serve as a strategic operator for our full go-to-market motion. We are the system of action for modern supply chains, serving commercial manufacturers and government organizations working to rebuild America’s industrial base.

I came to industrial SaaS after seven years in AdTech, where I helped grow a startup into an ad platform valued at $1.5B (Blackstone, NYSE: BX). From there, I joined Sustainment in early 2024 to build its marketing and demand gen functions from the ground up. I’ve built our RevOps and HubSpot architecture and ABM program, hired and lead a team of BDRs and a content marketing manager, and developed a brand system built to reach a massive, underserved market across commercial and government supply chains. What began as laying a foundation is now owning how we attract, convert, and grow demand.

I care most about building things that last: repeatable systems, clear positioning, and enablement that makes the whole team sharper. My favorite work lives at the intersection of marketing and revenue operations, where strategy either holds up or falls apart in the details, and where the results are measurable.