Rob Cook

At Manifest 2026, Scott Luton spent time with Josh Gruenstein, Co-Founder and CEO of Tutor Intelligence, to talk about a future that’s no longer theoretical: AI-powered robot workers operating inside America’s warehouses and factories. And this isn’t a science experiment. It’s already happening.   From MIT to the Warehouse Floor Gruenstein and his team came out of MIT’s Computer Science and AI Lab with a bold idea: build AI-powered robot workers that can handle the manual labor people don’t want to do. “We build physical robots,” Gruenstein explained. “We build AI models that enable robots to perceive their environments, and then we deploy those robots into factories and warehouses across the United States to do manual labor that people don’t want to do.” Unlike traditional automation projects that require massive capital outlays, Tutor Intelligence operates on a robots-as-a-service model. Companies can engage a Tutor robot for roughly $14–$18 an hour, creating a flexible, scalable path to automation without multimillion-dollar implementation risk.   Automation Isn’t New. AI Is Changing the Playbook. When asked about dominant supply chain themes, Gruenstein pointed to a constant drumbeat: automation. But 2026 feels different. “Automation is obviously a constant theme,” he said. “What really seems different…

At the 2025 Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton met with John Lash, who leads strategy and vision at e2open, a WiseTech Global Group company. E2open is a global platform powering the entire lifecycle of making, moving, and selling goods, with capabilities spanning planning, logistics, global trade, supply management, and procurement. The platform is designed not just for enterprise visibility but for true end-to-end coordination across extended supply chain ecosystems. Lash emphasized that disruptions rarely originate within a company’s four walls. “Your sub-tiers are where most of the risk lives,” he explained. “That’s where your day-to-day operations—and your long-term strategy—are truly shaped.” It’s a lesson sharply reinforced during the pandemic, which reminded leaders worldwide that no one does supply chain alone.   Old Challenges Intensified by New Realities When Luton asked about the biggest challenges facing planning teams today, Lash pointed immediately to constraints—supply constraints, manufacturing constraints, and now, the added layer of global trade volatility. Trade policies that once shifted every few years now change weekly, daily, or even hourly. Lash offered a striking example: Brazilian coffee duties jumped from 10% to 50% this summer—before returning to 0%. “How do you plan through that?” he asked.…