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April 26, 2021
This Week In Supply Chain Now: April 26th – 30th
It’s time for Supply Chain Now! We’re looking back on the latest episodes, interviews, conversations, and livestreams from this week right here. On Monday, we released 2 new episodes! In this episode of Digital Transformers, powered by Supply Chain Now, hosts Kevin L. Jackson and Kelly Barner welcome Gary Storr and April Harrison with Trust Your Supplier to the podcast to discuss supplier management using blockchain. On This Week in Business History, guest host Nick Roemer with Cibus21 walks us through the history of the COP: the conference of parties, as well as key milestones in actions to address sustainability. On Tuesday, we released 2 new episodes! On this episode of Supply Chain Now, Bobby Holland, Freight Data Solutions team at U.S. Bank and Drew Wilkerson, head of XPO’s transportation group in North America, share the results of the Q1 2021 report with Greg White and Scott Luton, interpreting what they may mean for the economy and the shipping industry in the short and longer term. On TECHquila Sunrise, we looked back on a Classic episode where host Greg White shared the ins and outs of what it takes to get into supply chain tech. On Wednesday, Charles Redding, CEO…
supply chain planning
December 18, 2025
Coupa’s Nari Viswanathan on Autonomous Spend, AI Accessibility, and the Future of Planning
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…