Gugulethu Hughes

At the 2025 Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton met with John Lash, who leads strategy and vision at e2open, a WiseTech Global Group company. E2open is a global platform powering the entire lifecycle of making, moving, and selling goods, with capabilities spanning planning, logistics, global trade, supply management, and procurement. The platform is designed not just for enterprise visibility but for true end-to-end coordination across extended supply chain ecosystems. Lash emphasized that disruptions rarely originate within a company’s four walls. “Your sub-tiers are where most of the risk lives,” he explained. “That’s where your day-to-day operations—and your long-term strategy—are truly shaped.” It’s a lesson sharply reinforced during the pandemic, which reminded leaders worldwide that no one does supply chain alone.   Old Challenges Intensified by New Realities When Luton asked about the biggest challenges facing planning teams today, Lash pointed immediately to constraints—supply constraints, manufacturing constraints, and now, the added layer of global trade volatility. Trade policies that once shifted every few years now change weekly, daily, or even hourly. Lash offered a striking example: Brazilian coffee duties jumped from 10% to 50% this summer—before returning to 0%. “How do you plan through that?” he asked.…

Technology is advancing quickly and we all get to experience quick changes in innovation devices. It has become almost impossible today to do any job without using technology. Our lives are greatly influenced by technology, to an extent that from our daily chores at home to our professional jobs and interactions, everything is being affected by technology. What is AI? Artificial Intelligence refers to the ability of an advanced computer to perform operations normally executed by humans. To lay it out plainly, AI has human-like capacities regarding programming, however, it runs on significantly more impressive equipment. In contrast to people, smart machines can deal with huge amounts of information in real-time. AI Spring in Action The last few decades have witnessed the spring of AI. The dramatic surge in AI resulted from its progress in advanced neural networks NNs and genetic algorithms GAs from the ‘60s and ‘70s. For any organization planning to move ahead and succeed, integration of technology in its operation is a must. AI Incorporation Artificial Intelligence is now being incorporated by organizations all across the globe in a variety of ways, from robotizing a part of interacting with customers to deciding upon the products best suited…