Jacob Gorm Larsen

At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton sat down with Nari Viswanathan, a veteran innovator in the planning and procurement technology space and a key leader at Coupa. The two reconnected after several recent collaborations—including webinars, industry sessions, and conversations in Dallas—and discussed the new realities of supply chain planning and how organizations are embracing technology like never before.   Coupa and Autonomous Spend Management For those less familiar with Coupa, Viswanathan explained the company as the global leader in autonomous spend management—a framework that brings together direct and indirect spending to help organizations manage total spend more intelligently. Direct spend, of course, is where supply chain operations come into focus, making planning, design, and cost optimization central to the value Coupa delivers. Viswanathan leads Coupa’s global supply chain strategy, shaping how the company positions and scales its solutions across the market. After years spent in supply chain planning technology, he now sits at the intersection of procurement, supply chain, and advanced analytics—an area he believes has never been more exciting or more critical.   Old Problems, New Pressures—and a Greater Willingness to Innovate When asked about the biggest challenges facing planners today, Viswanathan emphasized a…

Special Guest Blog Post written by Karin Bursa, Founder and CEO of NIRAKIO and Supply Chain Now Host   Artificial intelligence is no longer a “what if” in supply chain — it is here. In fact, Gartner predicts that 50% of cross-functional supply chain management solutions will use intelligent agents to autonomously execute decisions in the ecosystem by 2030. But how do leaders move from hype to real impact? During our recent Supply Chain Now Power Panel, I asked five senior executives to share where they see AI making the biggest impact. Their answers revealed not just excitement, but a roadmap for how supply chains can evolve. Here is how they responded, in their own words. Q: Where do you see AI making the greatest impact in your supply chain? Eliza Simeonova – VP Global Supply, Mars Pet Nutrition “AI forces operational discipline. Clean data is no longer optional. The system itself demands it. I also see AI shaping supply chain synchronization — aligning suppliers, factories, warehouses, and customers in new ways.” Whitney Shlesinger – VP Global Planning & Logistics, McCormick “For me, it’s about people. Employees want to move beyond non-value-added work. AI allows us to free them up…