Conclusion

 AI and other technologies like IoT will be game changers for people in the field. The technology will only become more advanced and integrated into a company's processes. So, it's important to remember a few key points when adopting this into a business.

Implementation

Companies need three things to create a prosperous relationship with AI: digital talent, the right mix of technology integration, and adjusted business processes. Many will start without all three and not receive the full benefits AI has to offer. 

Employee Knowledge

Individuals and leadership need to actively learn skills of handling AI. Knowing its benefits and drawbacks will give an advantage, when it comes to the marketplace or getting a job in SCM. Also, developing interpersonal communication is beneficial because having skills that aren't replaceable by machines will become more valued by companies.

Benefits

SCM and AI integration can lead to many benefits. All four categories of the supply chain can currently be optimized by using this software. The largest benefit, for now, being demand planning and prediction models. Having a better understanding of demand reshapes the supply chain and makes it much more efficient. Other benefits include automation, robotics, tracking, and risk mitigation. Some of those like automation and robotics will only be largely beneficial in the future once the technology has improved (automated drivers and warehouse robots).

Challenges

There are many challenges that companies will face with AI. It will require high start-up costs, but those will pay off in the future. Data management will become more important and infrastructure to sustain that must be built. Also, data selection will become more important, knowing which data is most important to give AI to develop optimized strategies.