Technology Magazine February 2024 | Page 157

SAP
provider and customer , and has happened at a time of persistent disruption to supply chains that demand resilience and rapid responses . Wade steps back and looks at the unprecedented disruption of the pandemic between 2020 and 2022 , followed by the ongoing geopolitical challenges currently facing the world . He feels this period of history has brought the questions of supply chain disruptions into sharp focus as they become front page news . The key question remains exactly how SAP ’ s strategy is shaped by these events .
“ The strategy is all about enabling our customers to operate resilient and sustainable supply chains ,” explains Wade . “ It is all about giving them the ability to manage disruptions in a much more forward-looking way than they were before .”
This is where the influence of AI and Gen AI begins to prove invaluable , as customers can now integrate this into their supply chain planning process and run impact scenarios even before they have executed a strategy .
Using AI in an uncertain world This ability to look into a likely or potential future is a critical tool for customers , as they try to keep pace with an unpredictable trading environment and help them be prepared for more eventualities than ever before . “ They ’ re looking at risk registers within their supply chains , this is something that ’ s been there for a while , but we ’ re seeing it now becoming almost routine in those organisations ,” adds Wade . “ The ability to run a range of ‘ what if ’ scenarios and risk registers early and our strategy in the digital supply chain is to enable our customers to do that .”
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