Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo Orlando: Day 3 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo, taking place in Orlando this week. Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference.

On Day 3 from the conference, we are highlighting sessions on the top supply chain technology trends, considerations for supply chain planning technology purchases and GenAI's impact on supply chain talent. Be sure to check this page throughout the week for updates. 

• Gartner Says Chief Supply Chain Officers Must Deliver Multiple Sources of Value to Retain Enterprise Influence
• Four Human Economic Drivers to Reignite Supply Chain Productivity
• Gartner Predicts Half of Procurement Contract Management Will Be AI-Enabled by 2027

Presented by Carly West, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner

Gartner data shows that 82% of chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) believe their organizations will increase supply chain technology investments this year and next. In this session, Carly West, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, revealed the top supply chain technology trends for 2024, the drivers and themes behind the trends, and why they need to be on every CSCO’s radar. 

• “Investment in supply chain technology is being driven by the pursuit of three expected benefits: 1) new business models and competitive advantage 2) efficiency and productivity and 3) better decision making outcomes, resilience and agility.” 
• “Balancing the company’s maturity, risk appetite and goals will help CSCOs to determine the sweet spot for their business to prioritize the right trends and technologies to explore.”
• “AI is both a driver behind many of the themes, and a theme itself, through Composite AI, a combination of different AI techniques to improve efficiency and learning.” 
• “The augmented connected workforce uses AI and advanced analytics to extend worker’s capabilities where normal human memory, attention or focus would fatigue or be unreliable.”
• “Labor shortages are the top challenge for 60% of supply chain organizations, providing an opportunity for the augmented connected workforce and next-generation humanoid working robots.” 

Presented by Caleb Thomson, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner  

Most organizations are failing to fully utilize new digital planning tools as part of their transformation strategies. In this session, Caleb Thomson, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, highlighted how supply chain planning (SCP) leaders can evaluate if building, buying, or implementing a hybrid model makes sense for their current and future technology enablement needs. 

• “Gartner data shows that 45% of surveyed organizations failed at least once in ensuring adoption of a digital planning tool.”

• “Currently, only 12% of supply chain planners are using 90% or more of the tool’s total potential.”

• “Three key strategies to provide technology enablement today: build, buy or go hybrid.” 

• “The critical factors to decide on the best approach include desired capabilities, business value, time to value and investment cost.” 

• “To get started in making a decision, first define requirements and strategic value, next assess deployment options and then develop a roadmap, periodically revisiting buy versus build options.”

Presented by Dana Stiffler, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner  

Supply chain leaders have embraced the idea of GenAI as an antidote to their labor struggles. However, GenAI enthusiasm may be setting up a series of false assumptions about the most important impacts for the technology. In this session, Dana Stiffler, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, highlighted three supply chain talent assumptions that GenAI will challenge in the coming years, along with needed course corrections.  

• “Gartner data shows that supply chain leaders anticipate cutting more than 10% of headcount by 2026 as a result of implementing GenAI.”
  

• “Underlying this projection are three core GenAI talent assumptions: institutional knowledge can be replaced by GenAI, GenAI is only about desk-based roles, and the emphasis on employees alone needing new skills to survive GenAI.”

• “Experienced employees have an advantage with institutional knowledge, something that GenAI cannot fully replicate.”

• “Only focusing GenAI on what it can do in desk-based roles risks alienating the frontline, where organizations are already struggling with high levels of attrition.” 

• “A sole focus on talent upskilling overlooks the entirely new organizational roles, structures and skills that will be needed to deploy GenAI effectively.”