Ming Zhou

Special Guest Blog Post written by Karin Bursa, Founder and CEO of NIRAKIO and Supply Chain Now Host   Artificial intelligence is no longer a “what if” in supply chain — it is here. In fact, Gartner predicts that 50% of cross-functional supply chain management solutions will use intelligent agents to autonomously execute decisions in the ecosystem by 2030. But how do leaders move from hype to real impact? During our recent Supply Chain Now Power Panel, I asked five senior executives to share where they see AI making the biggest impact. Their answers revealed not just excitement, but a roadmap for how supply chains can evolve. Here is how they responded, in their own words. Q: Where do you see AI making the greatest impact in your supply chain? Eliza Simeonova – VP Global Supply, Mars Pet Nutrition “AI forces operational discipline. Clean data is no longer optional. The system itself demands it. I also see AI shaping supply chain synchronization — aligning suppliers, factories, warehouses, and customers in new ways.” Whitney Shlesinger – VP Global Planning & Logistics, McCormick “For me, it’s about people. Employees want to move beyond non-value-added work. AI allows us to free them up…

At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in December 2025, Scott Luton sat down with Stephen Musciano, a former practitioner turned technology leader who now helps transform supply chain organizations through Lyric—a fast-growing, math-first, AI-native platform redefining what supply chain technology can be. Musciano, who began his supply chain career at companies such as New Balance and Under Armour, brings both real-world execution experience and deep technical vision to his work. That mix is central to what makes Lyric—and its philosophy—stand apart.   Lyric: A Platform, Not a Point Solution Musciano described Lyric as fundamentally different from traditional vendors. Rather than offering a single application or fixed module suite, Lyric provides a true supply chain platform in Lyric Studio—one built from composable, no-code building blocks that allow companies to create exactly what they need. “Think Legos,” Musciano explained. “We’re not selling you a car or a house. We give you the blocks so you can build what your supply chain truly needs. We might even give you a starter kit but the configuration and molding it to fit your business and your problem is where the magic happens.” Lyric Studio is intentionally designed centered on non-technical practitioners—people like “Maria,” Lyric’s…