Lance Theobald

Six industry leaders reveal how to build data agility—and why it’s the key to competitive advantage. Most teams spend 70–90% of their time preparing data—not analyzing it. By the time data is ready for analysis, the market has moved. Opportunities vanish. Competitors act. One company nearly built a $400M facility 550 miles from the optimal location. The cost of that mistake would have been $2 billion over the plant’s lifetime. They caught it with always-on data analytics. Would you? “In uncertainty-driven environments, expanded analytical capacity translates directly to resilience. Organizations that can model more futures make more informed commitments.” Download the white paper to discover: Why data—not talent or technology—is the real bottleneck How leading organizations are building reusable data infrastructure that cuts prep time by 80% What data agility unlocks: faster refreshes that deliver savings now, coverage across every business and region, and the capacity to finally tackle cost-to-serve, risk analysis, and inventory optimization The shift from ad-hoc projects to always-on decision-making capability Featuring insights from veterans of Cargill, Nestlé, McKinsey, and more. DOWNLOAD NOW

At Manifest 2026, Scott Luton caught up with Marina Mayer, Editor-in-Chief of Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive, and Co-Founder and Content Director of the Women in Supply Chain Forum, for a conversation that cut through the tech buzz and landed squarely on what matters most: people. Marina leads two influential digital publications covering the full spectrum of supply chain — from temperature-controlled cold chain logistics to e-commerce and retail — along with four major industry awards programs and the rapidly growing Women in Supply Chain Forum, now entering its fifth year. But amid all the innovation on display in Las Vegas, her message was refreshingly grounded.   Disruption Is the Baseline. Proactivity Is the Shift When asked about dominant themes shaping the industry, Marina didn’t hesitate. One common theme linking 2025 and 2026 is that “disruptions obviously still exist,” she said. From tariffs to trade wars to Mother Nature, the hits keep coming. What’s different in 2026 isn’t the disruption itself; it’s the response. Instead of dwelling on what’s gone wrong, companies are getting proactive. Leaders are “acting on it and being proactive about getting in front of it,” she noted. Since COVID, organizations have learned that…