In the latest episode of Talking Supply Chain, host Brian Straight sat down with Dave Pennino, CEO of LogicSource, to explore why procurement is no longer just a cost-control function, it’s becoming a strategic lever for financial resilience.

Pennino doesn’t mince words about what’s changed. In an era of tariff uncertainty, inflation, geopolitical instability and shifting consumer demand, CFOs are under relentless pressure. But the real risk, he argues, isn’t just volatility, it’s underinvestment in procurement.

Artificial intelligence is often pitched to procurement teams as a straightforward productivity win—save time, automate work, and move faster. But in this episode of Talking Supply Chain, host Brian Straight digs into why those promised time savings don’t always translate into better decisions or cleaner execution. Joined by Erin McFarland, VP of Operations at Fairmarkit, the conversation quickly moves beyond hype into the operational friction that emerges when AI is layered onto outdated processes and governance models.

Cybersecurity has become one of the most material, and least understood, risks facing modern supply chains. In this episode of Talking Supply Chain, host Brian Straight sits down with Tim Freestone, chief strategy officer at Kiteworks, to unpack why AI-driven automation, agentic workflows, and digital collaboration tools are rapidly expanding the supply chain attack surface well beyond traditional IT environments.

Pallet building is one of the most common activities in distribution centers, yet it remains largely untouched by modern optimization efforts. In this episode, Talking Supply Chain host Brian Straight speaks with Kyle Franklin, senior solutions consultant for Lucas Systems about why palletization has historically been treated as a manual, experience-driven task rather than a strategic lever for efficiency.

As supply chain leaders confront rising labor costs, workforce shortages, and global uncertainty, automation is increasingly seen as both an opportunity and a risk. In this episode of Talking Supply Chain, host Brian Straight speaks with Jeff Bornino, president of North America at TMX Transform, and Nick De Klerk, senior director, about why automation decisions must start with feasibility, not enthusiasm for the latest technology. The discussion emphasizes that rushing into large capital investments without fully understanding operational needs often leads to costly mistakes that can burden organizations for decades.

In this episode of Talking Supply Chain, Brian Straight speaks with Brian Higgins, partner, U.S. sector leader for Industrial Manufacturing in KPMG’s U.S. supply chain and operations practice, about whether the recent surge in U.S. manufacturing investment represents a true renaissance or a fragile moment shaped by tariffs and geopolitics. Higgins notes that while headlines may exaggerate some announcements, underlying data—from manufacturing construction spend to foreign direct investment—shows real momentum, particularly as companies reassess resilience, proximity to customers, and supply chain risk.

For years, product returns have been dismissed as an unavoidable cost of doing business—an operational burden buried deep in the supply chain. But as e-commerce growth stabilizes and margins tighten, that blind spot is becoming too expensive to ignore. Returns represent not only a massive financial drag but also a powerful, underutilized source of intelligence that can transform forecasting, inventory planning, product design, and customer experience.

In this episode of In Transit, host Vishnu Rajamanickam from The Logistics Report speaks with Chuck Fuerst, chief commercial officer at ReverseLogix, about why the industry’s mindset around returns must fundamentally change.

AI may be reshaping every corner of the supply chain, but nowhere is the shift more profound—or misunderstood—than in planning. In this week’s Talking Supply Chain, Gartner Director Analyst Jan Snoeckx explains why autonomous and agentic AI are no longer abstract promises but practical capabilities gaining traction inside large enterprises. Gartner’s latest research shows that autonomous planning has officially passed the “peak of inflated expectations,” moving out of hype and into measurable value. That shift, Snoeckx notes, reflects a deeper mindset change: companies aren’t asking if AI can help planners anymore; they’re asking how it should.

This week’s episode of Talking Supply Chain takes a very real look at something most procurement teams aren’t talking about: the biggest AI risk next year isn’t the technology, it’s the people guiding it. As Sudhir Bhojwani, co-founder and CEO of Oro Labs, told Talking Supply Chain podcast host Brian Straight, “People are still trying to figure out what they want to do with AI … but what people don't know is how to truly solve their end-to-end process problems.”

His point is clear: organizations are racing toward AI without knowing how to use it well and the consequences are coming fast.

Artificial intelligence has taken hold across the enterprise, but nowhere does it face a bigger challenge than in third-party risk management. As explained in this week’s Talking Supply Chain, AI thrives on structure and consistency, yet supplier ecosystems remain fragmented and inconsistent across industries.

Dave Rusher, chief customer officer at Aravo, joins the discussion to explore why the lack of standardization in third-party risk programs makes this area a true stress test for AI.

Rusher notes that while AI has accelerated processes in finance and logistics, its adoption in risk management has been slower. The reason: compliance and security professionals are, by nature, cautious. Companies must weigh the promise of automation against concerns about data privacy, intellectual property, and regulatory exposure. As he explains, AI’s value isn’t in replacing humans but in helping analysts synthesize unstructured data into actionable insights.