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The first thing to say is that AI isn’t going to eliminate careers or the need for people. What we are seeing now is that traditional entry-level tasks are being optimised and partly automated using AI.

When I’m talking about technology and the impact of AI, I use the ‘red bucket’ analogy. I explain it like this. We have 15 different suppliers of red buckets. There are a number of different codes in our system for this item as the codes have changed over the years and are specific to each of the 18 production sites.

AI won’t take jobs - it will change skills. People think AI is coming to take their jobs. Not me. There’ll be a shift in the skills required, and we’ll need people who possess them. It’s important that you continue to use your brain for thinking.

For the first time in over a year, US protectionism and US-China trade tensions have fallen out of the top three risks facing global supply chains. In their place, geopolitical conflict in the Middle East has taken hold as the dominant driver of disruption – and the Q1 2026 CIPS Pulse Survey shows procurement professionals responding with record levels of anxiety and a decisive shift towards resilience.

Why the Strait of Hormuz is the single most consequential chokepoint in global supply chains, and what procurement professionals need to understand about the exposure it creates.

There are changes that can also be implemented now, which will bring benefits in the medium and long term. These can be more difficult to invest in because the financial benefits can be difficult to quantify, but they represent a way to make your organisation more resilient and to anticipate risks before they become problems.