The past 12 months have been a challenging time for the world’s supply chains. 2024 was shaped by geopolitical conflict, pivotal elections in the majority of the world’s largest nations, worsening symptoms of climate collapse, and the ever-changing conversation surrounding technology’s role in day to day life. If there’s one thing that’s remained consistent and predictable over the course of the past year, it’s a marked trend in chaotic, inconsistent, disruptive conditions throughout global supply chains.
Throughout this year and now, going into 2025, supply chain leaders have responded to these challenges — exploring new ways to unlock resilience while containing costs, embracing new technologies while remaining cyber secure, and walking the increasingly narrow line between failure and success that the supply chain industry is forced to tread. As the year draws to a close, we spoke to 10 experts from organisations throughout the supply chain sector, from technology vendors to logistics analysts, to find out what the supply chain industry’s leaders expect from the next 12 months (and beyond).
In 2025…
… Visibility and control will remain key
Steve O’Keeffe, RVP UK&I at Epicor
“There are a few key strategies that distributors will need to focus on in the face of supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures as we move toward 2025. First, it’s important to recognise the significant demand for products from the UK to Europe and beyond, which presents both opportunities and challenges. Managing this effectively hinges on one crucial asset: inventory.
“Visibility and control are key. Distributors must optimise their ability to monitor stock — they need to be able to ensure that they have the right amount of product in the right areas to meet customer demand. Technology will be a major enabler in this, providing faster insights and helping to optimise decision-making processes. Distributors will need systems that allow them to act quickly, repositioning inventory closer to customers to reduce costs and improve delivery times.
“AI will play a big role in helping distributors manage this. By analysing vast amounts of data — whether it’s from different distribution partners, product types, or warehouse locations — AI can provide insights that allow distributors to make more informed decisions on where to position stock for optimal efficiency. This will help with cost management and also enable faster, more agile responses to customer demands.”
… Supply chain strategies and business strategies will become increasingly intertwined.
Tom Perrone, SVP Global Professional Services at project44
“Before the pandemic, the planning and execution of a company’s supply chain strategy resided with only a few technically minded specialists. Next year, however, supply chain strategy will become even more intertwined with wider business strategies that centre around cutting costs, creating competitive differentiation and ensuring excellent customer service and delivery experiences.
“Currently, supply chain and logistics costs account for 10% of an organisation’s overall spend. However, ongoing economic uncertainty will put supply chain efficiency high on the priority list for executive teams looking to cut costs. You can’t streamline what you can’t measure, so gaining end-to-end visibility of supply chain operations will be essential to identify areas to automate and minimise excess spending while enabling staff to focus on higher-value tasks. At the same time, this level of visibility will be important to compliance teams within large organisations that are faced with increased pressure to report on Scope 3 emissions reductions.
“Meanwhile, customer service teams will become more involved, with the last mile of the supply chain having the potential to make or break customer loyalty. Here, new technologies to enhance supply chain visibility and provide real-time order intelligence will be invaluable to communicate with customers, particularly when it comes to unprecedented delays. Next year, digital tools that promote visibility and collaboration will be key to breaking down internal siloes and ensuring greater alignment.’
Tariffs and geopolitical unrest will see new sourcing hubs appear across Asia and beyond – Alex Saric, Smart Procurement Expert at Ivalua
“In 2025, we’re likely to see sourcing hubs appear in new areas across Asia and Eastern Europe – with the US, EU, and the UK continuing to impose tariffs against suppliers in countries like China and Russia. New supply chains will be created in areas close to tariffed nations, as organizations find new ways to buy critical materials or components while sidestepping eye-watering tariffs. This will be particularly important for industries impacted by shortages like raw materials, fuel, and semiconductors.
“For example, the Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC has already agreed to build a third factory in Arizona, while U.S. chipmaker Onsemi has invested $2Bn to set up a full semiconductor production chain in the Czech town of Roznov pod Radhostem. We will likely see more of this type of investment over the next 12 months.
“It will take time and investment to shift operations fully, but organizations will need to bolster their supplier visibility to identify new sourcing hubs and gain access to the products they need at a lower price.”
… Generative AI will solve its own skills gap
Pascal Bensoussan, Chief Product Officer at Ivalua
“In 2025, Generative AI (GenAI) will tackle the procurement and supply chain industry’s AI skills gap by becoming more autonomous and user-friendly. Despite plenty of experimenting taking place since 2023, many teams have not integrated GenAI into their day-to-day workflows. But, as semantic data retrieval, AI orchestration, and LLM technologies advances, Generative AI systems are becoming more intelligent and more autonomous. Next year, we will see the emergence of AI agents that are capable of understanding high-level directives and act autonomously on specific events, evaluate options, make decisions, and generate detailed analytics, forecasts, and recommendations. Procurement and supply chain professionals will be able to interact with those AI-powered assistants by simply describing their needs in natural language, without having to master complex prompt engineering or coding skills. This will dramatically lower the barrier to entry for using – and benefitting from – AI.”
“With more users across the business, GenAI will become the de facto corporate ‘business operating system’, fundamentally reshaping the user experience. Rather than being simple “one-and-done” features sprinkled across the spend management suite, assistants will act as a central interface or in the background, seamlessly integrating data sources, decision-making models, and workflow automations into one unified space. As a result, AI will dynamically adapt to support everything from procurement to demand forecasting, helping teams to focus on more high-value tasks and adding strategic value.”
… Retailers will focus on nearshoring and resilience.
Rob Shaw, MD EMEA at Fluent Commerce
“Supply chain disruptions have been a cold shower for retailers this year. From the Red Sea crisis to the recent US port strikes, these events have been a shock to the system. Retailers didn’t realise how big of an impact it could have on their operations. They’ve been bitten, and now they’re shy. As a result, CFOs will be nervous about over-exposing themselves.
It’s cognizant of when COVID-19 hit. Initially, we experienced a massive shortage of products. Then, supply chains opened up and people over-ordered and overstocked. A lot of brands fell by the wayside as they overspent on purchasing products they couldn’t turn into revenue. It’s a balance between feast and famine – one that retailers will be paying closer attention to in the coming year.
Learning from these events, retailers will change the way they source goods. More near-shore supply chains could emerge as companies look to reduce reliance on the Far East. The introduction of export taxes in the US may also have a significant impact on overseas trade, possibly leading to shifts in market strategies for European brands as they reconsider their expansion plans.
Retailers will also be looking closer at how they orchestrate and manage their inventory to ensure they can fulfil the customer promise. With real-time inventory data that shows what stock is available now and in back order transit, retailers can know for certain what they can promise to their consumers – and provide timely updates if disruptions occur.”
… Supply chains will enter a new age of efficiency.
Holly Clarke, Product Manager for Inventory AI at Peak
2025 will be the year of supply chain efficiency. With the explosion of Generative AI in 2024, excitement will begin to settle in the New Year. The focus will shift; emphasis will be less about the expectation of it doing ‘everything’ within the supply chain, and more about its practical use.
This means supply chain staff will see the true value in AI’s breakdown of data, automation of some manual tasks, and the ability to ask questions about next steps. In the coming year, GenAI’s role will be focused on helping supply chains optimise efficiency and output within its strongest capabilities.
Production planners, too, will see their roles change in 2025. With AI continuing to reshape the role, it is vital production planners are AI-literate, particularly as tech’s importance will grow. With less supply chain staff in the industry, leaning on tech is going to be more important than ever and production planners must embrace AI as a supporting tool in the workplace. Those who don’t risk being left behind. There may be less resources at hand, but AI will guarantee stronger outcomes.
On top of this, there’s a misconception around AI that production planners need an extremely granular focus when it comes to planning, but this can actually hold you back. Higher level planning is much more effective, especially as it prioritises flexibility and the ability to be as agile as possible in the face of global issues.
… Regulation has a role to play in maintaining supply chain resilience.
Simon Bowes, CVP Manufacturing Industry Strategy EMEA at Blue Yonder
“Today’s supply chains remain volatile. From the ongoing Red Sea crisis, US port strikes, rising inflation and new global pandemic health emergencies, businesses are under immense pressure to identify and manage systemic risks in supply chains.
However, there is an answer and a way in which the Government can build a secure supply of critical goods, mitigate risks within the global trading environment, and support businesses with supply-chain resiliency. Introducing a government-mandated electronic supply chain trading network with end-to-end visibility would aid organisations with insights to see, understand, act, and learn from real-time information from the entire digital ecosystem. This should be based on an AI-powered unified platform that enables multi-tier orchestration, planning, and collaboration to accelerate processes with autonomous and semi-autonomous decision-making.
Think of it this way: just as services such as electricity and broadband are provided via government-mandated markets, creating an engine for supply chain planning could also be provided via a government-rolled-out network. If all trading partners in a supply chain can derive confidence in each other from having confidential electronic visibility of forecasts, inventory, shipments and invoices they will reduce lead times and excess inventory which releases working capital.
It is time to take control of the systematic risks in our supply chains with one unified global supply chain operating system – unlocking the barriers essential for delivering long-term, sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth.”
… Supply chains will need to carefully navigate regulatory changes.
Ricky Alfred, Director of Responsible Business, Communisis Brand Deployment
“Next year will be impacted by the European Commission’s recent decision to delay the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), giving businesses across the supply chain the new deadline of compliance by December 30, 2025. Looking forward to 2025, affected businesses, including our own, will be refining preparations, to ensure readiness to comply with the legislation.
“While the EUDR is well-intentioned, it has faced considerable challenges. Developing nations have raised valid concerns about the intense compliance requirements and the investment needed from some of the world’s poorest farmers. Additionally, major economies like the US and China have expressed reservations, complicating traceability efforts for commodities.
“This next year will be crucial for us all. It will allow us to thoroughly assess our supply chains, engage with our partners, clients, and suppliers to understand how we can work together to satisfy legislative requirements. A significant part of this effort will involve evaluating the systems we use and what we need to provide along the value chain to ensure compliance across all stakeholders. It’s also an opportunity to explore, in even greater depth, innovative technologies such as AI and blockchain to help meet these requirements effectively.”
… Cyber security will be more important than ever.
Dan Bridges, Technical Director – International at Cyware
“As we look toward 2025, it is more crucial than ever to remember the importance of securing our supply chains against the ever-growing threat of cyber attacks and the harm these can cause.
“With increasing interconnectivity and supply chain complexity, breaches in one part of the ecosystem can quickly ripple through to other areas, making collective defence strategies more vital than ever to maintain business resilience. Organisations must stay vigilant and acknowledge the need to assess, monitor, and review their own cybersecurity practices as well as those of their third-party vendors. This shift will likely push companies to not only improve their own security postures but also to collaborate more effectively across industries.
“The coming year is set to be significantly influenced by regulatory frameworks like the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the Network and Information Systems Directive 2 (NIS2). These regulations are already shaping the landscape by imposing stringent requirements on organisations to secure their supply chains and critical infrastructures, particularly in sectors such as finance and essential services. In the coming years, it is likely that such regulations will expand to encompass more industries, creating a uniform standard for operational resilience and cybersecurity risk management across the board.
… AI and RFID will be technological cornerstones of the supply chain.
Amber Hovious, VP of Marketing & Partnerships at Teamwork Commerce
“As supply chain requirements evolve and businesses are presented with new challenges, the role of innovative technologies such as AI and RFID will become more important in 2025. Omnichannel retail has already taken retail by storm, and the supply chain industry acts as the foundation to any omnichannel success, where businesses need increased accuracy, visibility, and transparency of their supply chains.”
“Solutions powered by AI and RFID are likely to remain in demand in 2025, solving supply chain challenges for businesses. The integration of AI into operations is expected to become more common as supply chain operators strive to gain higher precision and improve predictive analytics.”
… The retail supply chain will move beyond logistics.
Henry Ayres, Head of Engineering Practice at Daemon
“In 2025, the retail supply chain will redefine itself as more than just a logistics process, it will be a strategic driver of customer loyalty. As competition tightens, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics will take centre stage, and supply chains will shift from multiple experimental investments to larger scale transformative tech solutions that deliver tangible ROI and impact the bottom line. This means no more AI for AI’s sake and retailers will double down on solutions that directly impact sales and optimise store operations.
“One way we’ll see this step change come to fruition is the implementation of high-value product vending machines. In this system, instead of high-value and/or rarely purchased stock occupying shelf space, customers take a ticket for the product and retrieve the item at the checkout. This innovation not only frees up in-store real estate for more products but also mitigates theft and ensures consistency of product availability across locations—key to maintaining customer loyalty.”
- AI in Supply Chain
- Digital Supply Chain
- Risk & Resilience
