Supplier and contract management as a strategic lever in complex projects
Why your contracts might be costing you more than they're saving.. Complex projects don't fail because of engineering problems. They fail at the interfaces: between companies, between stakeholders, between what was promised and what gets delivered. If you've ever sat in a post-mortem where the real issue wasn't technical but contractual, you know the feeling. Scope ambiguity. Supplier engaged too late. A contract written for protection instead of performance. Suddenly you're dealing with claims, delays, and relationships that broke down months before anyone admitted it. Thiago Souza brings 20+ years of experience managing multi-million euro projects across energy, automotive, and construction. In this session, he'll walk you through why traditional procurement approaches turn projects reactive and show you the four pillars that flip that dynamic: early supplier involvement, contracts as alignment tools, relationship management, and the data visibility that actually drives predictability. The question isn't whether you need contracts. It's whether your contracts are protecting your projects or enabling their success.
About
Thiago Souza
Thiago Souza is a senior Procurement and Contract Management leader with more than 20 years of international experience across Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
He has led global procurement organizations with accountability for over $300M in spend, directed cross-functional teams across engineering and supply chain functions, and delivered complex industrial and capital projects. Throughout his career, Thiago has consistently driven measurable results, including average cost reductions of 25%, improved supplier performance, and strengthened governance frameworks across the full contract lifecycle.
His expertise includes category strategy, supplier development, contract negotiation and life-cycle management, risk mitigation, procurement transformation, and implementation of digital governance tools that increase transparency and reduce risk exposure.
Thiago is Founder of Altivus Consulting where he supports organizations in building structured, transparent, and performance-driven procurement and contract management functions. He is a Mechanical Engineer with an MBA and holds a Commercial & Contract Management certification as well as Interim Management at Vlerick Business School.
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