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agentic AI
December 19, 2025
E2open’s John Lash on Global Trade Turbulence, Tariff Whiplash, and the Rise of Agentic AI
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.…
circular economy
April 3, 2026
Are You Sure Consumers Are the Unlock for Circularity?
written by Deborah Dull, on site at GreenBiz 2026 One of the most repeated excuses in the circular economy space is that American consumers just do not care enough. They will not sort their waste. They will not pay a premium for sustainable products. They will not participate in take-back programs. Europe is different, the story goes. Americans are a lost cause. Today I sat through a panel where that story got taken apart, piece by piece, with actual data. On this panel were Tom Szaky the CEO at TerraCycle and Loop, Gary Lewis the CEO at Resourcify, Rob Whitter the Head of Climate and Sustainability at Visa, and Casper Venbjerg Hansen the Senior Director of Sustainability Risk & Compliance for Ambu A/S; all facilitated by Lauren Phipps of MOLG. A company that runs in-store recycling programs across more than a million locations in 20 countries looked at their numbers. Whether someone was bringing back a wetsuit in Japan, cosmetics in France, or gear in the United States, the behavior was statistically identical. You could not tell the countries apart. American consumers who chose to participate were participating at the exact same rate as everyone else. Then there was…