Andrew Bartolini

Managing Partner & Chief Research Officer

Andrew Bartolini is a globally recognized expert in sourcing, procurement, accounts payable, and supply management. At Ardent Partners, Andrew focuses his research and efforts on helping enterprises develop and execute strategies to achieve operational excellence within their procurement and finance departments. Andrew is also the publisher of CPO Rising, the first independent media site written for and about Chief Procurement Officers and other procurement executives.

Advisor to CPOs and leading solutions companies alike, Andrew is a sought-after presenter, having lectured and presented more than 125 times in seven different countries. Over the past five years, Andrew has benchmarked thousands of enterprises across all facets of their supply management operations and his research is currently part of the Supply Chain/Management curriculum at several US universities. He actively covers the technology marketplace as well as trends in sourcing, procurement, supply management, and accounts payable and has been published or quoted in leading business publications including The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Investor’s Business Daily, Forbes, and Fortune, as well as the major trade publications focused on supply management.

Andrew was previously the Vice President & Group Director of Global Supply Management research at Aberdeen Group where he was responsible for all associated research, services, and programs including the CPO Summit. While there, Andrew authored more than 150 thought leadership pieces of research and analysis that addressed the blend of people, processes, and technologies needed to achieve organizational transformation.

Prior to joining Aberdeen, Andrew developed, packaged, deployed, and used supply management solutions on behalf of enterprises in the Global 2000 while working for Ariba and Commerce One. Additionally, his experience in strategic sourcing, business process transformation, and software implementation provides a ‘real-world’ context for his research and writing.

He has been named a “Pro to Know” by Supply and Demand Chain Executive three times and holds a B.A. in Economics from The College of the Holy Cross and an M.B.A in Finance from Indiana University.

You can see his complete background here and some news about a recent award here.

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Vishal Patel

Research Director & Vice President of Client Services

Vishal Patel is a recognized expert in the world of supply management. He has worked closely with procurement and accounts payable groups for most of his career, researching their best practices and advising them on how to utilize technology to improve organizational performance. Vishal will be a major contributor to Ardent Partners’ research efforts and will serve as the lead analyst for Ardent’s ePayables coverage, among other areas. Patel will also be responsible for the oversight of certain solution selection consulting projects.

Vishal joins Ardent from HH Associates, where, as Director of Business Development, he helped establish and grow the company’s US business by helping corporations de-couple their marketing supply chains and drive significant savings. Earlier in his career, Vishal was a Research Director in the Global Supply Management research practice at Aberdeen Group where he led and supported the coverage of many key areas including ePayables, contract management, commercial cards, and complex category management. Vishal has conducted primary research, benchmarking and interviewing hundreds of procurement and accounts payable organizations and authored dozens of reports that highlighted the strategies and technologies that enable Best-in-Class performance. All of the above has allowed him to gain a deep understanding of the procurement and payables processes and their impact on the enterprise.

Vishal has been named a “Pro to Know” by Supply and Demand Chain Executive and  holds a B.S. in Finance and International Business from The Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A from Babson College.