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March 19, 2021
This Week on Supply Chain Now: March 15th – 19th
Listen Up! This week was full of thought leadership, industry news, and strategic insights, so make sure to catch all things Supply Chain Now right here! On Monday, Charles Walker and Enrique Alvarez joined Scott and Greg to talk about Leadership Lessons Learned. Listen up if you’re ready to feel inspired! On Tuesday, Mike Griswold, VP of Research at Gartner, joined our hosts Scott Luton and Greg White to discuss the top stories, news, and trends in supply chain today. On Wednesday, Azaleah Davis joined us on the podcast to talk about how she found her way into engineering and biomechanics, the evolutionary journey aspriing leaders have to be willing to take to be their best self, and more! If you missed Monday’s The Buzz livestream, then check out Thursdays podcast episode of the replay featuring the Lora Cecera, Founder of Supply Chain Insights, as she joins our hosts Scott and Greg to dive into the top news in supplu chain this week plus share her own incredible story and inspirational perspective. And on Friday, we finished off with a Dial P for Procurement livestream. Tune in as hosts Kelly Barner and Scott…
procurement
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…