August - 20218 logisticstechoutlook.comIn My OPINIONAdopting IT Advances: Artificial Intelligence and Real ChallengesRecent advancements in IT create transformative opportunities for companies both in the supply chain and in all the industries we serve. Those technological possibilities, however, come with a number of very real challenges ­ and those challenges are having an impact.According to PwC's third annual AI Predictions Report, only 4% of executives plan to deploy AI enterprise-wide in 2020; last year, nearly 20% hoped to do the same. And according to the PwC survey, the primary reason is the need to focus on fundamentals before enlarging AI projects.For many companies, a key fundamental is the talent gap, specifically when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Do you hire out or train within? The answer is both. It's critical businesses build their teams with professionals who bring much needed skills in AI and ML ­ mainly data scientists with deep learning experience. It's also important to provide internal analysts with the training needed to create tools specific your global supply chain needs. This step in the process means developing less advanced, valued added applications to enhance a legacy business process while cultivating a learning environment. These novice applications will become more advanced as your team becomes more astute in AI and ML capabilities. Think local, act globalAmong the biggest challenges our interconnected economy faces today: globalizing applications while keeping processes nimble and localized. At CHEP, we've seen success with an internal program called Shaping Our Future. This global initiative unites our IT and technology experts with business practitioners who have synchronized objectives to deliver a superior customer experience and improved supply chain performance. By coming together, we are able to select and strengthen a business process supported by advanced analytics, which local teams can embrace and deploy across their business units. In addition to the benefits of forming a cross functional, multi-national team, it's been exciting to watch the collaborative process evolve as Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z colleagues work to solve business critical challenges. We've found that by bringing these generations together, we can leverage the necessary experiences and skillsets to create a balanced vision that forms the strategy as the work streams begin to develop their actions. Pairing the multi-generational workforce with our focus on inclusion and diversity also fosters internal ownership. This participation yield steam unity and pride through clearly understood program goals, objectives and--ultimately--improved adoption deep across all business regions.Build confidenceEven with a global, inter-generational team building advanced applications, there's still a question of confidence in the information delivered through AI and ML techniques. Can the information being provided actually be used to create a better, more reliable experience for our customers?A recent article by Towards Data Science, an online organization for data scientists and ML engineers, put it best: At the end of the day, one of the most important jobs any data scientist has is By Scott A. Roberts, Vice President, Logistics, CHEP U.S.A.Scott A. Roberts
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