Gartner urges CSCOs to embrace uncertainty with strategic investment, innovation

With global disruptions continuing to challenge supply chains, chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) need to prepare for prolonged uncertainty by focusing on advanced visibility, network diversification and innovation.

This was the message during the opening keynote address at the Gartner Symposium and Xpo May 5, as Ken Chadwick, vice-president of advisory in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said organizations face a divergence of potential outcomes and CSCOs need to match ambitions with focused investments to drive value.

“Supply chain is viewed today as both a top risk and opportunity among CEOs,” said Chadwick. “Supply chain can be a positive catalyst for growth if CSCOs match their ambitions with focused investments in areas including tech adoption, commercial innovation and developing the most critical capabilities that are yet unrealized within their own teams.”

Chadwick urged CSCOs to prioritize three strategic actions: invest in advanced visibility and scenario planning, diversify networks to drive dynamic outcomes and accelerate innovation by aligning goals with organizational capabilities.

A Gartner survey found that while advanced data visibility and scenario planning were seen as highly valuable, they ranked low among technology investment priorities. Many CSCOs cited challenges like incomplete tech stacks or poor data quality.

“Advanced visibility and the foresight gained from scenario planning can equip the supply chain function to be the driving force to navigate risk and uncertainty,” said Chadwick. “Unfortunately, many CSCOs let obstacles such as an incomplete tech stack or data issues prevent them from making any progress. Instead, they should identify high-impact use cases and the most pressing risks and start to generate insights from what they do have in place today.”

Innovation has also declined as a key motivator for tech investment, even as 71 per cent of CEOs surveyed said their operating models are not ready for artificial intelligence.

“The best organizations at digital adoption encourage their teams to see newly introduced technologies as part of an ongoing transition, rather than an isolated change,” said Chadwick. “Supply chain digital leaders are more likely to organize around new technologies, adopt digital centers of excellence and leverage change leaders and strategic change management experts.”