Michael O’Brien

This post is written in partnership with Reuters Events: Supply Chain. Reuters Events connects the world’s most senior supply chain leaders through conferences, research, and digital content. Learn more: events.reutersevents.com/supply-chain/usa   When decisions cannot keep pace with change There is a moment most planning leaders recognise right now: A tariff announcement lands. A carrier pulls capacity. Demand accelerates faster than the forecast adjusts. The decision window compresses, and by the time there is confidence in the data, the cost of delay is already building. These pressures across supply chains are not new. What has changed is the speed at which conditions move underneath a decision, often faster than organisations are set up to respond. Customer expectations do not flex when supply does not. The cost of a wrong call, whether inventory in the wrong market, capacity committed too early, or service levels slipping before anyone flags them, compounds quickly. Most organisations have responded by investing. Better tools. More data. AI pilots. Network reviews. The core problem persists: decisions are still being made without full confidence. Planning and execution do not align when conditions change. In many cases, the issue is not disruption itself. It is how long organisations take to…

A Legacy Behind the Mission At Manifest 2026 in Las Vegas, Scott Luton sat down with Stefan Groschupf, CEO & Founder of Centrum AI, to discuss how a new generation of technology is being purpose-built for today’s supply chain realities, rather than yesterday’s assumptions. What began with a lighthearted joke about multivitamins quickly turned personal. When Scott quipped that “Centrum” reminded him of a vitamin from the eighties and nineties, Stefan shared the real inspiration behind the name. “My dad… the biggest building he constructed was called Centrum,” he explained. “That was the inspiration. His legacy, a head nod to him.” For Stefan, the company name represents more than branding; it reflects a mission rooted in impact and responsibility.   Designing for Today’s Reality “We’re building a new tech platform for the supply chain industry that is really built on the foundation of the reality today,” Stefan said. That reality includes uncertainty, dirty data, data silos, and geopolitical shifts that are reshaping global trade. He offered a simple example: in many ERP systems, a lead time is entered as a fixed number — say 15 days. “That’s of course nonsense,” Stefan noted. “It’s anywhere between nine days and 18 days……