Welcome to Supply Chain now the number one voice of supply chain.

Join us as we share critical news, key insights and real supply chain leadership from across the globe.

One conversation at a time.

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you may be.

Scott Luton and special guest host Korai Kozay with you here on Supply Chain now.

Welcome to today's live stream.

Hey Karai, how you doing today?

Very well sir.

Yourself?

I am doing fantastic.

I'm glad we got you between some of your all your global trips.

We got to track down your private chart harder here lately.

Maybe yes.

But very soon I'll be traveling again for next week's conference in Amsterdam.

So it's a good in between to meet you here.

It is.

Well, it's great to see you as always.

Two weeks in a row I've really enjoyed your perspective.

And today folks, it's the Buzz.

You know this where every Monday at 12 noon Eastern Time we discuss a variety of news developments across global supply chain and business news that matters as we like to call it.

And folks, the Buzz is powered by our friends at easypost who help make shipping easy, flexible and scalable.

You can learn how to simplify your shipping operations and delight your customers@easypost.com got a great show teed up here today, Kara.

We're going to be looking at interesting workforce management polling data.

We're going to talk about how AI is playing a role at optimizing the catch up supply chain.

Stay tuned to find out how and why.

We'll explore if Europe may be falling behind in the global race to adopt AI.

Can't wait to hear Kuraz and our guest take on that.

Plus we're going to be celebrating Manufacturing Day 2025 as well as Manifest 2026 in Las Vegas.

All that and more and in about 10 minutes or so.

Welcoming back a special guest today on the Buzz.

Katie date with Manifest is back by popular demand.

Karai, did you eat your Wheaties this morning?

Because we got a jam packed edition of the Buzz here today.

Huh?

That is right.

And I think we're also looking into a very busy conference season.

So it's just timely to have someone from Manifest joining us because you know we blink once with our eyes and it will be February.

So time is going to go really fast from now on.

So true.

Goodness gracious.

Almost in October already.

So folks, stay tuned for a great show and two things before we get going.

Hey, give us your take in the comments whether you're tuned into via LinkedIn, YouTube X Facebook, Twitch, no matter.

Let us know what you think, just like Leah Kim who is tuned in this morning via LinkedIn from the Greater Seattle area.

Leah, you're up early and looking forward to your perspective here today because as Trisha says, happy buzz day.

And for all you out there, let us know where you're tuned in from.

We like to connect the dots.

And then secondly, if you enjoy the show today, we'd love for you to share it with your friends, plural and your network.

They'll be glad you did.

All right, Korai, we've got a lot to get to before our esteemed guest, featured guest joins us.

You ready to go?

Yes, let's go.

All right, let's do this.

I want to start with our newsletter, our almost weekly newsletter we dropped over the weekend.

Now with that said is what we call that Karai, because I use that phrase about 37 times each day.

Karai.

I've got to stop it.

I've got to stop it.

But in this edition we let off with a few interesting news stories.

So get this, I'm a rattle off some news headlines and then I'm going to get your take correct up.

First, for the second time in less than a year, Canada Post workers go on strike.

Boeing took another step forward in its continued efforts at a turnaround as the FAA is going to allow Boeing to sign off on some of its 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner aircraft for delivery.

Third, the White House announces new tariffs and all sorts of things, including imported heavy duty trucks.

Fourth, as we continue to track the EV manufacturer Rivian, the company posted some disappointing Q2 2025 results.

And beyond all of those stories, we'd love to get your take on.

We also shared a variety of live events, resources, you name it, including this session on October 21st with the one and only Deborah Dole who's going to tell us and teach us how we can optimize our digital transformation, leadership capabilities and capacity.

How about that?

So join us then.

All right.

So correct.

That's a lot of stuff.

And then there was even a lot more.

Did you get a chance to read with that said on the plane ride back home this weekend?

I did.

I actually very much enjoyed your call out on the Kraft Heinz pilots and what they're doing with their cookbook, which was an interesting take to bring a little bit of their company history, their core product, closer to every employee to identify not only themselves with the brand but also get acquainted with the capabilities of AI to bring them closer to actual catch up production.

So which was almost like gamification bringing like the curiosity in the organization to life within the context of AI.

And I think that's an interesting way to bring that new technology closer to everyone in the enterprise.

All right.

I love that.

And you know what?

You're in luck because we're going to talk more about that story here in just a minute or two.

And we're going to talk about those unwritten rules that no ketchup goes on hot dogs, folks.

I'm sorry.

That's how it is, folks.

Check out.

With that said, give it a read.

Let us know what you think.

And by the way, we need to give our European friends a tip of the hat because they dominated the Ryder Cup.

Yes, the American team tried to make it a little bit closer yesterday.

It was, it was a compelling day three, but man, the Europeans were just dominant.

Eric played incredible.

Okay, Koran.

Two other things I want to hit before we bring on Katie Date.

I want to talk about this incredible address you had last week.

I think you were speaking to a room full of global military leaders.

Tell us more here.

Yes, this was with the European center for Security Studies or the George C. Marshall center, which is based in Germany.

And they do educate future military leaders, future generals in all contexts of global security, global technology, but now also, of course, global supply chain interdependencies for military and defense sector.

But also really about the economic force behind those powers in NATO and the adversaries of NATO.

So we were invited there to give a lecture of that specific interdependence of global value chains and the deterrence ability of NATO towards aggressions across the globe.

And it was very interesting to see how now a couple light bulbs went really on in the room to think about why certain dependencies are in existence.

Of course, for instance, from the I call it the war machine that is still dominated by the US and its innovation.

Think about F35, F22, but also, of course, the new drone capabilities that are outside of the US Available, such as the developments in Turkey and their defense sector very much also present in the news by President Erdogan, visiting President Trump this past week.

And talk about F35 deliveries, but also the engine deliveries for their own fifth generation fighter, for instance.

That is one third of the price and very close to the capabilities of the F35.

So there are a lot of things going on where supply chains impact national security capabilities.

And we can see, of course, in the conflict, I wouldn't even conflict the invasion of Ukraine by Russia over the last few years, what actually nowadays warfare looks like and that supply chains are critical as always, but even more nowadays when it's all about transformation with new technologies coming into our supply chains, especially from the security perspective.

So I was actually there with also honoree Tobias Elwood who was the Secretary of Defense and Foreign affairs in the uk.

He was there in person present.

I couldn't make it.

I would have loved to be there in person, but I was there on the big, big screen.

So I don't think I've ever been on a screen as big as that portrait.

So look at that Hollywood shot.

They could just about reach out and shake your hand.

So big but outstanding and all that kidding aside, those are some critical topics and I'll tell you, I really enjoyed learning from you all these so often this year, folks.

Make sure you connect and follow Karako on LinkedIn.

Check out his articles in Forbes, you name it, because he's really talking about some things we need to wrap our head around for national security reasons and many, many others.

And by the way, you're throwing out some model numbers there.

As a big Air Force Geek F47, I've heard more.

Read more and more about the development of the sixth generation platform.

So we'll see.

All right folks, you can learn more about Kurai Ko's keynote right there.

Thank you Trisha for dropping that link.

We try to make it really easy for everybody and going back one with that said, the link is right there to the latest edition and we'd love to get your comments.

Let us know what you like, what you don't like, you name it.

Okay, one more thing Karai, you know that we like to share resources with everyone out there on the buzz here.

I want to share the latest from our friends at easypost, right who's been sponsoring the buzz all month long, folks.

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You can learn more@easypost.com or the specific link that Tricia shared right there in the chat.

Thank you Tricia.

Trisha is on it this Monday morning, huh?

That's right.

So she is really the magician behind the scenes.

So we're just here.

So true.

It's good to have a magician on the team here.

All right, Speaking of magicians.

And I bet Katie's bringing some easy buttons to today's conversation.

Great guest, great repeat guest today here on the Buzz, powered by easypost.

So Katie Date, folks, serves as senior Vice president, Industry relations and Strategic initiatives at Manifest, which is one of the fastest growing quality supply chain shows around.

Now, prior to Manifest, Katie spent almost a decade at MIT's center for Transportation and Logistics.

And while there, she launched the MIT CTL Women in Supply Chain Initiative to help organizations understand and improve gender balance in the field, which Katie continues to champion today.

So please join me in welcoming Katie Date with Manifest.

Hey.

Hey, Katie.

How are you doing today?

I'm doing great.

Thanks for having me back, Scott.

I really appreciate it.

Oh, we had such a great time about a month and a half ago with you and Kim.

Had to have you back and Kara, we got a lot of good stuff to get into.

A Katy Date, huh?

That's right.

So really looking forward to learn more about manifestation agenda in 2026.

And of course, location can't be beaten by any other location, right?

So that is right.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?

As always, Katie.

That's right.

So big show here today.

Let's start with a fun warm up question though.

I got a little different one.

It's National Coffee Day, by the way, Karab.

But we talked about coffee last week.

It's also National Goose Day.

It's National Biscotti Day, which is tasty.

And it's also National Silent Movie Day.

Now I've never watched a silent movie, but I want to use a vehicle.

Ask you both what's been one of the best recent movies you've seen this year?

And Katie, I want to start with you.

Tell us more.

So I'm going to qualify it by saying that I have a five year old.

So the catalog of movies that I have watched over the past year definitely skews towards Disney.

And I would say probably our favorite in our house this past year was going to see Lilo and Stitch two in the theater.

So that was, you know, a favorite of me in my childhood and a great soundtrack that we've listened a lot to.

And he had a great time in the theater and can't wait till it comes out on, you know, Disney plus so that we can watch it, you know, 5,280 times a day.

So really looking forward to that.

Love it.

And we can all relate to that so well.

All right.

K a tough one to beat.

Well, we are on equal turf there because my five year old certainly dominates whatever consumption of television there is.

So I had to stick to the same platform, Disney, for this.

And I was forced to watch Moana too, and moana probably about 20 times by now.

So it's the only movie I know by now.

And.

But I like some quotes there.

So the grandma seems to be quite smart and she says things like, you know, you never know where your story leads, but we never stop choosing who we are.

So those blimps are there.

Then I just go into reminiscing about everything else but the movie.

And then I wake up and the movie is basically ending.

But I know, I know the ending and the beginning and the middle of it and everything in between.

So that's the movie we're watching at home, I believe.

Another great soundtrack, too.

That's right.

I love these Disney movie soundtracks, by the way.

I mean, incredible.

I would just add Superman.

Katie and Kara, me and my son.

My son's a big Batman fan.

In fact, he takes Batman over Superman any day of the week.

We have some fun arguments around that, but we both went.

And again, Superman.

The latest edition gets two thumbs up from one very tough critic, Ben Lewton.

Kara and Katie, the moly qualm is the Superman march, which was iconic to the original series that John Williams put together.

They use that in bits and pieces, but they don't really share in all of its triumphant glory.

All right, so everybody, you got your movies to go out and watch.

Moana, Lalo and Stitch, Part two, and Superman.

Let us know what your take is on each of those.

All right, so Katie and Korai, we have got a lot to get into here today.

Oh, we got one more movie recommendation.

Alex says highly recommend Bad Guys for your own.

I've heard good things about that, Alex.

And great to see you here today.

Have you all heard about Bad Guys?

Is it Part two or is that the original?

I think there's a part two that's either just come out or is coming out soon.

Right, that's what I thought.

And there's a Bad Guys Christmas that we've had to watch in my house, I think, and also a Halloween one.

So.

Okay.

All right.

Plenty of bad guys you've had, Katie.

Okay.

Yeah.

Alex, great to have you here today.

Let's dive into the first story.

Katie and Karai.

We are going to start with a few insights from LinkedIn's latest workforce confidence survey.

I'm going to unpack a few of these major findings, and I can't wait to hear Katie and Karai kind of comment on them.

Nearly 7 in 10 U.S. employees say that they might leave their job if they had a bad boss.

I don't think that surprises anybody, really.

In fact, it reminds me of a great point made by my friend Bo Groover earlier this year when Bo said, your manager will have a greater impact on your overall health than your own doctor.

Now, at first, that might not make sense, but the more you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

I think it's very true.

Also, back to a survey.

Almost three in 10 employees say their manager is often too stressed to support them.

The survey found that only 30% of individual contributors want to become a manager of people.

Hey, I'm with those, the 70% there.

So a couple things there might or may not surprise folks.

Katie, your thoughts?

So, I, you know, I've definitely had good managers and bad managers in my past, and I feel like in supply chain particularly, you really feel the impact of leadership.

If you've had a bad boss, suddenly, you know, your decisions are dragging and you'll see silos start to grow and small problems which, you know, once were really easy to address suddenly are, you know, snowballing into big disruptions.

But on the flip side, I've also seen leaders lift people up.

Everything flows.

Teams collaborate, problems get solved faster.

And, you know, in supply chain, there's always surprises, so it's much easier to handle those surprises.

And I personally think that leadership is the hidden gear in the supply chain that keeps things moving.

So, you know, at the end of the day, a boss can either be your biggest roadblock or your biggest accelerator.

And in supply chain, that makes all the difference.

And hopefully when you have good bosses, it makes you want to step up and, you know, be that leader.

And you can see how to do that because truly, that's.

That's what we need in supply chain right now, are really good leaders.

Katie, well said.

And it really makes you think, as you said, they're kind of paraphrasing a bit.

Leadership can be a great advantage for your organization or can be a big detriment.

Good stuff.

Karai, your thoughts on these workforce trends we just walked through.

I've seen, like Katie, probably the entire spectrum of leaders and managers, and the one that I most enjoyed was the ones that really embodied, like, servant leadership that was assertive to the outside and empathic to the inside and helps you to discover really what you are really good at and supports that growth and where your interests lie and if there is a gap, supports your development into that.

But not necessarily Nitpicking on everything that you're not doing right.

And unfortunately in tough times they rather nitpick than developed and people really give the response that we see in the survey here.

One thing in this context of 2025 though, we need to look at mobility capabilities of those people that are saying that because we're looking at a job market that is not really clear where it's going.

Yes.

Is there opportunity?

There's always opportunity, but there's not as much flexibility in the market.

And we're seeing actually reactions also economically that you know, that mobility is not there.

So the 70% is a bit worrisome because it shows a bit of the frustration in the market of people being in a job and that usually has an impact on productivity and friction, to be honest, that is subtle in the beginning but then can come out very strong.

So a lot of companies, especially in the tech space, when you monitor Glassdoor right now, you can see comments that are actually not that positive anymore and they're talking about toxic environments in those startups and in those scale ups and that's not a good sign.

And that means people are stuck too long in that environment and have these responses then that LinkedIn unveiled.

So my recommendation to any company out there that is in this space where you have scarce talent but also non mobile talent right now, care about your people because they come front and center and then the technology and then the process comes correct.

Absolutely.

We need to shout that from every mountaintop.

Caring about your people and showing that you care.

It's table stakes.

And as you wrap there mentioning technology, that's the coolest thing in my view about this golden age of supply chain tech that we're in is those leaders that really get how to build a business case.

And oftentimes that business case for AI or anything else, it's all about making it easier for your team members to find success each and every day by taking friction and tediousness out.

So Will said there, Korai, Katie and Korai, I wish we could just keep talking about workforce stuff between the perspective y' all both shared, but we got a lot more to get to.

Let's go to Korai was doing some foreshadowing earlier and talking about ketchup.

And by the way, the best ketchup in the world, folks.

Don't let anybody fool you.

It's not Hunts is Kraft Heinz.

So this is a neat AI case study impacting a key ingredient that accompanies delicious french fries everywhere.

So CIO Dive is reporting on how Kraft Heinz is leveraging an AI agent to help provide their workforce with better access to information and best practices when it comes to producing their iconic ketchup.

Now they've created a tool called the Cookbook.

Makes sense, right?

And in three months time, the company has built a platform that shares tribal knowledge from 150 years of ketchup production history at Kraftons.

They want to help their employees hone in on the right thickness, color, taste, you name it.

It seems like they're testing the Cookbook with a small group of team members right now to see how effective it can be.

See how it moves the needle perhaps.

And if impactful, they are talking about using it with other products.

So, Katie, I know that that big old bottle of ketchup makes us all want some french fries right about right now, but your thought on this application of AI?

Yeah, so like Corey talked about before, I love that this AI application is not about replacing people.

It's about capturing that knowledge that 150, you know, years of expertise and really putting it in the operator's hands real time.

So, you know, imagine, you know, the person's, you know, on the line and they can ask AI why is this batch a little off spec?

And they get that answer instantly.

I feel like that's such a big step for supply chains.

The ability to move from reactive and firefighting, which is, you know, let's be real, that's the common case in the supply chain.

And you can start to be proactive, you can start to have these insight driven decisions by talking to AI.

What I see though is a challenge in scaling it.

You know, you have to look at the data quality, legacy systems and adoption.

You know, how can you, can you truly adopt this?

But you know, if they're able to get it right, I think this could be a great model for how AI can empower supply chain teams.

Katie, I appreciate that and you make a great point.

At the end, at the end of the day, does it pass?

Does it muster?

No pun intended.

Maybe a little bit intended.

The so what factor, Right.

Karai, you are sharing a couple of your thoughts around this use case that CIO Dive wrote about.

Your thoughts, Karai?

I think it just follows the common trend, right.

Last year about 55% of companies utilized AI in at least one business function.

This year it's up to 78%.

At the same time though, you can look at those use cases and you only see that 1% in the specific use case that they're working on actually reach full maturity.

So it's still on the playground in that context.

So while this is fun to watch and interesting to see, it really needs to be two things.

One, scalable and then two, it has to have a business impact.

And a lot of companies are struggling with that business impact.

In that same article, you're seeing that actually a lot of companies are pulling back AI projects because of the lack of business impact, because the hype made everybody excited and excited about getting into the space not too late.

But literally they went on this journey without knowing, you know, what the target or at least the milestones were.

So now they are drawing back to, then come back even stronger.

But I don't know if the comeback is really going to happen continuously because the next wave is already coming even stronger at you.

So it's really the next three years will define if AI is going to stay and how much it's going to replace.

But signs and signals are really positive in the context of increased productivity.

There are numbers like $4.4 trillion going to be added in productivity just through AI.

That it doesn't mean that everybody is going to survive in that job as it is today, but it gives everybody the opportunity to discover something else that they can contribute in the value chain because this is inevitable in that context.

Yes, Karai, as we've kept it real for years now.

Katie and Korai, folks, if you're willing to learn new things and get out of your comfort zone and raise your hand and volunteer for projects, initiatives, you're going to love this golden age of technology.

However, we got to tell you, if you want to do the same thing for eight hours a day, every day, it is going to be a challenging time, right?

And hey, but this is your opportunity.

Invest in yourself and really own your future.

So a lot of good stuff there.

Katie and Karai.

All right, we're going to double dip, double click, double dip, whatever your favorite analogy is on artificial intelligence here today.

Now I'm going to give you a forewarning here, folks.

You got to go read this article from the World Economic Forum on your own because it's tough to convey everything they shared, which is a great piece in, you know, 10 minutes or so, five minutes so that we're going to talk about it.

So Tricia is dropping the link and you go check it out.

So the World Economic Forum published this interesting piece here recently where it states that Europe is lagging behind the US And AI adoption.

It claims the US Is leading the AI race, followed closely by China, and that countries across Europe are a little bit further back.

All of this, despite the EU passing the world's first comprehensive AI law, which allows for harmonized rules and an AI code of practice.

However, Stanford University reports that private investment in the US alone reached over $109 billion in AI in 2024.

That's 12 times the amount in China and 24 times the investment of the same private sector in the UK of all the European countries.

Some research, as the article provides, points to Denmark as being a trailblazer in the usage of AI, along with Sweden and Belgium.

As I mentioned, there's so much more to this read, so check out the link in the comments.

Katie, your thoughts when you see a headline and some of the research here.

I've obviously, you know, done a lot of work in Europe setting up a center in Luxembourg and what really struck me is that traditionally Europe isn't really short on ideas.

It's, it's always been traditionally a place that you go for innovation, but in this case, you know, they're just, they're moving too slow and in supply chain speed really matters.

It seemed like from what I read that they were, you know, waiting too much on regulation before, you know, testing the AI and that's what's putting them behind.

If I can give them any advice, you know, I think they need to stop waiting to be perfect.

You just, you know, perfection often is the enemy of productivity, I think they say.

And so I think for a lot of these companies and obviously in Europe, government is very involved in industry.

They need to start small and learn fast and, you know, try to build from there.

But it's concerning to see a headline list like this and you know, I'm interested to see what Corey has to say about this as same.

Katie and I love, I love that you've been there and worked a lot there.

So you got a great, valuable perspective.

Kara, same for you.

You're in Europe often worked extensively there.

Your thoughts?

Well, I mean, calling out Denmark as a leader in Europe, you know, looking at the map and the economic size of Denmark, it shows the irrelevance actually of AI in the European economy, to be honest.

No pun on Denmark here.

Yes.

So I love Denmark and the Danish.

Right.

So.

But at the same time, you need to look what is actually the motion here and the EU AI act as much as some people celebrate it.

I was on the podium with one of the members of Parliament of the European Parliament who was part of that AI act scripture and she said she hated the guts out of it because it really does not enable the development.

What it does it just is belts and suspenders everywhere and literally just about the ethical coding and the usage of data, which, yes, is important, but it limits basically any development in context of an investment that would come in and help.

And you know, when you think about how many AI models were put out in the last couple years, 40 significant AI models came out of the US, around 12 from China and only three from Europe.

And those were from France.

So you can see there's a 10 15x difference of models that are brought to market.

Not all of them are good, but at least there is trial and error.

And that's how you actually rapid prototype, right?

And rapid prototyping is withheld with the entire 27 country EU environment, where consensus is actually only as a unison environment and not even by majority.

So that holds back.

The other one is about money into the market.

So because the market is so, I would not even say fragmented, but held back, money doesn't flow into the European AI environment and AI is expensive.

So 24 times more the US gets into the investment environment in AI than just UK alone, let's say.

Right?

So those numbers are actually explaining the lag.

So it's not by surprise, it's by design.

Hence it's actually in the hands of EU legislation to work with regulations that are enabling the environment.

Because Europeans are not dumb, they're smart people.

They also innovate a lot of things.

The problem is scaling it into a business model that then attracts capital and then makes it actually sort of like replicate itself into a market with many contenders.

Right?

Think about Grok, Anthropic OpenAI, like they're all competing with each other and you look at Europe and then it's crickets, right?

So at the end of the day, this is inevitable.

Money is required for this to happen.

And legislation around EU privacy of data.

Yes, I get all of that.

But if we obsess about that and stop anyway this from developing ourselves in Europe, it's going to happen one way or another, you know, and then what are you going to do?

Buy the European TikTok version next?

Because your data is out there like it just doesn't show foresight and strategic thinking in this.

Very similar, quite honestly.

And you know, such as the military complex development in the, in the EU in the last two decades, very similar pattern.

So it has to break its pattern.

Right, Good stuff.

They're always keeping it real.

Really appreciate that about you.

Katie, I'm gonna give you the final word.

Karai covered a lot of ground there.

And as someone like yourself, that has spent time in leadership roles doing a lot of work in Europe.

Anything stick out to you and Koraz take?

There's definitely a couple of things that stick out to me.

You know, he, he obviously has a great perspective of how government has the influence on industry.

But ultimately I think they just have to take some risk.

And it seems like overall Hole is being a little bit risk averse and, you know, they just need to dive in and be willing to take a little bit of risk.

I think that's right.

And it kind of goes back to what you said earlier.

Folks that typically are not risk tolerant, they really want a perfect solution.

And Katie, going back to your point, perfection certainly is the enemy of productivity or progress.

I think as whoever famous said that and it's so true because to Karada, to your point, it is about experimentation, especially with new technology.

Right.

Because the first iteration, the 17th iteration oftentimes isn't even.

It's just a tip of the iceberg.

So it'd be fascinating to see kind of how this evolves and see if Europe can make a commitment, a concerted effort to catch up.

All right, Katie and Karai, good stuff here today.

One last quick comment on AI before we shift over to manufacturing day and some really big events coming up.

Leah's got a great comment.

Leah says some companies are racing to incorporate AI without knowing how to leverage it.

What are your thoughts on that, Katie, your quick thought first.

I think this kind of goes back to not having a business case.

Everybody wants a shiny object, but no real, research driven, data driven business case.

Your quick thoughts, Katie?

Yeah, so it's interesting.

I was speaking at Shop Talk, which is one of manifest sister shows, last week in Chicago, and AI was definitely a huge topic there.

And that question came up that, you know, there are so many companies that are rushing to use AI without really knowing how they're going to apply it.

And I totally agree.

You have to have the business case and it has to come from the top down.

So any leaders that are, you know, rushing to get into AI, I implore them to sit down and make the business case first because you know your team is not going to be able to apply it if there's not a strong business case behind it.

That's right, Katie.

That's right.

I had a CSCO once tell me that beyond measuring things in roi, measured things on roe, return on energy, especially with related to what your workforce puts into any initiative.

Karai, your quick comments there.

On a great point.

Lee is calling out.

Yeah, I think the industry has that sort of self inflicted, especially through consultancies and advisories.

When you think about the big four suddenly turning from audit into AI overnight and providing insights where they themselves did not have any insights and guide companies towards a path forward that is more like Alice in Wonderland than actually PNL on the stock exchange to survive stakeholder criticism.

So quite honestly we have to look into the mirror like the big research firms and all of them, right, like coming out with like do it this way, do it that way and they have no skin in the game and then it blows up into the CIO's face and they're like, okay, now I have to retract and really think about inside out perspective rather than the current model of outside in perspective because there's so much pressure in the market through.

You have to, you have to, you have to do this otherwise you're going to fail.

And you know, it's a little bit that kind of hyperbole that's going around.

So that's a bit my thought.

So advisories that approach the problem with more pragmatism and actual use cases that impact the pnl and where you say there is a data infrastructure that is not okay with the AI model in between and the processes that we molded.

Now you have a data package that is more gold than just waste.

Then you have a KPI, right?

An roi.

I call it the return on your intentions, right?

So right now the return on your intentions is quite negative because your intentions were really good but the return on your intentions is really bad.

So you have to flip that.

Well said, Karai.

And it reminds me of when it comes to business cases and especially the strong need for them in AI.

Problem well defined is a problem half solved.

I think it's an old saying and it's so true.

It is so true.

Okay, my hand is quickly because we got a lot more to get to.

I want to celebrate something really quick, folks.

We've got one.

Make sure The Manufacturing Day 2025 is on your calendar.

Are celebrating this critical global industry every year on the first Friday of October.

And there's a great organization called mfgday.com you can go learn more about this great annual event.

You can also join us this coming Friday, October 3rd special live stream with me, Mary Kate Love and Danny Gonzalez.

Danny is producing a new documentary that celebrates the manufacturing industry here in the us it's called American Makers.

So stay tuned on that.

Okay, I want to get more into supply chain industry events.

Both of y' all are neck deep in some great Events.

And I want to ask you this.

We're going to talk about Manifest in just a second, which is definitely one of my favorite.

It's growing to be one of my favorite events out there.

I want to ask you both one of your favorite events this year that maybe not be named Manifest.

Now, Katie, you were just talking about Shop Talk.

Is that high up on your list?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

So, as many of you know, Manifest was purchased by Hive.

And as a part of Hive's portfolio, they do three Shop Talk events every year for retailers and brands.

And one of them is Shop Talk Fall, which was in Chicago.

And I had the pleasure of being a part of one of the first times that they've integrated supply chain into their agenda.

And let me tell you, the hunger and appetite for Supply Chain was just unbelievable.

Standing room only.

It had nothing to do with me, even though, you know, I would love to take credit for that, but it had nothing to do with me.

People wanted to talk about Supply Chain and, you know, at a conference that has been traditionally very focused on those retailers and brands and, you know, marketing, to see them hungry to talk about Supply Chain was like, very validating for me.

And, you know, the Shop Talk crew just did, you know, a phenomenal job of procuring just a great agenda with very dynamic attendees.

So it was a pleasure for me to be able to take their stage.

Outstanding.

I've heard lots of great things about Shop Talk.

And Katie, come on.

I bet you were at least half to draw, at least half to draw in talking Supply Chain there at Shop Talk.

And that's great to hear.

I love to see more and more organizations, events, you name it, shine bigger light on the criticality of global Supply chain.

For sure.

Good stuff there.

Katie now co writes you host events or out events, keynote stuff all the time.

This can be a tough question for you.

What's one of your favorite events this year?

I mean, I may be biased, but I agree with Katie.

Where we can bring supply chain to folks that will influence our ability to really succeed in supply chain, or where supply chain enables them to succeed is where I feel like most intrigued by.

So you can put all the trade shows in a row and, you know, one is better than the other in one aspect, the other one is better in the other aspect.

But at the end, it's like this community coming together and you're really, really networking.

Well, over the days that that's more or less the same.

Right.

Where I really enjoyed my time was at Glob Sec, of course, being a Senior Fellow, but same thing at London Defense Conference.

Like those conferences that bring the other stakeholders or where they bring you into their environment.

And because they want to understand the value chain interdependency, where they want to understand how that will actually drive their decisions or policy making forward is where I felt like most welcome.

Not that I wasn't in the other place, but there was this net curiosity about what do we have to do in our policy in order to enable the industrial base to really support what we want to achieve.

And very often really at the heart of the thing, what they want to achieve is good things.

They want prosperity, they want freedom, they want democracy.

Right.

They want the ability for everyone to develop to their highest ability of their own skills.

So that is something where I think supply chain has never been in the past and is being exposed to.

So we all should pick up, you know, the opportunity to go to those places as well.

Even though you know the argument of like, what do you want to do at Munich Security Conference?

What do you want to do at Glob Sec?

Well, it's right there where the people are that shape the policy that you currently react to, but you shouldn't react, you should respond to their questions and prepare you networks of supply chain for that future.

And hence I think the collaboration event manifest is so important because it's one of the biggest events out there and bringing then the other side to that kind of an event is as equally important.

So supply chain events should be open for geopolitics to come on stage as well.

Kara, no doubt, absolutely, you shared a lot there, you and Katie both did in your responses.

I want to make two quick points though.

That dialogue that you're talking about.

I really appreciate what you're doing at that intersection of global supply chain leadership and those that put together the policy and lead governments and whatnot.

And then that brings it to the second point.

Yes, supply chains can certainly be used as an instrument of war, but man, the incredible opportunity that exists to use global supply chains as a extraordinary vehicle for peace and global peace and end to conflict.

And we got tons and tons of opportunity there and hopefully we can take advantage of that as we move into the end of this year and what's hopefully going to be a more peaceful 2026.

All right, I got to add one more thing.

Katie and Kara, y' all both tackled so many different critical elements of the event space.

Maybe you did say this, maybe you didn't, but future talent, talent's already making impact now and that will only make a bigger impact in the years to come.

So I just went to one of my favorite events all year long.

It was the seventh annual WISE Future Leaders Symposium at the University of Arkansas.

Dr. Stephanie Thomas, who is right here, hosted students, faculty and industry leaders from 31 schools I think across North America.

So folks, if WISE is not on your radar and WISE is on, I know Katie's radar, but it's on Kuraz because Karai doesn't miss anything.

Folks, check out the Wise organization.

They're doing incredible things and these students are already interning, they're already working in industry.

Oh my gosh, you could hook them up to power grids everywhere.

And we have energy for days.

It's amazing.

Speaking of amazing stuff, Kara beat me to the punch talking about Manifest, Katie.

Manifest continues to grow and grow and grow.

And one of the really cool things for 2026 in February, manifest for next year, you're adding a ton of cold chain content, is that right?

Tell us more about that.

And is there a trend or two within cold chain in that space that really intrigues you?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

So as always, we listen to our attendees and our community asked for more cold chains.

So new this year we're going to have a cold chain pavilion where people can go and be immersed in both in, you know, the technology solution providers within the cold chain space as well as hearing from industry leaders like Mars, which they're doing just amazing things in the cold chain.

And so for me, the most kind of intriguing thing that's happening in the cold chain is this shift from reactive to proactive.

And I think it's happening, you know, in other places in the supply chain.

But for me to see that happening in the cold chain, so things like AI and digital twins which are are letting the operators predict future failures in the cold chain before they happen, this has provided a huge leap in the resilience of the cold chain and then things like the sustainability pressures that are driving greener refrigeration and even some micro cold storage closer to cities I think is having a big impact on the supply chain.

And last on the pharma side, so you can't talk about cold chain without talking about pharma.

So the rise of cell and gene therapies is pushing these ultra cold capabilities within the supply chain.

And that's also driving new research so that are, you know, exploring drugs that don't need refrigeration at all.

So together, I think these trends are things that you're going to see both on the speaker side as well as on our solution provider side.

And it's really, you know, changing how we think about cold chain.

It is, it is.

And Katie is growing almost as fast as it manifests.

Get this folks, according to some numbers out there, the global cold chain logistics market is projected to be around US$436 billion this year.

You got some forecasts that expect it to grow as high as $1.3 trillion as a market size by 2034.

Oh my goodness.

So almost growing as fast as Manifest.

Karai, your thoughts on cold chain, my.

Friend, it's one of those things that you never really think is so essential until it's actually not there.

Remember the COVID time and the vaccines requiring the cold chain delivery and how important that was and what kind of an impediment that was to scale up the vaccine distribution, actually.

Right.

There are a lot of tech companies, a few that you also work with that help the cold chain to be monitored and protected.

Think about our common friend Craner with his company Ty for instance.

Right?

You work with them as well.

Those things are considered niche, but then you look at the niche and it's pretty deep and the associated monetary value to the total addressable market is pretty high.

So it's just natural that Manifest picks up this topic because from food over to chemicals over to pharma, life sciences, this is essential.

Especially with, like Katie said, gene therapy, really cutting edge research and cancer treatments and viral infections.

And quite honestly, the last pandemic was not the last pandemic, but it was just one in the row of others and those events to happen in the future.

So cold chain capabilities, from technology to actual pragmatic operations is key to any economy.

And the numbers you mentioned are just, yeah, foundational, to be honest.

It is.

And folks, check out what Kranner and the Tive team are up to.

V e.com if I'm not mistaken.

I was on a panel last year at Manifest with Cranar and I think if I'm not mistaken, Amanda, big thanks to you and Trisha behind the scenes today.

I think Ty's coming on a webinar with our friends at Supply Chain now in Espanol coming up soon.

Let's drop a link there in the chat about that.

All right, Katie and Korai.

Katie, I want to talk about Manifest.

So.

So folks, if you love cold chain, you're going to love manifest 2026.

Even better.

So stay tuned as they roll out the speakers and the thought leaders from the cold chain space that will be confirmed at to be at Manifest next Year.

What else?

Katie, I know that you need about two hours to answer this question, but what else at the top of your list, what else can folks look forward to at manifest 2026?

Yeah, absolutely.

So we're returning back to the Venetian in February, which is just a beautiful space.

And we have a larger expo floor this year, which means more room not just for more of the innovative technology, but more room to have fun.

I think, you know, being in Vegas, people always connect us with, you know, those fun opportunities, which for me personally, those fun opportunities have led to so much great networking.

It's so natural, you know, at a putting green and strike up a conversation and, you know, we're going to have so many more of those networking opportunities.

Selfishly, I'd love to talk a little bit about our brand new hosted shipper program.

So we've really, you know, since I joined the team two years ago, really take an intentional look at creating value for our shippers.

And we've been able to roll out some new travel incentives to attract both shippers as well as the shipper teams to the event.

So if you're curious about that, definitely reach out to me.

The level of our attendees, both, you know, speakers on stage as well as attendees in the audience, just continues to be elevated.

Supply chain chief, supply chain officers, and senior vice presidents and vice presidents are really seeing Manifest as a place not only to, you know, connect with their peers, but also to take in the content and network.

So we're really happy and excited and February will be here before you know it.

It sure will.

Oh, my gosh, folks, forget Korad.

Respond those cool things Katie just shared.

I want to make sure you all know Manifest is in Las Vegas February 9th through the 11th at the Venetian.

Can't get much more AAA than that.

Katie.

We're gonna be conducting interviews again this year.

Had a blast last year, in fact.

Had so much fun.

I think one night I was in bed by 8:30.

It was a long day.

But Katie and the team, Courtney, Tanzel, many of Pam, many others, have done a great job building and growing this terrific event.

We're dropping a link right there.

We're proud partners of Manifest.

Love the work they do connecting professionals from across the globe and come join us in Vegas now.

Correct.

Touch on something you heard there from Katie.

And we've got to have.

We got to get you there to Vegas and have some geopolitical discussions too.

Is that right?

Yeah, Well, I hope so.

I've never been to Manifest, so I. I have always watched it from afar.

With envy.

And this year I'm really, I would say, motivated to make an effort to come down.

Yes, we're gonna do it.

We're gonna make it happen.

This is obvious and cliche.

I sound kind of dumb sharing it, but I'm going to anyway to be able to get out in person and shake hands and sit down and have a cup of coffee again.

Yeah, it's been a few years since the pandemic, but man, I don't take that for granted.

A single single day, that is a blessing.

Am I right Karai?

Absolutely.

Plus people change over time, change roles, change responsibilities.

The industry shapes new developments like cold chain becoming such a, you know, paradox hot topic.

Right.

So when you think about that kind of development and what's top of mind in the next year or two, I think there is nothing over a personal rapport that you create at an event at that scale and size.

And of course the location matters as well.

So.

Because if people go there with the intention to network, it's way easier to start a conversation than if you go somewhere to like who has more cards to play.

Right.

That's not really about that.

So at the end of the day it's really the balance of the location, the information sharing, the knowledge, expertise that everybody brings.

But I always say whenever you go you need to follow the rule of three, right?

Three significant contexts you made, three significant follow ups you made and three things that you learned and three things that you should better not have done.

So if you have not that three things you shouldn't have done, then you really, you didn't live up to what you should have done.

So you know, those are risks.

Yes, exactly.

Right.

I love that rule of three.

That's a great folks, don't be like me and go to bed at 8:30 when you're at Manifest, get out and have dinner with people.

And I promise that just one night that was after like a 12 hour long interviewing day.

But don't be like me.

By the way, T squared says this was great nourishment here on conference information.

T square would love to hear you out.

What's one been in one of your favorite events all year long?

All right Katie, we're approaching that time unfortunately.

Katie and Karai where we're going to be wrapping up here in just a second.

But I want to make sure folks know how to connect with you, Katie, whether they more information on Manifest, how to plug in, be a speaker, sponsor, attendee, exhibitor.

They want to be just part of the cool kids club.

How can they track you down.

Katydate.

Yeah, absolutely.

So the easiest way is to hit me up on LinkedIn.

I have a super easy name to Type into that LinkedIn search and I have a nice red blazer on in my picture.

So you can pick me out very easily and I'd love to connect.

Outstanding.

And we're gonna make it even easier.

We got Katie's direct LinkedIn URL right there in the chat, so check that out.

And folks, and again, all kidding aside, Katie, kudos to you, Courtney, Tanzel, Pam, the whole team for growing a very consequential event for so many cross industry.

So good stuff there.

All right, Karai, two part question for you.

First off, you and Katie dropped some brilliance here today on the Buzz, powered by our friends at easypost.

What's been one of your favorite aspects of our conversation and how can folks connect with you and all the great events you're hosting?

Your perspective that sets the world on fire from time to time.

How can folks track you down too?

So two parter, correct?

Yeah.

So the first thing I think is just like learning about Manifest and how certain topics are brought to to the main stage like Cold chain.

I find that cool.

Maybe that's a bit like the nerd in me speaking, but for me that's just like nourishment.

Right.

Like to use T squared verbiage there.

Right.

I have to put that into my vocabulary.

So I love that.

Right.

So there is this audacity to bring a topic really to life where the data speaks for itself, but there isn't enough community knowledge.

That should actually be the main stage topic.

So I really enjoy that.

And where can you find me lately you can find me at the customer service desk of United at any airport right now because flights are not and I stuck wherever I go for some odd reason.

But if not, then you see my posts, right, about resilient leadership lately because you know, I really need to focus that inner energy, you know, in order to come through at the end as a sane person.

Sometimes sounds a little bit insane, but that's really, you know, a little bit of that experience lately traveling a lot.

So I'm happy that Boeing is going to produce more airplanes so that hopefully fly and that makes travel a bit easier.

But yeah, LinkedIn of course.

And as always, the burden on Scott Lewton.

Right.

Contact Scott if you want to contact me.

No, just kidding.

Really, through LinkedIn.

It's probably the most direct way.

Outstanding, Korah.

Or the customer service desk, as you said.

That was funny.

All right, Korai and Katie, what a great full episode of the Buzz.

Now I've got one last thing for wrap here.

So I asked T Squared about one of his favorite events and he put this one on my radar.

This is The National Black MBA Associations Non Profit founded in 1970 at the University of Chicago.

It says this is nothing but nourishment there.

How about that folks?

Make sure that is on your radar as well.

Katie, date with Manifest.

Thanks so much for being here today.

My pleasure.

Thank you so much for having me.

Keep doing what you are doing.

We look forward to connecting with the Manifest team again in a month or two.

Karakoze with Kozay Advisory and Glob Sec.

Make sure y' all check that out, folks.

K, thanks for being here today.

Absolutely.

Anytime.

Big thanks again to Amanda and Trisha behind the scenes helping make it all happen.

And most importantly, T Squared and Leah and Alex and so many others we couldn't hit today.

Thanks for being here.

Our global audience, you're why we do everything we do.

You've got homework as always.

You got to take one thing.

Katie and Korod brought it.

It backed up the truck and dumped a ton of great perspective on us here today.

Take one thing, put into practice.

Share it with your team.

Right.

Do something with it.

Deeds, not words.

That's how we're going to keep transforming global supply chain.

And with that said, on behalf of the entire team here at Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton challenge you do good.

Give forward.

Be the change that's needed.

We'll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now.

Thanks for buying.

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