Camilo Pita

It has been another busy week for Supply Chain Now! Did you catch all the episodes? If not, no worries! Check them all out here:   We started out the week with a new episode in our Logistics with a Purpose series sponsored by our good friends at Vector Global Logistics. Listen as Scott, Greg, and Enrique have a great conversation with Mickey Horner with Rise Against Hunger.     On Tuesday, Scott and Greg were joined by AIAG’s CR Summit speaker Joerg Walden, CEO of iPoint.     Then we published the new and improved Supply Chain Buzz, with Scott and Greg sharing and discussing the latest news and events in Supply Chain and beyond.     Scott and Greg were joined by Randy Strang with MedShare on Thursday for another episode in the Logistics with a Purpose series, sponsored by Vector Global Logistics.     And to wrap up the week, Scott and fellow host Fred Tolbert with Demand Solutions were proud to host three exceptional Supply Chain students from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.  

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…