Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Supply chain resilience is already too slow if decisions arrive after disruption.
Agility now has to happen before the shock hits.
I’m joined by Abe Eshkenazi, CEO of ASCM, the Association for Supply Chain Management, for a direct conversation on what supply chain leadership now requires. Abe has seen supply chain move from a quiet back-office function to a boardroom priority, and his perspective matters because the operating environment has changed: export controls, tariffs, climate volatility, cybersecurity, industrial policy, supplier risk, and sustainability pressures are now colliding inside the same decision cycle.
Why does this matter now? Because disruption is no longer arriving as a single event that can be managed, absorbed, and filed away under “lessons learned”. It is compounding. Port congestion, energy reliability, carbon footprints, sovereign supply chains, regulatory shifts, and cost pressure are all hitting planning horizons at once. That makes visibility, data, and decision speed far more than technical concerns. They are now operational survival issues. Cheery, isn’t it?
What changed my thinking was Abe’s distinction between resilience and agility. Resilience helps you recover after the shock. Agility helps you see earlier, decide faster, and reconfigure before the damage lands. We also get into a sharper problem: supplier visibility is no longer enough. Once you know who and what is in your supply chain, the harder question is whether they should still be there.
Abe also makes a strong point about technology. AI, automation, and real-time visibility can improve decisions, but only if the talent is there to challenge the data, interpret the signals, and avoid blindly trusting systems. And there is a sting in the tail: connecting the extended supply chain may solve a visibility problem while increasing cybersecurity risk through smaller suppliers.
For senior supply chain, procurement, operations, risk, sustainability, and manufacturing leaders making real decisions under pressure.
If you’re dealing with this on the ground, I’d like to hear how you’re handling agility, visibility, and supplier risk.
🔗 Podcast: resilientsupplychainpodcast.com
Subscribe for more conversations on supply chain resilience, sustainability, risk, data, AI, and operational decision-making.
⏱️ Chapters / Timestamps
00:00 – Why agility is now the competitive advantage
00:28 – When supply chain becomes a boardroom risk
03:44 – Why transactional supply chains no longer work
06:20 – Compounding disruption and shrinking options
08:15 – Supplier visibility and the optionality problem
10:55 – CFO cash flow vs supply chain flexibility
12:26 – When compliance replaces sustainability strategy
13:42 – AI, data, and shrinking planning horizons
19:17 – Visibility systems, agile sourcing, and cyber exposure
22:28 – AI literacy, talent gaps, and blind trust in data
25:34 – Why 2030 supply chains need agility and sustainability
28:33 – Inventory, demand, AI approval, and supplier flexibility
Supply chain resilience is already too slow if decisions arrive after disruption.
Agility now has to happen before the shock hits.
I’m joined by Abe Eshkenazi, CEO of ASCM, the Association for Supply Chain Management, for a direct conversation on what supply chain leadership now requires. Abe has seen supply chain move from a quiet back-office function to a boardroom priority, and his perspective matters because the operating environment has changed: export controls, tariffs, climate volatility, cybersecurity, industrial policy, supplier risk, and sustainability pressures are now colliding inside the same decision cycle.
Why does this matter now? Because disruption is no longer arriving as a single event that can be managed, absorbed, and filed away under “lessons learned”. It is compounding. Port congestion, energy reliability, carbon footprints, sovereign supply chains, regulatory shifts, and cost pressure are all hitting planning horizons at once. That makes visibility, data, and decision speed far more than technical concerns. They are now operational survival issues. Cheery, isn’t it?
What changed my thinking was Abe’s distinction between resilience and agility. Resilience helps you recover after the shock. Agility helps you see earlier, decide faster, and reconfigure before the damage lands. We also get into a sharper problem: supplier visibility is no longer enough. Once you know who and what is in your supply chain, the harder question is whether they should still be there.
Abe also makes a strong point about technology. AI, automation, and real-time visibility can improve decisions, but only if the talent is there to challenge the data, interpret the signals, and avoid blindly trusting systems. And there is a sting in the tail: connecting the extended supply chain may solve a visibility problem while increasing cybersecurity risk through smaller suppliers.
For senior supply chain, procurement, operations, risk, sustainability, and manufacturing leaders making real decisions under pressure.
If you’re dealing with this on the ground, I’d like to hear how you’re handling agility, visibility, and supplier risk.
🔗 Podcast: resilientsupplychainpodcast.com
Subscribe for more conversations on supply chain resilience, sustainability, risk, data, AI, and operational decision-making.
⏱️ Chapters / Timestamps
00:00 – Why agility is now the competitive advantage
00:28 – When supply chain becomes a boardroom risk
03:44 – Why transactional supply chains no longer work
06:20 – Compounding disruption and shrinking options
08:15 – Supplier visibility and the optionality problem
10:55 – CFO cash flow vs supply chain flexibility
12:26 – When compliance replaces sustainability strategy
13:42 – AI, data, and shrinking planning horizons
19:17 – Visibility systems, agile sourcing, and cyber exposure
22:28 – AI literacy, talent gaps, and blind trust in data
25:34 – Why 2030 supply chains need agility and sustainability
28:33 – Inventory, demand, AI approval, and supplier flexibility
