IBM: Supply chain execs see competitive edge in agentic, generative AI
A new survey reveals C-level supply chain executives have high expectations for leading-edge artificial intelligence technologies.
In partnership with Oxford Economics, the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) recently surveyed more than 300 global chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) and COOs from organizations implementing AI-enabled automation.
Results indicated that respondents are optimistic about the impact agentic AI and generative AI will have on their supply chain operations. A closer look at opinions on both of these next-generation AI solutions, as well as about AI inn the supply chain in general, follow.
[READ MORE: Gartner: The top supply chain technology trends for 2025 are…]
Agentic AI
Agentic AI systems offer a virtual workforce of embedded AI agents that autonomously execute decisions, enhancing adaptability and efficiency in supply chain operations. More than six-in-10 (62%) respondents said that AI agents embedded into operational workflows accelerate speed to action, hastening decision-making, recommendations, and communications.
Seven-in-10 respondents said that by 2026, their employees will be able to drill deeper into analytics to support real-time analysis and optimization as agentic AI automates operational processes, especially in procurement and dynamic sourcing.
And three-in-four (76%) respondents said their overall process efficiency will be improved by AI agents that perform repetitive, impact-based tasks at a faster pace than people can.
Generative AI
Based on machine learning, generative AI uses large language models to communicate in a format resembling everyday human speech and create new content and ideas, including conversations, stories, images, videos, and music.
When asked to identify top benefits from generative AI, 67% of respondents cited operational performance, while predictability and responsiveness to operational disruptions (60%) ranked second. Three-in-four (74%) said generative AI enables better visibility, insights, and decision-making across ecosystems.
In addition, 74% of respondents said generative AI enables better visibility, insights, and decision-making across ecosystems. However, 72% cited concerns around data accuracy or bias and 63% said the technology raises data security and privacy (63%) issues.
Respondents from organizations making larger investments in generative AI were more optimistic about the technology’s supply chain impact than other respondents.
They said generative AI will enable improved supply chain management 68% more frequently than peers, expect generative AI-enabled visualization and simulation to uncover bottlenecks in real time 61% more frequently; and anticipate gen AI will accelerate innovation for supply chain product design 36% more frequently.
While more than half (55%) of respondents said generative AI validates and aggregates information reliably for employees, that figure rose to 69% for respondents from organizations making higher AI investments in supply chain operations.
Other findings
- Respondent organizations with higher AI investment in supply chain operations reported revenue growth 61% greater than their peers.
- Geopolitical risks (61%) and global trade tensions (58%) are the top two challenges faced by respondents.
