The Zero100 Podcast

Given the productivity wins AI and AI agents offer, cutting headcount might seem like an obvious strategic move. But real efficiency, org success, and long-term growth hinge on rightsizing, not downsizing. VP, Research Lauren Acoba and Principal Analysts Jenna Fink and Caroline Chumakov explore why end-to-end workflow reinvention, redefining roles, and reskilling talent are a necessity in the agentic age. The critical difference between downsizing and rightsizing (00:40)Avoiding the trap of short-termism in workforce planning (2:50)Lessons in building human-agent workflows (6:41)How leadership paradigms shift in the agentic era (8:41)Shaping the supply chain worker of the future (12:30)Roles that are growing and declining in the face of AI (14:28)Strategies to cultivate more Translators in your supply chain (16:34)Balancing headcount reduction with mindful reinvestment (18:47)What comes next: culture keepers and skills-based orgs (22:21)

In procurement, tight control over external spend is a golden rule for cost savings. But what would happen if leaders loosened the reins? Malik Akhtar, Chief Procurement Officer at Bayer Consumer Health, tells Zero100 VP, Research Geraint John how the company’s "Freedom to Spend Smartly" strategy is putting buying power in the hands of non-procurement users while keeping spend and supplier numbers in check.The why and the how of Freedom to Spend Smartly (00:56) Initial concerns and selling the policy to the CFO (3:20)Managing governance and non-compliance (4:24) How AI is helping  procurement leaders and rookie requisitioners (5:22) Decreasing costs, frictionless service, and other early benefits (7:09) Rethinking procurement skills, responsibilities, and incentives (11:28)What’s next for Freedom to Spend Smartly (15:18)

What's keeping today’s top supply chain leaders up at night? And what opportunities are they most excited about? The Zero100 team shares their biggest takeaways from Off the Grid 2025, our recent gathering of 50+ CSCOs and COOs in Ireland, exploring everything from the future of tariffs and agentic AI to the power of fusion teams and the expanding COO remit. Featuring: Content Director Allyssia Alleyne and VPs, Research Kelly Coutinho and Geraint John.First things first: What is Off the Grid? (1:50) Key themes: New rules of global trade and the rise of agentic AI (02:48) How supply chain leaders are thinking about tariffs now (06:12)Evolving perspectives on the ROI of AI (10:20) China’s digital innovation advantage (11:28) Visibility, agility, and cross-functionality: CSCO and COO priorities for the rest of 2025 (13:53)

As GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound took the world by storm, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly faced a massive question: how do you fill the need at maximum speed? This week, we pull back the curtain on the strategies that allowed both companies to scale their manufacturing and cement market dominance, offering takeaways for any leader navigating unprecedented demand. Featuring: Principal Analysts Caroline Chumakov and Jenna Fink.Contextualizing the appetite for GLP-1s (0:46)Build, buy, acquire: How Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are meeting demand (04:05)The implications of Novo Nordisk’s $16.5 billion Catalent acquisition (05:53)How to decide whether to acquire or outsource (07:23)Where in the world is GLP-1 manufacturing going next? (10:36)DTC, telehealth, and the future of GLP-1 channel strategy (13:16)How AI is driving pharma innovation at Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck (17:13) 

Last year, we predicted that 1 in 5 supply chains would adopt AI agents by the end 2025 – and six months in, the data suggests we’re already there. This week on the podcast, Chief Content Officer Matt Davis and VP, Research Lauren Acoba discuss how we got here and provide an adoption framework for COOs trying to realize the opportunity ahead.Zero100's prediction: 1 in 5 supply chains adopt AI agents by the end 2025 (00:37)What sets agentic AI apart from other forms of automation? (3:47)Agentic AI hotspots across operations (6:15)How Alibaba leverages agents for supplier selection and negotiation (7:34)Porsche's innovative approach to quality management using agentic AI (9:45)Unpacking the COO's 5-Point Agentic Adoption Framework (11:53)

When it comes to tech innovation, one topic has dominated the first half of 2025: the meteoric rise of AI agents. And at Unilever, this tech isn’t just “coming soon” – it’s already here. This week, Willem Uijen (Chief Supply Chain and Operations Officer, Unilever) and Lauren Acoba (VP, Research, Zero100) discuss how the company is leveraging agents, as well as its broader AI strategy. Looking back at the evolution of AI, from Deep Blue to autonomous agents (1:17) Unilever’s approach to AI implementation and ROI (03:29) The key drivers for agentic success: upskilling and guardrails (05:50)Where agentic AI is delivering value within operations at Unilever (09:30)“Choose the race that you want to run”: An investment litmus test for CSCOs and COOs (11:21) Tackling governance and data quality infrastructure (14:46) How Unilever is modernizing and standardizing its digital core (16:47)The decision Willem would never let AI make – and the one he happily would (18:50)

ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot – LLMs are everywhere. But how do you integrate them into your operations? After a year spent developing our own LLM, the Zero100 team shares hard-won lessons and a primer on getting LLM design right. Featuring: VP Data & Analytics Cody Stack, Senior Manager, Data Science Julia Dahlgren, and Data Scientist Prajwal Bn.Why we built our own LLM (1:37)Key considerations for your build vs buy decision (2:55)How we leveraged open-source components (5:39)The promise – and challenge – of knowledge graphs (7:42) Encouraging adoption and winning buy-in from leadership (9:38)Why prompt engineering and quality training data are underrated (12:44)The business case for building a small language model (14:46)

Despite recent pushback against green policy, the EU is on track to score a major environmental win. The Zero100 team dives into what supply chain leaders and policymakers can learn from this success, and how companies are still fulfilling their sustainability pledges. Featuring: Principal Analysts Jenna Fink and Caroline Chumakov and Chief Research Officer Kevin O’Marah.Why we're not surprised by a European climate win (1:00)Key lessons for all following the EU's climate success (5:17)PepsiCo and Mars' win-win sustainability strategies revealed (6:53)Why green policy rollbacks shouldn't stall supply chain action (8:35)Getting practical with emissions reductions: Stories from Kimberly-Clark and ODP (13:34)Is the energy use of large language models a true environmental risk? (16:41)

GenAI and autonomous agents are catapulting supply chains into a future that was unimaginable just five years ago, and the pace of innovation is only accelerating. Join Zero100 Chief Content Officer Matt Davis and Principal Analyst Suzanne Lindsay as they reflect on the last 20 years of digital supply chains and how to navigate today’s tech landscape.How Amazon amassed an incredible human sentiment dataset (2:01)New challenges, opportunities in evaluating the world of solution providers (4:04)Unilever's approach to breaking down functional siloes for tech breakthroughs (8:32)The new (and eternal) decision parameters for tech selection (13:37)Top tips for future-proofing your tech stack (18:13)

AI agents could make up a significant part of company org charts within the next five years, supercharging human productivity. This week, we look at the roles, org structures, and leadership approaches needed to drive these teams forward. Featuring: Chief Content Officer Matt Davis and Chief Research Officer Kevin O’Marah.Unpacking Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index and the coming agent shake-up (01:00) Moderna’s fusion of HR and IT (02:30) Supply chain hiring trends for agentic AI (4:10)“The Path to 40” and bot boss leadership (07:43) Amazon’s two-pizza teams, Spotify guilds, and other models for functional organization (10:34)Moving forward with imperfect data (14:40)Teaching ethics to AI teammates… (18:32) … and readying human employees to work with them (20:30)