Justin Griffith

At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton caught up with Rob Haddock, a seasoned supply chain practitioner and advisor with Demand Chain AI, to discuss the persistent planning challenges organizations face—and why maturity, discipline, and optimization still matter more than buzzwords. Demand Chain AI blends consulting services with advanced supply chain technologies, focusing on optimization across trade promotion management, demand sensing, supply planning, and detailed production scheduling. Haddock’s role centers on helping organizations strengthen business processes—particularly sales and operations planning (S&OP), performance reporting, and the practical application of technology to improve execution on both the demand and supply sides.   A Practitioner’s Perspective on Planning Gaps Haddock’s perspective is shaped by decades spent inside large, sophisticated supply chain organizations. Early in his career, he worked within an iconic, global beverage company where advanced planning environments were already in place—though, in hindsight, he admits those tools were sometimes underutilized. Today, Haddock spends much of his time working with small and mid-sized organizations that haven’t been as fortunate. In many of these environments, planning maturity is still low, foundational practices are missing, and—unsurprisingly—Excel remains the primary planning tool. “Basic business practices that have been around since the 1990s…

ATLANTA, GA — January 6, 2026 — Supply Chain Now, the award-winning global digital media platform recognized as the #1 Voice of Supply Chain, today announced the promotion of Mary Kate Love to President, effective January 1, 2026, alongside the continued engagement of a distinguished Advisory Board composed of proven leaders across supply chain, technology, strategy, and media. Together, these leadership updates signal Supply Chain Now’s next chapter of growth as the company prepares for significant expansion in 2026: scaling programming, partnerships, and demand-generation capabilities while staying rooted in authentic, practitioner-led content serving a global audience of more than 1 million listeners. In her new role, Love will lead Supply Chain Now’s strategic growth across programming, partnerships, operations, and long-term platform strategy, further strengthening its mission to inform, connect, and elevate the global supply chain industry. “Mary Kate is a trusted, decisive leader with a rare combination of delivering both strategic vision and operational excellence,” said Scott W. Luton, Founder and CEO of Supply Chain Now. “In 2025, she played a pivotal role in accelerating our revenue growth, expanding our audience to more than one million supply chain professionals, and sharpening our focus on delivering measurable value for both practitioners…