Mary Waters

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…

To compete in today’s supply chain landscape, you need the best talent. We can’t overstate this enough. The talent competition is fierce and has increased due to the rapid onset of machine learning and artificial intelligence. If you don’t have a talent management partner who can accelerate your leadership placements, you run the risk of missing out on the best candidates and making a bad hire. It’s better to trust professionals who can commit a full-time approach to helping you find the supply chain leaders you need, rather than disrupt your own operations, hoping you have the right access and relationships to land the best talent. Here are 5 leading supply chain recruiting and executive search organizations: SCM Talent Group The key differentiator for SCM Talent Group and other supply chain recruiters is their decades of relationships, coupled with thought leadership. Founder and Managing Partner Rodney Apple helped to build out Home Depot and Coca-Cola’s supply chains more than 20 years ago. These decades of experience allow SCM Talent Group to better identify leaders who can help to transform supply chains into competitive advantages. Apple’s deep relationships in this niche industry have allowed his team to access hard-to-find talent pools…