Ahmad Harris Amani

Tariffs have the entire world on edge, and the Supply Chain Now hosts are staying abreast of the very latest developments on the tariffs front to share them with listeners. But believe it or not, there’s a lot more going on in the world that affects the supply chain industry than tariffs, and Supply Chain Now is keeping listeners informed about all the topics important to them. Tariffs, Of Course, and Government Regulations The Trump administration has cranked up trade tensions with its 145% tariff on most imports from China and the end of the de minimis exemption that allowed packages worth less than $800 to enter the United States duty-free. The Port of Los Angeles, the United States’ largest maritime gateway, is one of the American powerhouses that has been bracing for the impact. Port Executive Director Gene Seroka said on April 24 that he expected within the next two weeks container ship arrivals would “drop by 35% as essentially all shipments out of China for major retailers and manufacturers have ceased, and cargo coming out of Southeast Asia locations is much softer than normal.” At Supply Chain Now, we’re constantly monitoring what’s happening in LA and Washington —…

At Manifest 2026, Scott Luton spent time with Josh Gruenstein, Co-Founder and CEO of Tutor Intelligence, to talk about a future that’s no longer theoretical: AI-powered robot workers operating inside America’s warehouses and factories. And this isn’t a science experiment. It’s already happening.   From MIT to the Warehouse Floor Gruenstein and his team came out of MIT’s Computer Science and AI Lab with a bold idea: build AI-powered robot workers that can handle the manual labor people don’t want to do. “We build physical robots,” Gruenstein explained. “We build AI models that enable robots to perceive their environments, and then we deploy those robots into factories and warehouses across the United States to do manual labor that people don’t want to do.” Unlike traditional automation projects that require massive capital outlays, Tutor Intelligence operates on a robots-as-a-service model. Companies can engage a Tutor robot for roughly $14–$18 an hour, creating a flexible, scalable path to automation without multimillion-dollar implementation risk.   Automation Isn’t New. AI Is Changing the Playbook. When asked about dominant supply chain themes, Gruenstein pointed to a constant drumbeat: automation. But 2026 feels different. “Automation is obviously a constant theme,” he said. “What really seems different…