From Intent to Impact: How Supply Chain Leaders Are Driving Transformation

Supply chain transformation today is a balancing act between ambition and execution. Leaders are being asked to deliver growth, improve resilience, adopt AI, and meet rising customer and regulatory expectations, all while keeping operations running.

At NASCES25, I moderated a roundtable with supply chain and transformation leaders from Toyota, L’Oréal, Owens Corning, Ecolab, American Airlines, and Bayer. Across industries, one theme was clear: transformation succeeds when it is grounded in clarity, centered on people, and focused on customer impact.

If you can’t name the problem, don’t buy the technology

The most effective transformations begin with a clear articulation of the problem to be solved, the value at stake, and the outcomes expected. Too often, organizations chase new technology simply because it is available or gaining attention, not because it is tied to a specific business need. However, technologies like AI only deliver value when applied to well-defined business challenges.

Tying initiatives to measurable outcomes helps secure leadership alignment and supports change management. Clarity creates focus and helps teams understand why transformation matters. At its foundation, successful transformation rests on three pillars: people, process, and technology, all powered by high-quality data.

AI is only as smart as the network behind it

As supply chains become more complex, multi-tier visibility has moved from a nice-to-have to a requirement. Many of the biggest risks today, including regulatory exposure, disruptions, and cost volatility, originate deep in the supply chain, often beyond direct supplier relationships.

AI has emerged as a powerful enabler, but only when supported by trusted, shared data. More than half of the data needed to drive intelligent supply chains sits outside an organization’s four walls. Without visibility across trading partners, AI’s impact is limited.

Standardization also surfaced as a recurring theme during our roundtable conversation. While one-size-fits-all approaches rarely work, excessive customization slows progress and undermines scale. Leading organizations are finding a balance by standardizing where it drives speed and consistency, while allowing flexibility where it creates meaningful value.

Transformation doesn’t fail on technology, it fails on trust

Technology may enable transformation, but people determine whether it succeeds. Change management remains a critical factor, and even well-designed initiatives can stall if employees do not understand the purpose or feel threatened by the change.

Clear communication, local champions, and ongoing engagement help build trust and momentum. Leaders emphasized the importance of reinforcing that technology is designed to elevate roles by removing manual work and enabling employees to focus on higher-value activities, instead of replacing them. Being honest about what is working, what isn’t, and when to pivot builds credibility and keeps teams engaged over the long term.

Customer-centric supply chains don’t happen by accident

A significant shift underway is the move from inward-facing efficiency to explicit customer-centricity. Many supply chain organizations historically assumed their work benefited customers without clearly articulating how.

Today, customer impact is a unifying principle. Whether serving consumers, passengers, farmers, or B2B customers, supply chains are increasingly recognized as drivers of experience, reliability, and brand trust.

Customer collaboration is also playing a larger role in transformation. Sharing data and aligning processes across networks creates shared value and unlocks differentiated services. Progress must be communicated in terms customers care about—not internal metrics, but outcomes that improve service, speed, and transparency.

What the best transformation leaders do differently

Coming out of our conversation, the strongest transformation leaders shared a few defining traits:

• They pivot quickly when something isn’t working. Rather than protecting sunk costs or rigid plans, they recognize when assumptions change and adjust course. Speed and adaptability often matter more than perfection.
• They invest in people as intentionally as they invest in platforms. Adoption requires time, training, and leadership attention. Workforce readiness is treated as a core deliverable, not a side effort.
• They celebrate progress. Visible milestones help sustain momentum and reinforce positive behavior throughout a long transformation journey.
• They hold themselves accountable for real value creation. Success metrics are defined early and tracked consistently, whether financial, operational, or customer driven.

Turning ambition into measurable impact

What stood out most from my conversation at NASCES25 was the shared recognition that transformation is no longer optional. Supply chain leaders are embracing bold ambitions, people-centered change, and customer-focused innovation to turn intent into measurable impact.

SAP Business Network plays a critical role in this journey by helping organizations connect processes, partners, and data across the value chain to improve visibility, resilience, and decision-making at scale. And beyond the network, SAP’s supply chain management (SCM) portfolio helps orchestrate people, processes, and technology end-to-end—enabling leaders to move from intent to impact with integrated planning, execution, and insights that can drive real operational transformation.

To hear more directly from the leaders shaping this future, I encourage you to watch the full NASCES25 roundtable discussion and continue the conversation on how supply chains can lead meaningful transformation.

Keith Baranowski is global head of Sales for SAP Business Network.