Artificial intelligence dominates almost every conversation at Kinexions 2026 (hosted by Kinaxis). The technology has moved beyond the realm of experimentation and possibility into something far more tangible. Organisations are now wrestling with practical questions around implementation, workforce adoption and measurable outcomes. For Brent Wilson, SVP Global Supply Chain Operations at Qualcomm, that shift marks a significant turning point, both for the wider supply chain profession and for a major technology corporation that designs and manufactures semiconductors, processors and wireless telecommunications products.
Wilson, who previously shared Qualcomm’s transformation journey at Kinexions last year in Austin, returns this year with a different perspective. The journey is far from complete, he states, but there are milestones worth celebrating and lessons worth sharing.
Perhaps most importantly, there is a growing understanding that the real challenge with AI is not simply deploying the technology, but embedding it thoughtfully into the organisation.
“We are much more focused on AI and the use of AI and how it’s impacting people,” Wilson says when reflecting on how discussions have evolved over the past year. “There’s a lot of discussion around that. People are now into the implementation phase, so they’re starting to have more questions and concerns regarding how you get people to adopt it, how you talk to people about it, and make changes within the organisation due to the ramifications of what it’s providing.”
Building AI with purpose
Rather than pursuing isolated use cases or adopting technology simply because competitors are doing so, Qualcomm takes a methodical approach to AI adoption. Wilson outlines a strategy built around three interconnected areas that together provide both structure and flexibility. The first centres on redesigning the way work gets done. The intention is not merely to automate existing processes, but to rethink them entirely and identify opportunities to operate more effectively.
The second component involves understanding exactly how employees spend their time. Qualcomm conducts detailed job and task studies across the organisation to identify activities that might benefit from AI support. “For example, doing some job and task studies to understand what people are spending their time on,” Wilson explains. “Identifying which one of those are amenable to some type of an AI assistance, like an agentic type of help, or maybe machine learning.”
The final pillar focuses on widespread adoption and organisational confidence. Qualcomm establishes self-directed learning groups that encourage employees to share experiences, ask questions and explore practical applications. Importantly, these communities are not imposed by leadership. “We’ve created kind of a self-learning organisation, a user group that’s really funded by the people within the organisation, not the management structure,” Wilson reveals. “So, they feel comfortable to go in and talk to people about problems they’re having and how they might solve them using some of the new AI tools. They may have questions about how to work with them.” The approach, he adds, delivers tangible benefits. “We found that to be very, very effective.”
The influence of AI extends well beyond Qualcomm’s internal operations. It is increasingly shaping how the company thinks about its products and the experiences they enable. “It’s a direct influence on how we’re designing products now,” Wilson says…
Read the full interview here!
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