Bart Smelley

Special Guest Blog Post written by Parabola Founder & CEO, Alex Yaseen   Operators are under pressure. They’re expected to move faster, do more with less, and somehow keep everything running smoothly while their systems, tools, and data are a mess. Now, AI is adding a whole new layer. On one hand, it’s exciting. The potential is real. On the other, a lot of teams feel stuck. They know they should be using AI, but they’re not sure where it fits into their day-to-day work. These are the five questions I get asked most often—whether someone’s trying to get started with automation, or trying to figure out how AI actually helps. 1. Can we automate this, or is it too messy? This question usually comes from someone deep in a spreadsheet that was never meant to scale. The short answer is: yes, you can probably automate it. But the longer answer is that you’ll need to rethink the process first. AI can help summarize, transform, and clean data—but it won’t fix a broken workflow. That’s on you. The best teams pair structured automation with lightweight AI to get leverage. Think: using rules and logic to standardize a workflow, and AI…

Listen up to the latest episodes, interviews, conversations, and livestreams from Supply Chain Now this week!   On Monday, Scott Luton and guest host Will Haraway welcomed JP Wiggins with 3Gtms for a conversation on transportation management and even a little baseball!   On Tuesday, Host Karin Bursa welcomed supply chain genius Criag Ablin to TEK TOK to discuss the 6 levers that drive digital and physical success.     On Wednesday, we kicked off our Reverse Logistics series in partnership with the Reverse Logistics Association featuring Chuck Johnson, COO of goTRG. Tune in for a great conversation about peak returns season, with passionate opinions from Chuck, our hosts Scott, Greg, and Tony Sciarrotta, and our audience!   On Thursday, Scott Luton, Greg White, and Enrique Alvarez sat down to discuss all the top news and biggest stories in supply chain this week on The Supply Chain Buzz.   On Friday, Scott Luton dived into the top news in business, including industry developments in the tech and talent sector, aviation, the beverage industry, and more!   And we wrapped up with a bonus livestream this Saturday to discuss Supply Chain leadership across Africa. Which was your favorite episode? Make sure…