Episode 161: How AI is the Next Paradigm Shift with Arkestro's CEO Rob DeSantis
The Future of Supply ChainShow Notes
Arkestro’s CEO, Rob DeSantis, joins us this week for an insightful conversation about why AI is the next major paradigm shift in the supply chain and how it can unlock faster value, better decisions, and happier teams.
Download the episode transcript
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Join us as we explore AI as the next paradigm shift in supply chain. This week, Arkestro CEO Rob DeSantis shares lessons from the internet and cloud, the importance of trust and data quality, how AI is reshaping human work, and why fast time to value matters.
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Guest 1: Rob DeSantis, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Arkestro Rob DeSantis is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Arkestro. As a former co-founder of Ariba running sales, Rob has deep expertise in the procurement space, having helped propel Ariba from zero to $250 million in revenue in four years and IPO of the year in 1999 before its acquisition by SAP a decade later. In addition to co-founding Ariba, Rob was also an early angel investor and board member of LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional online network. More recently, Rob served as an investor and advisor to a small portfolio of companies, including Bloom Energy, HiQ Labs, Agiloft, USEND and more. He is also a co-founder of TrueParity. Rob started his career as a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry and holds a BSME from the University of Rhode Island.
Host 1: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.
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Show Links: Arkestro: https://arkestro.com
Supply Chain Management: SAP Supply Chain Management SAP Insights: Supply Chain
Follow Us on Social Media : Richard Howells: LinkedIn, SAP Digital Supply Chain: LinkedIn
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Chapters:
00:00:00: Intro 00:01:00: Guest Introductions 00:02:51: The biggest paradigm shifts 00:04:53: Lessons from the internet and cloud for AI adoption 00:07:23: Overcoming laggards and proving value in production 00:08:55: Trusting AI in black-box supply chain planning 00:11:54: How AI changes human roles and skills 00:15:20: The main business benefits of AI 00:19:02: KPIs for measuring AI success 00:20:44: How Arkestro supports the paradigm shift 00:22:38: What is the Future of Supply Chain? 00:23:19: Outro
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