Staying ahead of supply chain disruptions and inefficiencies is critical to any business. AI solutions that help with work flows, inventory, and forecasting can help you see the big picture at all times.
One area of leverage for AI is in supply chain management, especially by building resilience to unforeseen disruptions. This section explores the visibility workers have into their supply chain, how well they handle supply chain disruptions, and whether they believe AI can mitigate supply chain risk.
In terms of baseline approach to supply chain management, 45% say they have full visibility into their supply chain and actively monitor all risk areas. Thirty-eight percent say they are aware of some blind spots and lack full visibility. 17% say they do not have a clear understanding of their operational blind spots.
Of those with full visibility into their supply chain, 69% use AI in their day-to-day work. 66% plan to increase their AI use over the next few years, and 84% have realized cost reductions due to AI. Additionally, 56% say they handle supply chain disruptions well, and 70% are very or somewhat confident AI will mitigate supply chain risk.
However, of those who do not have a clear understanding of their blind spots, 88% do not use AI in their daily work, and 89% either have no plans to increase AI use or plans to decrease it. Only 16% say they handle supply chain disruptions well, and 9% are very or somewhat confident AI will mitigate supply chain risk.
The big idea: Respondents didn't answer questions that directly correlated AI use to visibility into the supply chain and handling of disruptions. However, the above data shows at least a dotted line between those who have visibility into their supply chain and increased AI use, and those who don't have a clear understanding of their supply chain and low or no AI use.
How well does your organization understand its operational blind spots in the supply chain?
Thirty-five percent say their organization handles supply chain disruptions well, while the majority (56%) say they handle disruptions somewhat well. Seven percent say they handle disruptions somewhat poorly, and 2% handle them poorly.
Of those who say they handle disruptions well, 72% have full visibility into their supply chain.
The big idea: There's an overall positive sense of being able to handle disruptions adequately, especially when there's more visibility into the network and an understanding of where blind spots are.
How well do you think your organization handles supply chain disruptions?
Twenty-one percent are very confident that AI will help their organization mitigate future supply chain risks, while 32% are somewhat confident. However, 24% are neutral about AI's ability to mitigate risk. Three percent are somewhat not confident, and 6% are not at all confident. Finally, 15% don't know whether AI can mitigate supply chain risk.
Confidence rises with AI use. Of those who use AI in their day-to-day work, 78% are very or somewhat confident in AI's ability to mitigate supply chain risk. 17% of this group is neutral.
Of those who do not use AI on a daily basis, only 20% are confident in AI's risk mitigation. 32% are neutral, and 16% are not confident in it. Ultimately, though, 32% just don't know if AI can help mitigate supply chain risk.
The big idea: As we've seen throughout, using AI and seeing its value leads to AI confidence in many areas, including AI's potential to mitigate supply chain risk. Those who actively use AI have more confidence in it, while those who don't use it as often don't.
Are you confident that AI will help your organization mitigate future supply chain risks?
Global supply chains can be fragile, with disruptions a world away impacting operations at home. This section explores what geopolitical risks workers see as having the biggest impact on their supply chain strategy.
Half of respondents (50% when choosing all that apply) say that current trade restrictions and tariffs are having the greatest impact on supply chain strategy, turning long-term strategy planning into short-term pivots reacting to changing policy.
Frontline workers also see their company's supply chain strategy being disrupted by currency fluctuations or overall market volatility (29%), contributing to the need for resilience and the ability to pivot.
Labor regulations and workforce availability (27%) also impact supply chain strategy, as does keeping up with regulatory compliance (26%).
The big idea: Supply chain strategies have always needed to be resilient and reactive to sudden global changes, and today is no different. New trade restrictions and tariffs not only have a financial impact, but may also force a company to reconsider its sourcing. Now's the time for companies to employ strategies like using AI technology to gain more visibility into their supply chain, so they can better anticipate and take action against sudden changes.
What geopolitical risks are having the greatest impact on your supply chain strategy?
There are still areas of improvement when it comes to gaining more visibility into supply chain operations, as well as improving ways to handle disruptions. With the uncertainty regarding tariff and trade restrictions, as well as overall market volatility, building short-term resilience — as opposed to long- term strategy — is going to be the priority.
AI tools and technology can help build that resilience and increase supply chain visibility. Those who use AI on a day-to-day basis and have seen its impacts have more confidence that AI can help mitigate risk in supply chains, too. The responses above also suggest that those who have more visibility into their supply chain and who are more prepared to handle disruptions are organizations who are actively using AI in a number of applications already.
As seen throughout, AI investment and seeing it in action seem to lead to a flywheel of increasing AI confidence and adoption. Yet companies lagging on AI will continue to find themselves unable to respond to changing market conditions and disruptions as effectively as those already implementing AI tools will.
Therefore, when evaluating supply chain solutions, look for AI capabilities that facilitate rapid response and resilience over long-term strategic planning features.