Guest Blog courtesy of David Steven Jacoby Author of RETOOLING AMERICA: For AI-Driven Supply Chains By 2030 most supply chain activities will be 70-80% AI-driven. Repetitive events such as requisitioning, order management, contracting, payment, accounting and recurring sourcing events will be triggered and executed by algorithms.

Supply chain risk will be managed smarter than today. Strategic, periodic activities such as supply chain network design and strategic supplier selection will remain in the capable hands of managers, but overall, we will continue to see more and “smarter” (cognitive) automation; with robotic process automation (RPA) and AI increasingly blending.

Companies will need to develop artificial intelligence and robotic solutions to sense and respond to activity at the edge of supply chain boundaries. They will need AI to enhance demand planning and management (learning supply-demand balancing), contracting and order management (smart contracting and order management: establishing complete traceability), manufacturing (digital twins and supply chain control towers: replicating the physical factory), and engaging customers continuously (planting & watering the money tree). They will need robotic solutions in the fields of additive manufacturing (to customize production), in warehouses (to standardize delivery chains), in drone delivery (to deliver anywhere, anytime), and in last-km/m/cm delivery (for reliable unmanned delivery).