From visibility to autonomy: closing the “data foundation vs agentic AI” gap in supply chains

In this HFS Research videocast with Mindsprint, Ashish Chaturvedi speaks with Rohit Sharma and Unnikrishnan Sasikumar on how supply chains are moving from visibility to intelligence amid disruption—shifting from AI pilots to outcome-led transformation (working capital, margin, customer experience). They explore what’s driving demand today including real-time planning, control towers, supplier collaboration, predictive analytics and what’s next: agentic AI for exception handling and the path to autonomous supply chains, grounded in trustworthy data foundations and an ecosystem approach across SAP/Microsoft cores plus specialist startups.

You can listen above or watch this HFS Videocast here:

Key discussion points include:

• Enterprise demand today is still centered on “visibility + decision support.” Most current programs focus on real-time planning, control towers, supplier collaboration, and AI-driven dashboards/analytics to enable faster decisions during disruption.
• Clear shift from tactical work to integrated, tech-enabled operations. Buyers are moving away from manual Excel forecasting and siloed portals toward integrated solutions that support automated exception handling (including agentic AI), plus broader ecosystem collaboration and traceability.
• A widening “spend today vs build tomorrow” gap is shaping strategy. Enterprises are still investing heavily in analytics modernization, cloud, and data foundations, while major tech vendors are pushing hard on generative AI and agentic architectures—creating a sequencing challenge.
• Trustworthy data is the gating factor for autonomous supply chains. The conversation emphasizes that without strong data foundations (freshness, accuracy, governance, and resolving conflicting data sources), autonomy can create bad decisions (e.g., stock-out risk when systems think safety stock exists).
• Organizational capabilities matter as much as technology. Beyond platforms and tools, capability building and guardrails (e.g., CoE / governance frameworks) are positioned as essential to unlock value from data and AI.
• The partner stack is hybrid: ERP core plus startup innovation. SAP and Microsoft are described as dominant “core” stacks, while many enterprises augment them with specialist startups/scale-ups for niche planning, visibility, risk, and sustainability, requiring an ecosystem approach.
• Progress is real, but not linear. Enterprises are still getting foundations right, even as the tech investment trajectory points clearly toward more autonomous, AI-driven supply chain operations.

Read the HFS Horizons Report on Intelligent Supply Chain Services 2025, here.

You can also listen on:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify