The Future of Supply Chain

This week, we are joined by Hapag-Lloyd's Karsten Schmidt and SAP's Danilo Angelinetta and Doug DeLuca to explore the future of supply chain visibility —covering IoT-powered containers, AI-driven decisions, and business network collaboration.

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Covered topics:
• Visibility has evolved from operational add-on to board-level strategic priority
• Hapag-Lloyd's IoT-equipped containers enable real-time, granular shipment tracking
• Why data quality is the foundation of AI-driven logistics decisions
• Real-world use cases: FOB origin tracking, warehouse geofencing & supply chain velocity
• How SAP Business Network turns carrier visibility into actionable business outcomes
• AI accelerates disruption response—from detection and impact assessment to orchestration

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Guest 1: Karsten Schmidt, Director Smart Containers, Strategy Office
Hapag-Lloyd

Karsten drives the commercialization of IoT-enabled container visibility solutions, helping customers gain actionable insights and enhance the performance of their supply chains.

Guest 2: Danilo Angelinetta, Network Strategy Director EMEA, SAP

Danilo is responsible for SAP Business Network adoption and growth, expert in Procurement and Logistics and working with the Executives from Customers and Trading Partners to optimize their strategy  for the usage of SAP Business Network.

Guest 3: Doug DeLuca, SAP Business Network for Logistics Marketing Manager, SAP

Doug leads marketing for SAP’s logistics collaboration and visibility solutions, including SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration and SAP Business Network Global Track and Trace, working closely with customers and partners to improve efficiency and resilience across global supply chains.

Host 1: Richard Howells, SAP

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Richard Howells⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.

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Show Links:
HLAG feature story: https://news.sap.com/germany/2026/07/container-tracking-wie-echtzeit-iot-daten-die-supply-chain-optimieren/
Al Dahra on sap.com 
LAPP on sap.com

Supply Chain Management:   
SAP Supply Chain Management: www.sap.com/scm

Follow Us on Social Media : 
Richard Howells: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
SAP Digital Supply Chain: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   

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What if your supply chain system didn't just answer questions but took action? In this episode, Lukas Huber from Deloitte explains the real difference between conversational and agentic AI, shares concrete use cases from shortage mitigation to transport disruption, and makes the case for governance by design.

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What happens when supply chain systems stop waiting to be asked — and start taking action on their own?

In this episode we sit down with Lukas Huber, a Conversational and Agentic AI expert at Deloitte, to unpack what these technologies actually mean for supply chain professionals beyond the hype.

Lukas explains the difference between conversational AI, which understands intent and communicates insights, and agentic AI, which executes goal-driven, multi-step workflows; through examples from damage reporting to detecting shortages, evaluating alternatives, and drafting supplier emails, he shows how AI can support planners and operations teams. 

He also highlights the operational and financial risks of errors or hallucinations, making the case for governance by design from day one. 

Looking ahead, Lukas envisions a more intelligent, adaptive, and human-centered supply chain in which AI automates processes but also transforms how decisions are made.
 
What You Will Learn:
• What conversational AI means in an enterprise context and why it's broader than most 
   people think
• What are the key difference between a conversational assistant and an agentic AI system
• What are concrete supply chain use cases: S&OP, shortage mitigation, transport disruption 
   management, shop floor operations
• When voice beats chat and when it doesn't
• What are the three types of governance controls every organization deploying agentic AI 
   needs
• Why "governance by design" is the difference between a promising demo and a scalable 
   enterprise solution
• How Deloitte approaches end-to-end AI transformation in supply chain

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Guest 1: Luka Huber, AI & Data Consultant, Deloitte

Lukas Huber is an AI & Data Consultant at Deloitte, focusing on AI transformation, intelligent automation and the adoption of AI in complex business environments. Beyond his consulting work, he is actively engaged in international AI and leadership communities, including the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community and Young AI Leaders under ITU’s AI for Good initiative. He is also a member of the German Data Science Society and the German Forum for Ethical Machine Decision-Making, contributing to initiatives around AI literacy, responsible AI and the practical adoption of emerging technologies.

Host 1: Richard Howells

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Richard Howells⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.

Host 2: Sin To

Sin To brings over 15 years of experience in the digital media and technology industry – primarily in marketing, business development, thought leadership, and editorial. At SAP, they ensure that SAP's supply chain solutions are properly visible with a focus on future trends and sustainable innovations as part of the Thought Leadership & Awareness Supply Chain Team.

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Show Links:
SAP Digital Supply Chain: www.sap.com/scm
AI for Good: https://aiforgood.itu.int/

Supply Chain Management:   
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Supply Chain Management⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Insights: Supply Chain⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠       

Follow Us on Social Media : 
Lukas Huber
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/huberluk/
Richard Howells:
LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/richardjhowells⁠
Sin To: 
LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/sin-to-5334208⁠
SAP Digital Supply Chain: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   
 
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Kearney's Suketu Gandhi joins us to discuss why the supply chain is now central to corporate strategy—from COO growth optimism and resilience as a competitive weapon to AI industrialization and sustainability's renaissance.

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In this episode, we, together with Suketu Gandhi, unpack the Kearney COO Agenda report. Listen in to hear why 70% of COOs expect double-digit growth, how resilience has become an offensive competitive weapon, and why only 10% of companies close the execution gap. Or to examine with us AI's shift from pilots to industrialization, its net-positive effect on supply chain jobs, and how sustainability has moved beyond compliance into a genuine competitive advantage—quietly thriving without the marketing hype.

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Guest 1: Suketu Gandhi, Global Co-Lead and Chair, Operations and Performance, Partner, Kearney

Based in Chicago, Suketu is a recognized industry leader on a wide range of operations topics, with an emphasis on end-to-end supply chains. “I’m strongly focused on the redesign of supply chains for four critical purposes: growth, cost, resilience, and sustainability,” he comments. “The key to maximizing their effectiveness lies in the combination of human intelligence, AI, and automation, underpinned by a deep understanding of how global operations work.” Across three firms, he has built and run innovation centers, bringing emerging tech to supply chains from design through manufacturing.
 
A Global Leader in Consulting honoree for Excellence in Innovation, Suketu is the founder of the Kearney Supply Chain Institute and has published more than 100 articles on supply chain and AI in outlets such as HBR, MIT Sloan Management Review, and The Wall Street Journal. He is also the co-author of Strong Supply Chains Through Resilient Operationsand is currently working on an HBR Press book titled Intelligent Speed at Scale.

Host 1: Richard Howells, SAP

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Richard Howells⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.

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Show Links:
Kearney: https://www.kearney.com

Supply Chain Management:   
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Supply Chain Management⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Insights: Supply Chain⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠       

Follow Us on Social Media : 
Suketu Gandhi: LinkedIn
Richard Howells: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
SAP Digital Supply Chain: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   

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Transportation is no longer just a last-mile function. This week we, together with Tushar Bhalla from CloudPaths, and Dmitry Antanovich from LeverX explore how it's becoming the nerve center of modern supply chains.

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Transportation planning has evolved from a tactical, last-mile activity into the strategic nerve center of the supply chain. In this episode, Tushar Bhalla from CloudPaths and Dmitry Antanovich from LeverX joined us to discuss how organizations can break down planning silos, connect planning with execution, and use solutions such as SAP IBP and SAP TM to gain real-time visibility. They also share practical advice for leaders beginning their integration journey.

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Guest 1: Dmitry Antanovich, Solutions Director, SAP Supply Chain Management, LeverX

Technology and business leader with a strong focus on growth, strategy, and execution in SAP-driven transformation initiatives. As a Solutions Director, I lead solution strategy and customer engagement across complex SAP programs, helping organizations translate business priorities into clear technology roadmaps. I work closely with executive stakeholders, SAP teams, and partners to guide modernization efforts, moving from legacy landscapes to scalable, cloud-enabled architectures built on SAP S/4HANA and SAP BTP.

Guest 2: Tushar Bhalla, CloudPaths 

Tushar has been guiding customers through their implementation challenges in Digital Supply Chain Strategy, Planning & Transformations for the last 15 years with expertise in SAP IBP, SAP APO, SAP Ariba and more.  Led and delivered projects from planning to stabilization across multiple geographies and industries with more than 25 recognized brands in the Consumer Products, Food, Automotive, Semiconductor, Hi-Tech, Oil & Gas, Chemical sectors.   

Tushar previously held roles with Accenture, Intrigo Systems and HPE.  

Host 1: Richard Howells

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Richard Howells⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.

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Show Links:
LeverX: https://leverx.com/
CloudPaths: https://cloudpaths.com

Supply Chain Management:   
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Supply Chain Management⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Insights: Supply Chain⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠       

Follow Us on Social Media : 
Richard Howells: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
SAP Digital Supply Chain: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   

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Can your supply chain make decisions faster than your competitors? We sit down with Brooks Noonan of NTT DATA to explore the shift from digital visibility to true autonomous execution—and what it actually takes to get there.

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What if your supply chain could resolve disruptions before your customers ever noticed? We sit down with Brooks Noonan of NTT DATA to unpack what it really means to go autonomous. We dig into which decisions AI can handle right now, why demand sensing is no longer a nice-to-have but the cost of admission, how real-time data minimizes the bullwhip effect—and why measuring ROI means looking at the balance sheet, not soft metrics. Join us as we discuss the fututre os supply chain!

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Guest 1: Brooks Noonan, Vice President, NTT DATA Business Solutions 

Brooks Noonan is an executive leader and corporate board member specializing in enterprise modernization and SAP business transformation. Currently serving as Vice President at NTT DATA Business Solutions and as a Board Member for Ben Tire Distributors, he excels at bridging technology strategy with execution to drive sustainable business growth.

Host 1: Richard Howells

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Richard Howells⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.

Host 2: Oyku Ilgar, SAP  

Oyku Ilgar is a marketer and thought leader specializing in SAP’s digital supply chain and ERP solutions since 2017. As a marketer, blogger, and podcaster, she creates engaging content that highlights innovative SAP technologies and explores key topics including business trends, AI, Industry 4.0, and sustainability.  
 
She holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Finance & Accounting and English Translation, along with a master’s degree in Business Administration and Foreign Trade, specializing in marketing. With her background in digital transformation, Oyku communicates technology trends and industry insights to help professionals navigate the evolving business landscape.  

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Show Links:
NTT DATA Business Solutions: https://nttdata-solutions.com/us/

Supply Chain Management:   
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Supply Chain Management⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Insights: Supply Chain⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠       

Follow Us on Social Media : 
Brooks Noonan: LinkedIn
Richard Howells: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Oyku Ilgar: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠      
SAP Digital Supply Chain: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   

 Please rate us and subscribe to stay up to date on future episodes!