Supply Chain Now Resilience, Strategy, and Orchestration: Supply Chain Leadership Lessons from NFL Champions
Sep 29, 2025
Join Mike Griswold, Vice President Analyst at Gartner, as he shares insights on supply chain resilience through the lens of football. He discusses the critical importance of returns management and treats reverse logistics with the same dedication as forward operations. Learn how AI-driven demand sensing can enhance agility and the risks of losing soft skills as technology advances. Griswold draws valuable parallels between NFL teams, illustrating core competencies and teamwork, while previewing Gartner’s upcoming planning summits focused on practical skills.
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Starbucks Started Meetings With Coffee Tastings
- Mike recalled attending Starbucks S&OP meetings where they began with coffee tastings to build culture and context.
- He contrasted that ritual with his everyday routine of Earl Grey breakfast tea.
Meetings Began With Perfect Fries
- Scott shared a Lamb Weston visit where perfectly fried Chick-fil-A fries started a meeting and set a great tone.
- Both hosts agreed that food or coffee rituals can create memorable, productive meetings.
Deploy AI To Augment Planning
- Integrate AI into planning where it augments demand signals and inventory positioning.
- Decide whether AI should act upstream on demand sensing or downstream on distribution and make that role explicit.