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December 7, 2020
This Week on Supply Chain Now: November 30th – December 4th
Another great week here at Supply Chain Now! Have you listened to all the episodes? If not, you can check them all out here: On Monday, Scott and Greg welcomed Mark Messina & Simon Houghton of Geek+ to the podcast! Scott and Greg also welcomed Mike Griswold from Gartner to SCN Live to talk about all the latest supply chain news. On Tuesday, Scott and Greg welcome Allison Krache Giddens of Win-Tech, Inc. to the podcast in collaboration with AIAG’s Supply Chain Summit. Michael Neme joined host Jamin Alvidrez on Logistics & Beyond on Tuesday as well to share his mindset and some of the keys to his passion: Supply Chain Consultative Sales. On Wednesday, Scott and Greg welcomed Karin Bursa and Jamin Alvidrez for the Supply Chain Buzz, to discuss the top news in supply chain for the week. Also, Scott and Greg discussed the top news in supply chain with special guest, Guy Courtin of 6 River Systems On TECHquila Sunrise this Thursday, Greg White welcomed Kinaxis CEO John Sicard to the podcast. And on Friday, we ended the week with Scott & Greg…
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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…