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Caroline Chumakov

Caroline Chumakov

VP, Research & Advisory at Zero100 and former Gartner supply chain analyst, covering supply chain talent, AI adoption, and digital transformation.

Sep 8, 2026

3:43
So maybe you could expand on that idea and share what you shared on the stage.
3:46
Yeah, I think this is the word of the year judgment.
3:49
I think it's been swirling around the community.
3:51
There's so much interest, especially for those that are far ahead of the pack on agentic AI and how you make sure that you're pushing your AI roadmap forward, but also still maintaining or maintaining.
4:05
safeguarding what allows your people to make great decisions within your organization.
4:10
I think this comes back to this concept of judgment.
4:14
We've worked with a food and beverage organization that has implemented nine different AI agents in sourcing and procurement.
8:12
The people side of metrics and the shared measures, if you could reflect on that, and then Laura, maybe unpick a little bit how we laid out this idea of the new metrics for the new end-to-end as maybe the path to finally break down functional silos in a meaningful way.
13:15
Yeah.
13:15
And then growing roles might become NPI planners, IBP leads, even, I think, an emerging title we're seeing is AI supply chain orchestrators.
13:26
So planning, because it's so embedded across other functional areas of operation, it's this natural orchestrator, you might see planners that are seated across and are responsible for supporting multi-agent systems for the organization.
13:41
I think in sourcing, you know, we're seeing a shift away from contract managers, very transactional procure-to-pay or operational staff, pricing specialists, you know, forty-plus percent, even in some cases more than sixty percent of leaders are expecting decreased demand for these areas.
14:01
I think, though, on the flip side, where there will be growth and investment is on supplier relationship management roles and then global trade compliance managers, right? Being able to anticipate shocks before they hit the system and of course, being able to build deeper relationships with suppliers.
14:21
From a frontline perspective, you know, if we look at manufacturing and logistics, I think, yes, you may see these kinds of decline in demand in machine operators, material handlers, maybe unloading associates, route planners, very tactical execution-oriented roles.
14:40
But I think equally, there is a growing demand for specialized individuals.
16:03
But entry-level talent today will be the leaders of tomorrow, so how do we think this will play out? Are we eliminating this layer entirely, or are we just fundamentally changing how we think about entry-level talent and their role in the organization?

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