Michael Broidy

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…

The resiliency of the supply chain has been tested time and time again — strained by weather-related events like hurricanes, global crises such as COVID-19, disasters like the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, and security breaches from cyberattacks. Supply chain resilience will continue to be tested. In fact, a major supply chain crisis could be just days away as the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) could stage a strike at ports all along the East and Gulf coasts of the United States as soon as Oct. 1. Beyond the Buzz: What is Supply Chain Resilience? “Supply chain resilience refers to the ability of a supply chain to prepare for unexpected events, adapt to disruptions, and recover quickly to restore its normal service levels,” Inbound Logistics said. “It’s not merely about preventing disruptions but being able to turn challenges into opportunities for growth and improvement.” Supply Chain Dive said because of events like COVID-19, the Panama drought, and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, supply chain disruptions have become “part of the public’s consciousness and everyday nomenclature.” “The risk in our global economy is that supply chain disruptions are guaranteed to continue, but no forecast exists to tell us when or how…