C (2:53)

I did, I did. But I've got to tell you, the lead story took all of my brain power so I skimmed the other ones. But tariffs certainly as of Friday morning last week had been nothing but the top topic that we've, that we've heard and that all supply chain professionals are trying to figure out what's next.

B (3:13)

That's right. And you know, a lot of, a lot of smart folks out there, some I know as well predicted that Supreme Court wouldn't weigh in on tariffs and gosh, they sure did. Friday, we're going to see, we're going to talk more about that here in a minute with Corinne, Nick and Paul. All right, so we're going to drop the link to with that said, you're one click away, folks, from subscribing and downloading and giving us your take on everything we covered. So number two, Corinne, of these four appetizers, you led a terrific edition of our very popular Never Normal series which started last September. I think you led a conversation with three or four CSCOs this time around. We had Douglas and Corey and Shay and Eduardo, all big time supply chain leaders doing big things at a variety of companies we all know and love. And Corinne, I gotta ask you, what were some of your we didn't be here for the whole hour on this question alone, but what are some of your quick key takeaways from that conversation?

C (4:09)

Yeah, it was a great opportunity just to, you know, spend some time with four great leaders that are doing impressive things in their organizations. And it reinforced for me, Scott, that it is in fact a great time to be in supply chain and these business leaders are making an impact every single day. We explored everything from some of their career defining moments to where they see artificial impact or, excuse me, artificial intelligence having an impact on their operations, what excites them about it. And Even some advice that they would give their younger selves. So I always love to hear how people respond to that. But four fantastic points of view. One thing that stuck with me is that Shay Nestler, who's the VP of logistics at Danone, he kept coming back to, we are striving to be boringly consistent. So in this time of volatility, one of the things that's his mantra is, we're working hard to be boringly consistent. And so I thought that was an interesting countermeasure to all the volatility, the opportunity, the changes that we're seeing in supply chain.

B (5:16)

It's so true. Key takeaways is I was in the. The cheap seats with my popcorn and Diet Coke, and it was a. It was such a real and genuine conversation, but two things. People were in the golden age of supply chain tech. We talk about it all the time because it's important.

D (5:30)

Right?

B (5:31)

But the love for people, the appreciation for people was so alive and well in that conversation. And then that leads me to my second key takeaway. I love the anecdote. I think it was Douglas that shared an earlier moment in his career where he saw the CEO stop in the hallway and asked the janitor named Maria about. About how her kids were doing.

C (5:48)

It was fantastic.

B (5:49)

Yes, it was. And it really. We should all strive to be more like that. Corinne, huh?

C (5:55)

Absolutely. Absolutely. And Shay, back to Shay for a second. He talked about that same kind of empathy and connection with the team in very difficult times. He shared a story about needing to close a manufacturing operation and what a learning experience that was for him as well. So I think those two, between Doug and Shay, talking about that connection and knowing people's names and knowing, you know, the impact on them personally and professionally in good days and bad days, was really something that hit home.

B (6:25)

So, folks, the good news is, all this is good news from Krin here today. But the good news is you can check out this great panel and. And two previous installments on Demand. Big thanks to Amanda and Trisha, making things happen behind the scenes here today. We'll drop the link right there in the chat and let us know your take. All right? They may agree. You may agree with what we took away. You may. You may disagree. We welcome all of it. Okay, so on a quick aside, we checked in with a couple of team members who are based in Mexico. We've all been monitoring some developments there over the weekend. I'm glad to say they're safe and sound, and of course, we pray for lots of simmering down of the violence and hopefully no one else gets hurt. Okay, so up next folks, mark your calendar. Just that time of the year again, I should say April 29th. National supply chain Day. Folks, mark your calendars whether they're digital or they're old fashioned like I've got hanging on my wall right behind me. Join us April 29th at 12 noon Eastern Time for a virtual event that's going to feature a wide range of supply chain leaders and supply chain topics. But I promise you, big theme will be our love and celebration for what people do across global supply chain every single day. All right, Corinne, is that, is that circled on your calendar?

C (7:39)

It is indeed. I mean, I love this celebration around National Supply Chain Day. I mean it's all about our community here. Everybody who's with us today and as a part of the supply chain now, family around the world, this is our chance to celebrate what they do every day.

B (7:55)

That is right. So come join us folks. April 29th. Okay, so and then lastly, we're all about sharing resources, folks, with our as Corinne mentioned, our SC and global fam. If you're still relying on GPS or beacons or expensive hardware to track assets or personnel, you just might be overpaying for a bunch of bulky hardware. Juxta delivers sub meter indoor and outdoor visibility anywhere. Without those beacons and cameras and gps, that means no new infrastructure, no complex installs and deployment in under an hour. Man, using the devices you already have, you can track shipments, equipment, personnel in real time across warehouses, yards and facilities at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. Folks, stop guessing and start seeing everything. Book a demo with our friends at Juxta here today. We're gonna drop a link to that right there in the comments. Corinne. Man, that's no nonsense. I'd love to stop guessing about lots of things, including what the Braves are gonna do in the season coming up, Corinne, are they gonna make the playoffs? Quick question before we bring on I'm

C (8:58)

just hoping for a better season than last year all the way around.

B (9:03)

Oh man, that makes two of us, folks. That aside though, we're seeing a spring hope springs eternal, I think is how the saying goes. And Major League Baseball is getting started and we're gonna see how that unfolds for everybody. But in the meantime, here on the Buzz, powered by Easy Post, we're delighted to have a couple of terrific guests join us, including one who we have deemed, of course, an OG here at supply chain. Now, Paul Noble has made dozens appearances on our programs over the years. He's been driving big innovative gains in global supply chain for a long time. He's also a popular Forge contributor. He's co founder at Verison AI and many, many other things. Now joining Paul today, Corinne, he's bringing Nick Depolito. Now Nick has spent almost 20 years driving transformation at Accenture and has now co founded VDSI where he serves as chief operating officer. Now folks, BDSI AI is the operational layer that makes the industrial Internet globally accessible. You can learn more@vdsai.net now let's welcome in Paul Noble and Nick DiPolito. Hey, Paul, welcome back. How you doing?

E (10:11)

I'm great. Good to be here.

B (10:12)

Fantastic. Live from Tech Square and in downtown Atlanta, Ga. And Nick, welcome to the Buzz.

D (10:18)

Hey, Scott, thanks for having me.

B (10:20)

Great to see you. Tuned in from Pennsylvania, right? Eastern or Western?

D (10:25)

Eastern.

B (10:26)

Eastern.

D (10:26)

The the Philadelphia. So still in the same baseball division.

B (10:30)

That's right. That's right. You're a Phillies fan. Oh, yeah.

E (10:34)

Nick gets mad. Nick gets mad when I'm sporting my Braves hat.

B (10:39)

Okay, Paul, we're gonna have to team up on Nick and get him converted, me and you and Corinne. All right. So Corinne, Nick and Paul, great to have everybody as we move into the B block. And we're going to start with some great news, folks. I tell you what the fun warm up question. Look at this gang. Did you watch that historic Olympic ho hockey match between the US And Canada tell you was incredible. Even if you're like me, not really a fan of hockey, as y' all probably heard a thousand times over the weekend, it's the first time that Team USA has won a gold in men's hockey since that 1980 classic. So that begs the question, and Paul, I'm g start with you. What is one of your most memorable Olympics moments?

E (11:17)

Yeah, I think if I'm thinking Olympics and diverting away from the ice hockey discussion, you know, I think to me one of the the biggest transitions was in the in the basketball arena with the Dream Team. Yeah. Big basketball enthusiast. And that first team that went in with professional players moving on from amateur just really set a great global tone for the game and something I'll always remember watching growing up Paul as Next.

B (11:45)

That was 1992. And the best part about that and lesson we can learn from supply chain. Now a supply chain standpoint is all those ego, all those hall of Famers.

E (11:55)

Yeah.

B (11:55)

And they all set aside playing to set aside all that stuff to, you know, make an incredible memorable run. There's certainly something to be said there for global leadership. So good Stuff, Paul. All right. So, Nick, that's gonna be tough one to beat. What about you favorite Olympics moment?

D (12:09)

That is a tough one to be. That was almost mine, but. So that's good. Hey, I'm glad Paul and I are on the same wavelength. That's important. Right? So I. I would probably say most memorable being my first memory of the Olymp. Probably the Mary Lou Retton, 1984. I just remember my mom having it on, and that was probably my first. Oh, wow. This is the Olympics. This is. You know, this seems really important. Maybe I should pay attention. So that's probably most memorable being my first memorable moment of the Olympics.

B (12:42)

Nick. That's a great one, because, Corinne, I can still see Mary Lou Retton's massive smile.

C (12:48)

Yeah.

B (12:49)

Megawatt smile. But, Corinne, how about you? What one of your favorite moments?

C (12:52)

Well, I love. I love both the moments that they've mentioned. And I saw the end of the hockey game, which was just phenomenal. Amazing. But I have to say, overall, if you open it up to Olympics in general, the 1996 Olympics were hosted here in Atlanta, and it was so cool to live here in the Atlanta area and just be able to experience all that. We had several friends who came and stayed with us and went to different venues and different events and saw live sports that we'd never seen in person before. And it was just a lot of fun. Just the.

E (13:23)

The.

C (13:24)

The visitors, the fans, the athletes. It was.

B (13:27)

It was amazing, you know, and it really. I wasn't here at the time, but it really changed the course of Atlanta as a city. Yeah. And really as a region.

D (13:36)

Right.

C (13:37)

Yep. Preparing for it. And, you know, technology was a big part of it.

B (13:41)

That's right.

C (13:42)

So it was. It was very exciting.

B (13:44)

That's right.

E (13:45)

It was such a catalyst. I was not here either, but, you know, talking to people that were here, just what it did to prepare Atlanta for where it's at now and, you know, the development of Tech Square and, you know, and just everything that goes on here. It's great for the city and a testament of why we're where we're at and why we're the global supply chain capital in the world.

B (14:08)

That's right, Paul. That's right. Now, Nick, did you hear that? Because Philadelphia is not. I'm kidding. Just kidding. Just kidding. So, all right, so, Corinne, Nick and Paul, good stuff. Good stuff. On as it relates to all things Olympics and beyond. But we got to get into a lot of news related to supply chain, and I hate to start with this topic again, but we got to, it impacts a lot of stuff, right? We got to talk tariffs. The Supreme Court ruled last Friday for maybe three people out there that don't know that the White House improperly relied on the International Emergency Economic Powers act, that's the ieepa, you may have heard about all of that, to impose broad tariffs on countries around the world. The decision doesn't necessarily eliminate all tariffs. And of course the White House is already looking at other measures over the weekend. President Trump has already announced a new 15% global tariff on all imports, citing an alternative legal basis for the measure. Now, as reported here by cnbc, the European Union is already balking at the new move, potential move and are asking for clarity from the White House. Aren't we all? So with that in mind, Paul. With that in mind, Paul, tell us your thoughts on the latest related to tariffs.

E (15:22)

Just when you think things are somewhat running smoothly in global supply chains, we get another thrust of uncertainty. Yeah, I think it's, everyone's kind of consuming a lot of information. It's certainly gonna, I would assume, be wrapped up in appeals and, and a bunch of, a bunch of different other activities trying to get everyone wrapping their arms around it. There's big discussion around refunds for those that paid in. And so, you know, again, I'm no expert on the tariffs, but I think we get what about 150 days of this temporary 15%, that's, that's going. And I think everyone's going to be closely looking at how can they take advantage of lower tariffs while they can if they were at some of the higher thresholds. But overall, you know, it's keeping people on their toes as it pertains to how they're going to do long term business and what will come of that as the, the ruling and the appeals progress.

B (16:21)

Yes, and all the more reason to look to a better forward looking approach at running your supply chains, including technology, of course. Nick, your thoughts on the latest in with Terastal?

D (16:34)

Yeah, I'll probably tap into my former experience consulting on a lot of this, more in the indirect space, but I think we always tell companies, be prepared, know your exposure before things happen. So having good segmentation and understanding your exposure to whatever happens quickly then can help you kind of react. I think the do nothing scenario and understanding if you do nothing, what, what is that costing you or what are your risks is definitely important. And then I think we've always said, you know, have clear executive triggers that you can say, hey, if this happens, we're making this decision, no regrets. Right. We all agree that if this trigger happens, this is what we're going to do. Not necessarily, you know, translating that and here's exactly what you need to do today. But I think being prepared and saying, look, if these triggers happen, no regrets, we all agree we're gonna, we're gonna do this.

B (17:28)

I'm hearing a little bit of a theme of facts, not feelings in Nick's response. Corinne, what are your, your thoughts?

C (17:34)

Facts, not feelings is exactly what I would say. However, I cannot imagine. And one thing that, that Nick mentioned, you know, is having a playbook of if, if A happens, then we're going to do, you know, B or B1. But I think what, what is mind boggling to me is that this is extremely difficult for the best run supply chains in the world. I cannot imagine how businesses that are struggling with their supply chain processes, efficiency overall or they are planning their businesses on spreadsheet. I don't know how they keep up. There's just too much volatility and variability right now that makes a huge impact. And something like tariff tariffs that are swinging so dramatically. These are big, big changes. So, you know, I hope we can step away from the gambling table and come at it like problem solvers, that we are the supply chain and be able to, to really develop a playbook, as Nick said. Because I think that these tariff type changes from the US or from other countries in the future are going to be a part of our futures going forward.

B (18:42)

Yes, well said, Corinne and Nick and Paul and folks, what do you think? And what do you think? Weigh in, Let us know what your organization may be doing different or maybe one thing you're glad your organization implemented kind of to the panel's point here, early months, months ago to better deal with this new layer of uncertainty. We'll see. Tara. Ping pong continues though. Paul, Nick and Corinne. Okay, so I want to shift over to what Corinne, we talk about this all the time, fashion supply chains. There's so much going on. We can learn from some incredible constraints that the fashion supply chain industry has. Here's a great read from our friends at Supply Chain Dive. It highlights major risks and shifts shaping fashion supply chains in 2026. So I'm going to share a couple of key points and then I'm going to get Paul, Nick and Corinne to weigh in too. So of course, persistent. This is going to read like Groundhog Day, the movie, folks, right? Persistent trade volatility and evolving tariff policies are all forcing brands to rethink sourcing strategies and cost structures. Companies are Working really hard to protect the margins through things like supplier diversification, near shoring and tighter inventory controls. Agility and resilience, heard those two words before. Are becoming competitive differentiators as disruptions remain constant. At the same time, AI is playing a much larger role in forecasting, sourcing, optimization and logistics visibility. All of this and more helps brands improve traceability, reduce waste, respond faster and more successfully to shifting consumer demand. Now folks, I promise you it's going to read like, and sound like Groundhog Day, right? I'll get Paul. Paul, your thoughts on what we're seeing here in the fashion industry and maybe

E (20:21)

elsewhere overall, the tariff conversation, things that are changing, you know, the risks are high. So Karin made a great point of, you know, being ahead of those things. And so many organizations have a lot of great tools, but there's still a lot of uncertainty and risk in the data and how they're communicating with their supply base to, to secure and stay ahead of things. So I think this, this speaks much to those same elements of, you know, balancing finance and risk across your supply chain is a constant struggle and, and kind of sets the tone for what we'll be talking on the back half of areas where you can, you know, you can have more validated data for AI to be using and, and put, put yourself in a, in a more trust worthy position to make decisions that will affect your business greatly.

B (21:15)

Good stuff. And really quick note before I get Nick to weigh in because it's something Corinne and I've talked about going back a ways. Unlike chocolate or gold or video games, those are constantly in demand, right? Timelessly. But fashions, gosh, they change all the time and you gotta be on the front end to be able to make money in a profit. It adds that layer of extra complexity. Nick, what do you see when it comes to fashion supply chains and how they're trying to navigate? What'd you hear there?

D (21:42)

What I heard was need to be able to react faster. And you couple that with being able to react to everything and being able to react fast, that's, you know, coupling the complexity that you have to face. And I think that complexity leads to more risk and uncertainty. Hey, I'm reacting faster, but I'm really not so sure if I'm reacting the right way to certain trends, as you said. So I think that's all the more important that you have the right information, you know, if you're going to react quickly and be able to react to everything. There's a whole lot more data and a whole lot more trust. That you need to have in those decisions.

B (22:18)

You know, good stuff. Nick, Corinne, Amanda said I was the least person qualified to talk about fashion anything here today. So. But Corinne, your thoughts on what the fashion industry is doing and maybe what we can learn from it?

C (22:32)

Yeah. Well, I think you hit on one of the key themes and that is that fashion in particular is one and done. So one season and done, they may come out with a similar collection in the future for the same spring offering. But those items are not heavily replenished. Sometimes they'll do an in season replenishment. But that fashion is something that you know is being predicted months and months and months ahead of time. Also in the apparel sector and fashion sector, that manufacturing is outsourced, predominantly or multi sourced. So again, these tariff conversations that we're talking about are a big part of how these brands are planning for the future. So tariffs are going to continue to play a big, big impact here. This particular article, I recommend everybody take a read of it because it highlights some research from McKinsey. So McKinsey does a report every year about the fashion industry and what's coming. And some of the stats that are shared in the article are from that McKinsey research. So if you're in a highly seasonal business or a fashion oriented business, be sure to take a read of this article. It makes a recommendation about multi sourcing. Right. And sourcing changes take time. It's hard to implement those rapidly. So again, changing tariffs may change your strategy on where you want to move your sourcing operations as well. So no question AI is going to have an impact. No question supply chain network designs are going to change in the future and fashion is kind of the canary in what is it? The canary in the coal mine. In the coal mine? Yes, Canary in the coal mine. So fashion industry is going to feel it very rapidly, very quickly and we should all kind of keep our eyes on the levers that they pull to address some of this volatility and change.

B (24:23)

Well said, Corinne. We are going to move right along. We're going to leave the fashion supply chain world. Paul, Nick and Corinne. And you know, I love talking about lots of good news. Did y' all see Paul?

E (24:35)

Yes.

B (24:36)

Yeah. So you know, I love talking about good news, folks, right? Y' all should know that maybe by now, especially good news that is creating out in the market. But as IT Brew reports on, we got to take the good and bad because as we all know, the bad actors are also innovating every hour with AI too. Now get this, according to Cisco's second annual State of AI Security report. The bad guys are making progress in all the innovation, ensuring that AI risks become more sophisticated, complex, numerous and deadly to supply chain ecosystems everywhere. Threats include fragile AI supply chains with inadequate provenance checks, advanced prompt injection and jailbreaking techniques, and malicious use of AI tools. Originally meant of course, for good positive productivity, attackers are increasingly using autonomous AI agents to scale and speed up their operations, creating new vulnerabilities. But one big key, one big key, folks, governance before deployment. A sound AI strategy starts with a formal AI governance framework before tools are widely adopted. So we got to kind of manage that action, that, that bias for action with the bias for safe action perhaps. I don't know. Paul, this is right up your alley. You've been doing some big things in technology, AI, you name it, for years. Your thoughts?

E (25:53)

Yeah, I think I've been receiving a lot of inbound talking about, you know, for the work I do with Forbes, writing about the increase of, you know, where does data live? You know, every organization has new AI committees before they commit to new applications. They understand the benefit, but it's also, you know, almost, almost paralyzing trying to, you know, manage all of the risks of where is your data going? Is that data proprietary to certain customers if you're an application and things of that nature? So there's a lot, a lot of governance as you mentioned, but I think it, you know, the, the ever presence of impersonation and fraud across supply chain, I think is, is a really key component that's while AI is going to drive credible outcomes and efficiencies and workflow and things of that nature, the element of impersonation and bad actors utilizing it as well for supplier impersonation and things of that nature is something that organizations are going to have to prepare for with their everyday applications today. And it's going to make planning more difficult and it's going to, you know, throw a wrench in the balancing of that finance and risk game.

B (27:12)

Paul, good stuff. You're gonna. Before you leave here today, you're gonna give us a sneak peek on what's coming next on your good stuff that you're writing over at Forbes. Nick, I enjoyed Paul's take here. I'd love to learn your take on the bad actor. Still gonna do the bad acting this time with AI and a whole bunch more. Your thoughts?

D (27:31)

Yeah, I think this is. Everyone has the tool, right? Not just the good guys. So the bad guys have the tool too. They're gonna accelerate the, the things that they're doing Impersonation, fraud and they're figuring out just as quickly as we're figuring out how to do the good things. I think it's important to create more of a governance that you're able to prevent a lot of that. But you know, even in, in my own use of chat gbt, you know, I've realized it's really tough to hit the undo button. You know, if you realized, oh wow, I didn't realize it. It took that to mean that I think that's what we have to understand is, is when you go down the road too far, right. It's really hard in these LLM models to hit an undo button and make it forget everything that it based off of that. And that's, that's very scary in supply chain. Right, because now you have a whole bunch of, you know, if you're automating your supply chain, you're building supply chain intelligence. It's really tough to hit the undo button once you've made those decisions.

B (28:29)

Nick, billion dollar advice. Between you and Paul Curran, what would you add here?

C (28:34)

Yeah, there's no question that we need to be vigilant and we need to have good governance for security, not just professional, but for personal as well, that these advances in technology can be used for evil as well as they can be used for good. So I think the biggest challenge right now is just keeping up with how fast things are evolving and the access to data and looking at streaming data and double checking and making sure that there are still humans in the loop on many of these decisions until we can have better security in place overall.

B (29:09)

Well said, Corinne. Folks, go check out this read. Give us your take and it brew again focused on the Cisco annual cyber reports. Let us know. All right, so Corinne, I wanted to give this a fully throated discussion here today, but time's not always ever on our side. I want you if you would share a couple key takeaways and I bet we can bake in some of these in the next segment. But tell us you had a great article we published over on the Resource Hub at supply chain now.com focused on the critical need for better and faster, smarter supply chain decision making. What was some key takeaways here, Corinne?

C (29:42)

Yeah, thanks for sharing that. The, the Resource Hub, by the way, for our listeners, if you haven't taken a look at that on the Supply Chain now website, be sure to do that. There's, there's lots of good information out there. What this really focuses on is this changing metric and how we think about decisioning or making decisions and how quickly we're able to make those. And a term that's evolving is decision velocity. So understanding how you make decisions in your organization, the data that is a part of that, what good looks like for your business, it goes far beyond visibility. So if you're still simply talking about visibility, that's table stakes. My question to you is what will you do with that visibility? And that is your ability to make decisions, implement them and measure the success rate of the outcome. So take a look. There's, there's some good information in that article and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Anybody in our audience welcome.

B (30:36)

Your feedback folks, SCN Global Fan let us know this. This has already generated a lot of comments and conversations out across social, so we'd love to hear your take on that. Okay, so Paul and Nick and Corinne, we're about to learn a lot more. You're bringing back bad memories and nightmares of me and ISO from my days in manufacturing. But we're going to talk about ISO 25500 in just a second. But folks, I do want to share one quick heads up on you got to come join us February 26th. We're just talking about AI for good, right? Big theme and for bad, but big theme, AI for good. Throughout today's conversation. Check out this live program we've got coming up this Thursday 12 noon chat GPT just the beginning for shipping. We're talking about what it can do, what AI cannot do. Very frank conversation and I promise you'll learn more. You'll leave with some very actionable strategies for making life easier for your team and delighting your customers. Okay, so Paul and Nick, I want to dive into again this topic that I think this whole conversation here is going to put some critical thoughts on supply chain leaders, radars. I promise you they're probably in the blind spot for many folks out there based on everything else we're dealing with. That's ISO 25500. So Paul, let's, let's, let's kind of start with kind of what it is. And given we were talking about something earlier on the buzz, you know, supply chains already exchanged tons, tons of data digitally. What problem does ISO 25500 actually solve that today's systems do not?

E (32:05)

Yeah, I think it's, I mean the, the crux of the situation is, you know, ISO 25500 was recently published and what it's doing is creating a framework for the exchange of verifiable data across many different disciplines. But if you think about, you know, supplier verification, material verification, things of that nature. It, it's difficult for any one organization to keep up with, you know, their master data in that regard. And so initially it's the framework. There's about 30 governments that have, you know, kind of said, yes, this is, this is how we want to prepare. And it goes, goes also to the element of what we talked about earlier. Right. You know, with the growing use of AI and AI platforms needing, you know, cleaner data the better, but not going back to the old playbook of data cleansing. Right. And coming up with new ways to verify data and exchange that data in, in the appropriate manner so that, you know, every part of the chain can adopt the AI tools that help them do business better without limiting or opening themselves up for risk. And so the framework's there and there have been a lot of ISO standards, ISO 8000 in terms of data formatting. This is more of, you know, the exchange and the creation of the industrial Internet. But organizations need to adopt that. So there's an opening for, you know, vds, AI specifically that we'll talk about being able to allow end users, applications, SIs and suppliers to get their data verified and prepare themselves for what's coming in the future so that, you know, they're not playing from behind, adopting new AI tools that can't, can't utilize that data effectively. And so it's really, you know, allowing everyone across the supply chain to begin adhering to the standards that have been around for a long time. And largely organizations don't adhere to and applications don't. It's all kind of siloed and in each individual box and allowing it to drive outcomes because obviously outcomes are what matter. But how you get there is certainly a key component and a foundational component

B (34:23)

of that like that. Paul, we need, we need to work with the dream team to get those outcomes. Nick, what else would you add as it relates to ISO 25500 and why it's got to be on folks radar.

D (34:35)

Yeah, I think it doesn't replace data exchange. Right. We're always going to be exchanging data. It adds a layer to verify that data. So must look at it as a filter, making sure that it's letting you know, hey, the data you're exchanging can't be verified by the party you're trying to send it to or by the authoritative source that owns that data. I think another key shift is we're exchanging today a lot of stored, replicated data almost whisper down the lane over the years. It really switches that and says there may not be a need to own or store data that you, that you're not the source for because you, through I725500, you now have an infrastructure to be able to reference that data from the verified source.

B (35:20)

Okay. And Corinne, between what Paul and Nick both have shared your thoughts around the importance of ISO 25500 and where organization may be a little bit behind what it's aiming to address.

C (35:33)

Yeah, yeah. I think one of Nick's last points was really important and that is storing data and that this can reduce the need to store or replicate data. If you can use that data in stream or in flow and not replicate it, that that's a chance to be in its purest form, if you will, or to, to access it from that perspective. So the fact that we have standards that are available gives us greater confidence in that and greater confidence in the trading partner or trading payers that we're looking at. So I think that's important. We will also continue probably in this next 24 months to see AI applied to improving data quality. Paul made a point of saying, you know, we're never going to have perfect data, but we do have an opportunity to improve the data quality that is available. So these standards will help that improve the quality work towards a standard. AI will be a part of that message too, for sure. I think we'll see a lot of work on Master Data Management or MDM in the next 24 months where AI can help improve that even within an enterprise, much less out in trading partner relationships where there's huge opportunity as well.

B (36:47)

Good stuff, Corinne. Nick, I was reading as I was trying to get up to speed, especially up close to speed, between you and Nick, you and Paul and Corinne, I was reading something about the supply chain data for formatting clause, right? Standardizing dates and entities, locations and items. Now all that sounds a little bit simple, but why is that such a big deal in practice?

D (37:10)

Yeah, great question. The standards actually have been around for a while and we haven't really adopted them. And I think one of the major reasons is that, you know, putting an infrastructure in place to actually exchange data using these standards. So it was almost like putting the cart before the horse a little bit. I think this might drive folks, maybe adopt them. But one of the most important things is creating global unique unambiguous identifiers. The ISO 25500 doesn't run unless you're able to have globally unique, unambiguous data running through it. Otherwise your traceability back to the Source. If you have different, you know, an identifier that might be resolved by two different sources, you don't know where to go to go get that information. So really, it's the foundation of ISO 25500. It's the building blocks to say we need to have data that is global, unique, unambiguous, that's traceable back to an authoritative source in order to operate on ISO 25500.

E (38:12)

Yeah, and it benefits both sides, right? So I mean, user, users of information that have thousands and thousands, if not tens of thousands of suppliers, suppliers that sell to tens of thousands of organizations and then all of the applications, whether it's a system of record and optimization or a planning platform. You know, an easy example of that is that if I'm a supplier, I could have a thousand different representations of myself across every different portal and application and customer that I sell into. You know, if you bring it back to that foundational, you know, every organization has an international business identifier that can be verified. And if, if I'm a user buying from thousands of different suppliers, that opens up risk in terms of impersonation and things that we've talked about and fraud. The goal is to get ahead of that and be able to identify not only core suppliers within category management, but also be able to eliminate and validate even suppliers that are smaller in the long tail that you're buying from. So, you know, being able to get back to that authoritative source, as Nick mentioned, and you know, once the supplier is verified, it could be verified across, you know, various applications. The benefits are, you know, wild, wildly important, both from a financial and a risk aspect in terms of what chief supply chain officers, chief Procurement officers and CFOs are looking at of the impacts of this data and how do they utilize that data to run their businesses more effectively.

B (39:52)

Corinne, your thoughts?

C (39:54)

Yeah, I think it's an important initiative and, you know, it, it allows us to compete as a supply chain instead of a bunch of companies that do business together. So anything that we can do to accelerate the access and availability and interpretation of meaningful trading partner data is a good thing. And so it will be interesting to see the adoption here. You know, you mentioned date formats. We've been struggling with that for 20, 30 years now at this point in time, as I think back to even early working situations on collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment that the voluntary Inter commerce standards worked on in 2000. Right. So, you know, what is a product? What's a product id? What's a volume, What's a container. You know, all these different definitions are just building blocks that can accelerate business. And what that lets us do in the long run is it allows us to replace risky inventory with valuable insights with that data. Right. So that we can accelerate faster and so that we're not caught in the fashion crunch that we talked about with the fashion industry. If we can get that information faster, we can adjust our investments in inventory, in moving those goods or inventory in motion as it comes to market as well.

B (41:15)

Corinne, you're reading my mind because that's adoption and kind of what changes what I was going to post to the panel next. So, Paul, I'm gonna pose this to you. So if and when maybe ISO 25500 becomes much more widely adopted, what does change? You know, Karen kind of referenced a couple of these things, but what else changes financially and strategically for global supply chains?

E (41:36)

Yeah, I think we've talked about it briefly. But you know, being able to have a technology you can plug in and action against the, the standards that exist and become compliant takes that uncertainty and mistrust in some of your core baseline master data, whether supplier, master material, master, you know, giving you representative information to power the applications that you're using to run your business. So, you know, it helps balance working capital and risk across, you know, the indirect, direct logistics part of the supply chain. And then as, as that compliance happens, there will be more and more outcomes and, and pipes that, you know, that data that can flow through, flow through those pipes, actually that again allows you to prepare and plan more effectively for the things that we've been talking about in this entire episode and we and you all talk about on a day to day and week to week basis. So it's really getting back to that foundation and laying the foundation that allows, allows all of the great innovation and work that's happening in the supply chain to take greater shape and again, get back to the outcome that matter, which is running your business, regardless of what you make, what you ship, what you do.

B (42:57)

Sign me up. All right. So Nick, anything you'd add? That was a very comprehensive answer we got from Paul J. Noble. Anything you'd add there, Nick?

D (43:04)

I think we talked a lot about some of our challenges on impersonation, risk, everything on the industrial Internet, ISO 25500, you're verified, you know who's requesting information, you know who's responding with that information. I think that's a key piece to kind of prevent a lot of the bad actors. I'm sure they'll try once this becomes fully adopted to, you know, infiltrate. But being preventative and only allowing verified entities, verified identities in is a key piece of design for this. I think the other thing, you know, if I go full utopia, if we're verifying everything, we should be able to allow AI to start orchestrating our supply chain, finding efficiencies. You know, I watch the Amazon truck come to my neighborhood every single day, right? Something. If everything's verified, we know everything that's coming and where it is, somebody should be able to figure out how to do that, you know, a lot more efficiently. Right. And we'll be able to react faster, but also trust our reactions.

B (44:07)

Corinne, that's. That's the key word. Trust, trust, trust, trust. Your thoughts, though, on what else changes, Corinne, that maybe Nick and Paul didn't hit on or something you want to maybe emphasize of what they did. Share.

C (44:18)

Yeah, no, I like the idea of utopia, Nick. If we ever get the utopia supply chain, I want to see that in action. But it certainly turns fragmented data into more intraoperable framework for decision making or for digital communication between businesses. And I think that that's where it becomes a real accelerator. So if we don't have to, if we get to the point where we're complying with the standards or ISO certified in that process, that means we can adopt AI, as was mentioned, and we can automate. So automation, I think, is good, or the goal of getting to an automated framework or interchange is where all businesses want to be. It may be painful getting there, but it's definitely a destination worth striving for.

B (45:12)

We nail the approach, and then we're off to the races, like Carl Lewis or Jackie Joyner Kersey to throw out a couple Olympians from back in the day.

E (45:20)

Right.

C (45:20)

You're on a roll.

B (45:23)

Olympics are on my mind, folks. And I wish I could run fast like this, folks. Anyway, all right, so let's do this. I wish we had another 30 minutes, hour, couple hours with y', all, but Nick and Paul, really excited to hear more about vdsai. Nick, let's start with you. Tell us about what the organization does in a nutshell.

D (45:41)

Yeah. So vdsai, if you think of kind of the traditional Internet, we all have an Internet service provider. VDSAI is the commercial provider to allow everyone to access the industrial Internet. So really, go to bdsai.net we can get you verified. That's the most important. Like I said, there's a. There's an entry of verifying almost. Look at it as we have a bouncer checking your ID at the door and then we can get your prefix. So just like on the Internet, we have a domain name. I'm sure all of you have tried to secure the right domain name or bought the domain name that fits your company best. That's what we're doing right now is we're helping companies register that smart prefix, which is really your domain name for the industrial Internet. You can get that today. And what that does is that secures your globally unique identifiers specific to your entity. So also every entity. So if you have multiple entities within your company, company can register prefixes for each entity.

B (46:37)

Man. Okay, I think I can, I'm, I'm put, I'm picking up what you're putting down, Nick. And that's not always. That doesn't always take place on Mondays here on the Buzz. Paul, what would you add to Nick's, you know, as he shared what VdSAI does? In a nutshell, what else would you add, Paul?

E (46:54)

Yeah, I think. Well said, Nick. But, you know, overall it's, you know, a simple, simple way to start actioning, actioning and getting prepared for what's coming. Right. So there are simple things you can do to, you know, the industrial Internet's coming. This is, you know, a way that you can, you know, secure your spot and begin, begin that verification process that'll, you know, if you're a supplier, it helps you with your customers. If you're an application or an si, it helps prepare the system systems that are being used across and you're, again, you're less data dependent of, you know, trying to rectify that authoritative data back to the source to make your application work better. And then ultimately for the users of products, you have greater trust that can help you decision more effectively. So just think of it as a simple plugin that does that foundational work for you and can get your compliant and get you ready for what's coming.

B (47:54)

Outstanding. All right, so Corinne, it sounds like we're going to hear a lot more about ACE ISO 25500. And you gotta get help somewhere, folks. BDSA might be one such partner if you wanna.

D (48:08)

What was that?

B (48:08)

The utopian supply chain. Was that an analogy all three of y' all were talking about earlier? But Corinne, what'd you hear there? Why do I mean, leaders got so much on their plates, they don't need one more, but they're gonna have one more. Seems like by the hour. Your thoughts when we heard there from Nick and Paul?

C (48:21)

Yeah, I guess the final thought that I would leave with Folks, is that data is critically important. It's always been critically important, but it is growing exponentially right now. So the fact that we have a standard that can be adopted that allows us to access, interpret and leverage that to accelerate business decisions is really important. So I think each and every business needs to figure out, look, is data going to be rocket fuel that propels our business forward or is it going to be kryptonite that that really cripples our business in the future? And this is an opportunity to adopt a standard that's out there and really accelerate that adoption process.

B (49:00)

Corinne, I love that. Rocket fuel or Kryptonite. The choice is yours, folks. My son Ben would love that. Love that. There's two options there. Okay, well, I hate to leave it here, but folks, we're going to make sure you know how to connect with Corinne, Nick and Paul in just a moment. We want to share just a couple more resources. If you like conversations like this. Want to share a couple more resources where you can find more. Starting with all of our upcoming live programming. Folks, you can venture over to. I'm gonna still call it the new supply chain now.com because it's still kind of new. We rolled out last year. It was a big passionate project, folks, the new site. But you can check out upcoming live programming for the latest live streams and webinars we've got scheduled. We'd love to have you come join us and share your perspective. And as we've touched on a couple times, you're going to find find Corinne's great article there. You're going to find at our Resource Hub. You're going to find all of our written interviews from events like Manifest. You're going to find all of that at the Resource Hub. White papers, news, ebooks, blogs, you name it all right there at the new Supply Chain now dot com. Okay, so let's do this. As we start to wrap Paul and Nick and Corinne, I feel like I'm Smarter after this February 23rd edition of the Buzz. That's that doesn't always happen. But this has been a great session. So I wanna, I want to make sure folks now to connect with all three of y', all, starting with Paul J. Noble, OG Here at Supply Chain Now. Paul, how can folks track you down.

E (50:26)

Yeah, at Paul J. Noble and I think most of the, most of the platforms out there, LinkedIn, X, so on and so forth. Or you can go to Forbes.com and look me up. Trying to put out more and more informational meeting with different CEOs across finance optimization platforms. We'll be putting out something, you know, covering takeaways from Manifest, finalizing that, and then we'll be writing more on the subject at hand.

D (50:52)

ISO 2 5, 500.

B (50:54)

Okay, so folks, we got our sneak peek from Paul and Forbes. Make sure you follow Paul wherever he may be. All those socials he mentioned. Nick, Nick, for your first time here on the Buzz, I really enjoyed your perspective. I don't like your Phillies as we.

E (51:12)

It always comes back to that. Yeah, right, right, right.

D (51:14)

I hope you'll have a backdoor in baseball season.

B (51:18)

Nick, as the all kidding aside, as we talked about though, at Manifest, when the Phillies beat down the Braves in their last playoff matchup, y' all took our soul. We gotta get it back. We gotta get it back. But Nick, congrats the cool, big things you're doing in industry. How can folks connect with you and VdSAI?

D (51:37)

Yeah, so you can go to my LinkedIn page. I'm working on probably being more active on social media. Maybe Paul can coach me on that. But also vdsai.net, you know, go to our webpage, tons of resources there explaining everything we just talked about.

B (51:54)

Outstanding. Corinne Bursa, tell you what, you are always on the move. Really enjoy what you do here. I know you do a lot of keynoting and advising out in the market marketplace. How can folks have a conversation with you? Corinne?

C (52:06)

Yeah, I think the easiest way is LinkedIn, as our other participants mentioned. It's just, it's an easy way to kind of cut through some of the noise. So please connect with me there. I still want to invite feedback on the article that we shared today as well, because I think we're going to hear more and more on Decision velocity and the impact on your business and just the way you think about metrics that you measure. But please reach out and of course, I look for opportunities to be with you here on supply chain now as well.

B (52:33)

Outstanding, Corinne Versa. What a great, great hour spent Here on the February 23, 2026 version of the Buzz, brought to you by our friends at easypost. I want to thank our esteemed panel, Paul J. Noble. Great to have you back, Paul.

E (52:47)

Great to be back. Thanks. Always fun to spend some time on the supply chain now platform. So appreciate the opportunity and always good to be here.

B (52:55)

You bet. I think I got a certification with you and Nick and Corinne here Today and Nick DiPolito with VDSA folks, you can learn more at vdsa.net Nick, great to have you here today.

D (53:07)

Thanks for having me. Scott. This is fun. First time. It was great.

B (53:10)

And I thought you're gonna throw in a go Phillies there, Nick. Right, right.

E (53:13)

I was ready for it.

B (53:15)

I was ready.

E (53:16)

Yeah. Yeah.

B (53:17)

Well, Nick, all kidding aside, great, great to meet you. You manifest. Good to catch up with you as well, Paul. Great to have y' all here. I want to thank my esteemed co host Corinne Bursa. Corinne, always a pleasure.

C (53:26)

I en it's great conversation today. Thanks.

B (53:29)

No doubt. Big thanks to our friends easypost again who are powering the buzz all month long here in February and who are helping to make shipping easy, flexible and scalable. Folks, you can learn more@easypost.com Big thanks to Amanda and Trisha behind the scenes and most importantly, the biggest of thanks to our global audience for being here with us. Appreciate all the feedback. Keep it coming. But folks, you got homework. You know the homework. It's the same assignment every show. You got to take one thing you heard here from what a great. It was a great panel. Corinne and Paul and Nick, take one thing, share it with your team. Do something with it.

D (54:01)

Right?

B (54:01)

Put it into practice. It's all about deeds, not words. Right? And with that said, on behalf the entire supply Chain now team Scott Luton challenging 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 bye.

A (54:16)

Join the Supply Chain now community for more supply chain perspectives, news and innovations. Innovation. Check out supply chain now.com subscribe to Supply Chain now on YouTube and follow and listen to Supply Chain Now Wherever you get your podcasts.