Arkestro leverages a series of major industry conferences in 2026 to push forward the adoption of predictive, AI-based sourcing technologies, highlighting speed and real-time data as key drivers for transformation across energy, logistics, and industrial sectors.
Arkestro spent the opening months of 2026 embedding itself in the conversations that are reshaping procurement across energy, industrial and logistics sectors, using a busy events schedule to press the case for...
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predictive, AI-driven sourcing.
On 10 February the firm was on the floor at the ISM‑Houston Supplier Expo & Forum at the Norris Conference Center. According to the Institute for Supply Management’s Houston chapter, the gathering drew procurement and supply‑chain leaders from EPC, oil and gas, chemical manufacturing, renewables, power and medical sectors to focus on practical innovation and stronger buyer–supplier relationships. Arkestro’s team emphasised how predictive procurement can help asset‑heavy industries react more quickly to market swings while preserving existing workflows, and explored with attendees how AI is beginning to influence pricing strategy, sourcing choices and earlier negotiation tactics.
A week earlier, from 9 to 11 February, Arkestro participated in Manifest 2026 at The Venetian in Las Vegas, an industry summit that, as outlined by the event organiser, convened senior executives, logistics providers, technologists and investors under the banner “The Future of Supply Chain & Logistics Is Here.” The company used the conference to advance its argument that speed is a decisive factor in logistics procurement and to demonstrate how AI‑assisted sourcing can adjust in near real time to disruptions, capacity shifts and volatile rates. Arkestro’s chief technology officer, Ben Leiken, led a session on predictive procurement for logistics that mapped the application of faster, more focused AI across ocean, land and air transport.
Looking ahead to late March, Arkestro planned a presence at CERAWeek in Houston, the energy forum where senior industry figures and policymakers assess market conditions and capital priorities. CERAWeek’s programme traditionally foregrounds the operational and investment implications of policy shifts and supply constraints; Arkestro said its executives, including chief executive Rob DeSantis, would be engaging procurement leaders about navigating volatility and shortening the path to measurable value within complex supply chains.
In April the company expected to be among the main participants at ISM World in Denver, the Institute for Supply Management’s flagship conference. ISM projects more than 2,000 attendees at the 2026 event to debate global trade, technology and leadership in procurement. Arkestro indicated it would draw on analytics from hundreds of thousands of sourcing events to show how organisations are moving beyond pure cost reduction toward improving margin outcomes. Edmund Zagorin, Arkestro’s chief strategy officer and co‑founder, was scheduled to speak on the Insights Stage about AI‑driven procurement outcomes while the company staged live demonstrations and showcased work from its research arm, Arkestro Labs.
Across these fora Arkestro framed predictive procurement as a tool for earlier, better informed negotiation and for trimming unnecessary cycle time, while acknowledging the practical constraint firms face in adopting new technology without creating friction. Industry event literature and organisers’ summaries emphasise the same themes: a focus on speed in logistics sourcing, the operational pressures felt by energy and industrial buyers, and the search for technology that translates market insight into measurable procurement performance.
Whether measuring success by meetings held, demos delivered, or formal customer commitments secured, the company’s busy calendar through February to April positioned it where buyers, suppliers and investors are debating the next generation of procurement tools. According to the event organisers’ accounts, those debates are increasingly shaped by real‑time data, AI models that forecast volatility and a growing emphasis on reducing time‑to‑value in sourcing programmes.
Source: Noah Wire Services
