Supply Chain Uncut

Alex Johnson on why human-centric leadership, practical problem-solving, and geopolitical agility are driving the next era of supply chain excellence

Supply chains are under constant pressure from rapid technological leaps, economic shifts, and geopolitical volatility. But as global transformation leader Alex Johnson highlights, navigating these winds of change requires more than fast-tracking AI automation—it demands grounded leadership, human-centered processes, and continuous frontline engagement.

In this episode of Supply Chain Uncut, host Aaron McMillan sits down with Alex, a seasoned supply chain executive with 25 years of experience leading multi-site operations, turnarounds, and global transformation programs across healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, and energy sectors. From his early days lifting boxes in a warehouse at 16 to serving as Chief Supply Chain Officer, Alex shares how practical experience on the shop floor continues to shape his approach to modern supply chain leadership.

WE Soda CSO Alan Knight reflects on four decades in corporate sustainability, explaining why businesses must move beyond ESG reporting. 

For Alan Knight, Chief Sustainability Officer at WE Soda, corporate sustainability is about far more than compliance, frameworks, and reporting exercises. Drawing on four decades of experience spanning retail, steel, energy, and mining, Alan argues that true impact comes from solving practical problems and driving responsible practices directly across global supply chains.

In this episode of the Sustainability Podcast, Alan reflects on his career journey, from becoming one of retail’s first environmental managers at B&Q to his leadership role at WE Soda, the world’s largest producer of natural soda ash.

Drawing on 40 years of industry evolution, Alan discusses how corporate sustainability has transformed since the 1990s, why deep supply chain collaboration is essential to long-term resilience, and how businesses can look beyond carbon to address their most material supply chain and environmental impacts.

For Liam McCarroll, Senior Director, Global Sustainability and Social Impact at Univar Solutions, sustainability is about more than setting targets.

Rather, it is about understanding where the greatest risks and opportunities sit across the value chain and turning them into measurable business value.

In this episode of Supply Chain Uncut, host Matt High sits down with Liam to discuss his journey into sustainability, the complexities of chemical distribution and how Univar Solutions is building its latest generation of sustainability goals.

From sustainable supply chains and supplier engagement to AI, Scope 3 and fleet decarbonisation, Liam shares how sustainability is becoming increasingly embedded across the business.

What happens when supply chain moves from being a service function to becoming a strategic driver of value?

In this episode of Supply Chain Uncut, host Matt High speaks with James Rosengren, Global Supply Chain Lead for Value Creation and Sustainability at Mars, about his unconventional route into supply chain, the lessons disruption has taught him and why supply chain leaders need a greater voice in business decision making.

Today, James works within Mars Snacking, bringing together legacy Mars brands with the recently acquired Kellanova business. His role spans sustainability, profitability and value creation, with a focus on building strategies that can support growth while creating more resilient and sustainable supply chains.

Amy Augustine joins Supply Chain Uncut to explore how AI, global sourcing, trade compliance and people development can create more reliable supply chains How do you build a supply chain that can keep pace with business growth while navigating tariffs, long lead times, changing regulations and new technology?In this episode of Supply Chain Uncut, host Matt High speaks with Amy Augustine, VP of Operations and Supply Chain at CHAMPRO, about her journey through more than 20 years in supply chain and how she is transforming operations at the sporting goods company.After starting her career in engineering management and consulting, Amy found her way into supply chain through projects with organisations including Procter & Gamble and the US Army, before spending more than 16 years at UScellular.Today, she is applying those experiences at CHAMPRO, building a long-term supply chain strategy that brings together AI, planning, global sourcing, trade compliance, logistics and people development – with the goal of creating a more reliable operation that can support the company’s continued growth.

Negodiuk AI’s Dima Negodiuk on how AI agents can automate repetitive work, streamline operations and help businesses scale while keeping humans in control.

How can organisations automate more of their operations without losing the human judgement needed to make the right decisions? 

In this episode of Supply Chain Uncut, host Aaron McMillan speaks with Dima Negodiuk, Founder of Negodiuk AI, about his journey from entrepreneur to building businesses powered by AI.

After arriving in the US from Ukraine in 2022 with his wife, young child and one suitcase, Dima began exploring how AI could help him build without the cost and resources of a traditional team.

Today, he uses AI agents across sales, marketing, finance, customer service and supply chain operations – from making cold calls and processing orders to monitoring stock, generating shipping labels and identifying where businesses are losing time and money.

Deploying AI on top of broken supply chain processes doesn't fix them. It automates them.

Pedrom Rejai, Founder and Principle at Elevate Growth Partners, joins host Aaron McMillan to discuss why AI readiness starts with operational discipline, why supply chain fundamentals matter more as technology gets more capable and what the organisations genuinely getting value from AI have done differently.

Expect a conversation that's direct, specific and relevant for any supply chain leader thinking seriously about where AI fits.

AI is only as good as the data underneath it. Daniel Silverfield, Head of Value and Selection at Amazon Business, joins host Aaron McMillan to discuss why data foundations matter more than ever for supply chain teams, and how better purchasing data, sustainability insights and supplier diversity tracking are helping organisations make smarter decisions at scale.

Amazon Business serves 98% of Fortune 500 companies, giving Daniel a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing some of the world's largest organisations.

Expect from him and Aaron, a grounded, practical conversation about building the supply chain infrastructure that makes AI actually work.

Kenny Otto of Royal Papworth Hospital opens up on his own emotional journey into healthcare, and why resilience, leadership and global experience are reshaping the future of healthcare supply chains.

In healthcare, supply chain performance can determine whether patients live or die. Few understand those stakes better than Kenny Otto, whose career spans humanitarian operations across Africa and supply chain transformation at one of the UK’s leading specialist cardiac hospitals.

This week on Supply Chain Uncut, Kenny shares what more than two decades in global healthcare supply chains has taught him about resilience, leadership and building systems for disruption.

From delivering essential medicines in South Sudan and managing HIV and malaria supply chains in Nigeria to supporting the Ebola response, Kenny now applies those experiences to supply chain transformation at Royal Papworth Hospital.

This week on Supply Chain Uncut, host Aaron McMillan is joined by Andrew Swift, a senior procurement leader at the British Council with more than 30 years of experience spanning procurement, financial services, consulting, telecoms and the public sector.

Drawing on a career that began in accounts payable before progressing into procurement leadership, Andrew explores the changing role of the profession, the opportunities and risks created by AI and what leaders need to consider as they build the procurement teams of the future.