Katherine Hintz

We are excited to celebrate Scott Luton, Founder & CEO of Supply Chain Now, for being recognized as a 2025 Pro to Know by Supply & Demand Chain Executive—a distinction that underscores his unwavering impact and leadership in the field. This recognition honors Scott’s year-in and year-out commitment to excellence—from thought leadership to community engagement. It stands alongside his previous accolade as a Pro to Know in 2019 and now again in 2025, highlighting a sustained legacy of influence within the supply chain profession. See the complete list of 2025 Pros to Know here.

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…