Will AI Replace Supply Chain Leaders?

1. Disruption Doesn’t Always Drive Collaboration

John opened with a common question: Do tough times bring companies closer together?

Tim’s answer was clear—not right away. In moments of volatility, retailers often go into protection mode. They hunker down, focus inward, and try to preserve what they can. Collaboration tends to return only after the dust begins to settle and a “new normal” emerges.

“When things get tough, people retreat and protect the farm.”
– Tim Scott

The implication? Real partnership isn’t just about shared technology or process alignment. It takes timing, trust, and a willingness to look beyond survival.

2. Real Partnership Starts with Understanding Retail’s Reality

Tim highlighted one of the most underappreciated truths in the grocery industry: retail is hard.

Margins are razor thin. Complexity is high. And every quarter is a knife fight for survival. For a CPG partner to earn a retailer’s trust, they have to deeply understand that grind—and avoid acting like their wins can come at the retailer’s expense.

“Retail barely makes it across the finish line—with scars and scratches.”
– Tim Scott

True collaboration, Tim argues, only works when both sides commit to finding mutual wins, not extracting one-sided value.

3. AI Is Breaking Barriers—and Creating New Questions

Both Tim and John agreed: AI is already reshaping the food supply chain. It’s improving speed, insight, and scenario analysis in ways that were once unimaginable.

But Tim also posed a new challenge: if AI can accelerate everything, how do we orchestrate it? How do leaders govern and apply the firepower that this technology now puts in their hands?

“Technology is giving us firepower we’ve never had before. Now the question is: how do we conduct it?”
– Tim Scott

The tools are real. But strategy, coordination, and intentionality are what make them effective.

4. Tomorrow’s Talent Won’t Learn the Way We Did

John reflected on his own development—how learning the supply chain meant navigating uncertainty, making mistakes, and building judgment over time. But in an AI-powered environment, many of those learning moments may disappear.

If digital agents solve problems before they emerge, how will the next generation develop the instincts and resilience that leadership requires?

“We learned by getting thrown into the deep end. Will AI rob the next generation of that?”
– John Church

5. New Skills Are Needed—but So Is Critical Thinking

Tim emphasized that technical skills alone won’t be enough. Tomorrow’s supply chain professionals need to be digitally fluent—but also skeptical, discerning, and able to ask better questions.

AI might generate an answer—but someone needs to decide whether it’s the right one.

“If AI provides the answer, how do we know it’s the right answer? Where did the data come from?”
– Tim Scott

That ability to evaluate sources, probe assumptions, and trust your instincts will be even more valuable in a world of black-box algorithms.

6. AI May Replace Tasks—But It Shouldn’t Replace Judgment

As the conversation wrapped, both John and Tim agreed: AI will replace roles. But it shouldn’t replace the growth curve that turns a team member into a leader.

The risk isn’t that machines will make better decisions. It’s that we might stop developing the people who were once responsible for making them.

“Mistakes made me a better leader. What happens when AI solves problems before they even emerge?”
– John Church

If we want to preserve leadership potential, we need to design career paths that build critical thinking, not just dashboard fluency.

Final Thoughts

The question isn’t really “Will AI replace supply chain leaders?”

The real question is: Are we developing leaders who know how to work with AI—and still lead through it?

John and Tim’s conversation was a clear reminder that while AI will change the shape of work, it can’t replace trust, business context, or hard-earned judgment. And if we’re not careful, it might also erase the lessons that only failure—and reflection—can teach.