SupplyChainBrain reports — Helen Atkinson (Managing Editor): "The future is already here; it's just not evenly distributed" — William Gibson wrote in his 1984 novel Neuromancer. Supply chain and procurement managers need to listen carefully to ensure this future reaches them — said Jay Koganti, Vice President of Supply Chain at Estée Lauder's Center of Excellence, during his presentation on "AI Trends Transforming Supply Chain and How Leaders Respond" at the DPW New York conference on June 11. Because what artificial intelligence promises for supply chain operations is enormous. It can accelerate the supply chain's journey from the back office to the boardroom more than any other change. The reason is that the supply chain itself is enormous — Koganti argues. In any country's economy, it represents approximately 20 to 30 percent of GDP. Globally it employs 450 million people — and contributes 1.45 trillion dollars to U.S. GDP alone. Of course, AI is already being used in supply chains — adding its capabilities to countless other efforts to optimize operational efficiency. But there is a shift underway — and you need to come to terms with it — Koganti warns. AI starts as algorithms — now it's showing its semantic dimension (self-learning, analyzing, even making decisions) — and there is an emerging incredible promise in terms of spatial computing and extended reality (XR). "Human agency continues to steer the AI age" — Koganti says — augmenting human decision-making in increasingly useful (and probably concerning) ways. Koganti calls on the procurement community to look for what is called the "foresight function" in planning tools — which can enhance data analysis, scenario generation and trend identification — enabling more informed and proactive decision-making — together with human oversight.
From a supply chain perspective, DPW (Digital Procurement World), founded by Matthias Gutzmann Founder & CEO, based in Berlin, Germany, is the largest digital transformation conference series globally for procurement and supply chain leaders. DPW Amsterdam, DPW New York, and DPW Singapore are the main events. Estée Lauder Companies (EL; New York; Stephane de la Faverie CEO) is one of the world's largest luxury beauty and skincare companies — Estée Lauder, MAC, Clinique, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Aveda, Tom Ford Beauty, Jo Malone London, and Le Labo are its flagship brands. Jay Koganti, Vice President of Supply Chain at Center of Excellence, leads supply chain innovation and digital transformation. Other leading global CPG and beauty AI pioneers include L'Oréal (Nicolas Hieronimus CEO), Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Beiersdorf, LVMH, Kéring, Coty, Shiseido, Amorepacific, Natura, and Avon.
From a supply chain perspective, the spatial computing and extended reality (XR) ecosystem comprises: (1) virtual reality (VR): Meta Quest (Mark Zuckerberg CEO), Sony PlayStation VR2, HTC Vive, Pico (ByteDance), and Varjo are main providers; (2) augmented reality (AR): Microsoft HoloLens, Magic Leap, RealWear, Vuzix, and Snap Spectacles are main providers; (3) mixed reality (MR): Apple Vision Pro (Tim Cook CEO; February 2024 launch) and Meta Quest 3 are main providers; (4) industrial metaverse: NVIDIA Omniverse (Jensen Huang CEO), Siemens Xcelerator (Roland Busch CEO), Microsoft Mesh, PTC ThingWorx, and Dassault Systemes 3DEXPERIENCE are main platforms. Generative AI and foundation models include OpenAI GPT, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Meta Llama, Mistral AI, xAI Grok, DeepSeek, Cohere, NVIDIA NeMo, and IBM Granite as main providers. Agentic AI frameworks include Salesforce Agentforce, Microsoft Copilot Studio, Google Vertex AI Agents, AWS Bedrock, LangChain, LlamaIndex, AutoGen, and CrewAI as main frameworks.
From a supply chain perspective, the "foresight function" that Koganti referenced is becoming an increasingly standard capability in supply chain planning software. Main providers include Blue Yonder (formerly JDA; Panasonic), Kinaxis Maestro, SAP IBP, Oracle Demand Planning, o9 Solutions, OMP Plus, RELEX Solutions, ToolsGroup, John Galt Solutions, Anaplan, Coupa Supply Chain Design, Logility, Ikigai Labs, Causality Link, and QAD Dynasys. On the procurement side, SAP Ariba, Coupa, GEP Smart, Ivalua, Jaggaer, Zycus, Workday Strategic Sourcing, Oracle Procurement Cloud, Keelvar, Globality, Suplari, and Sievo are main providers. Procurement intelligence platforms include Beroe, Spend Matters, Ardent Partners, and Hackett Group as main consulting platforms. The Trump 2.0 tariff regime makes foresight, scenario modeling, and rapid response capabilities vital — structurally strengthening demand for AI-powered planning platforms. As a result, the evolution of AI that Koganti highlighted — from algorithm to semantic to spatial computing — appears to be the main driver of structural change across the global supply chain sector over the next decade.
Key Notes:
1. Jay Koganti (Estée Lauder) is presenting at DPW New York on June 11.
2. The William Gibson 1984 quote emphasizes urgency in an unevenly distributed future.
3. Supply chain represents 20-30% of global GDP, employs 450 million people, and contributes 1.45 trillion dollars to the U.S. economy.
4. AI is evolving from algorithms to semantics, spatial computing, and XR.
5. The "foresight function" is becoming a core capability in planning tools — together with human oversight.
