← Supply Chain Now
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Supply Chain accounts for almost 94% of your actually emissions in your business on average across industries. So as people are focusing on scope one and Scope two and it's the low hanging fruit, it is a great opportunity to actually make progress. But in reality, you're not going to decarbonize until you get to Supply Chain.
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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, hey, Good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you might be. Scott Luton with you here on Supply Chain now. Welcome to today's show, folks. We are continuing one of my favorite series here today, one that we like to call the Now Generation, where we sit down with students and professional educators from some of the leading colleges and universities around the world. Some are already doing big things right now today in industry. That's where the name comes from and this show's definitely going to live up to that. We got big news this year on the Now Generation series here in 2026. We're delighted to partner with Dr. Stephanie Thomas and the WISE organization at the University of Arkansas to power this series Forward. Wise exists to show students that Supply Chain is indeed exciting, impactful and full of opportunity. This initiative creates community. It connects students with industry leaders and helps them build the skills and confidence to launch meaningful careers. Stephanie and Wise team are doing some really cool things. Great work programming, annual events, you name it, and it's open to all schools out there. Basically, we're going to drop a link in the program notes and you can click on that for more information. But today on the Now Generation here at Supply Chain now, we're featuring an outstanding school, Columbia University, which happens to be one of the world's most important centers of research and a whole bunch more. And as you can see here today, the university is home to to some of the most talented supply chain pros in industry. So get ready folks as we continue one of my favorite series here. I was tickled. I jumped out of bed this morning because we knew we had this episode and this conversation teed up. So with all of that said, I want to introduce our esteemed panel here today and I'm going to start with Professor Katarina Carvalho. She is part of the faculty at Columbia University in New York where she teaches supply chain management to master's students. Beyond her teaching duties, Katarina also leads the supply chain practice at ARUP and has been recognized by lots of industry players for her work across industry, including in 2023 where Katarina was recognized as a national top 20 under 40 honoree by engineering News Record. Hey, Katarina, how you doing?
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A
Hi, Scott. Great being here with you today.
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You as well. You as well. I appreciate your award winning journey and I look forward to learning from your perspective as well as some of your very talented students. So it's great to see you. So I'm going to continue the intros. Katerina, I know you know these next three individuals pretty well, but I'm gonna start with Brianna Striegel. A second year MBA candidate at Columbia Business School and a consultant at Deloitte focused on retail and consumer goods supply chains. Now get this. She recently spent the summer at McDonald's through environmental defense Funds Climate Corp. Where she worked on water stewardship and supplier engagement across, of course, one of the world's largest food supply chains. Briana is passionate about the critical intersection of supply chain strategy and sustainability. Briana, how you doing?
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C
I'm doing well. I'm happy to be here.
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B
Great to see you here today. And you're joined by Curran Jeremiah Murphy, distribution planning manager at Louis Vuitton Americas, where he leads inventory strategy and product flow for high value watches and jewelry. Amongst several degrees, Curran earned a master's degree in sustainability management and a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Columbia University. And in parallel, get this. That blows my mind. He is an active natural gas futures trader developing systematic risk management strategies that integrate technical, macroeconomic and data driven analysis to generate consistent performance. Current. How you doing?
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D
I'm great, Scott. Excited to be here today.
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B
Well, great to have you. Did I interrupt any calculations that you might be running? Current. Okay. All right. Making sure I got. I could barely say a lot of that math and I know I couldn't do it. So I look forward to learning more from you here today. Ingrid Eric, a sustainability professional specializing in food systems and agriculture. Ingrid is currently pursuing a Master's of Science in Sustainability Management at Columbia University. Prior to graduate school, she served as senior manager of community engagement and programming at the Good Food Institute. This is a really neat nonprofit think tank focused on advancing alternative protein innovation. That's a noble mission. Ingrid has also consulted for food and beverage companies on sustainability analytics and supply chain decarbonization, amongst other things. Ingrid, how you doing?
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I'm doing great. I'm looking forward to the conversation.
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B
I am too. And I really admired. You know, I bet a bunch of y' all have dedicated some of your time to pro bono efforts, but Ingrid, that sounds like a really cool nonprofit that you dedicated some of your leadership bandwidth to, huh?
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E
Yeah, it was, it was really, really meaningful work.
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B
Outstanding. Okay, well, great to see everybody. Katarina, I gotta circle back around to you. I really appreciate you taking the time to gather these three leaders so that our audience can really benefit from how they view the world and some of their perspective.
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A
Yeah, I mean, I think your introduction tells how diverse all the different backgrounds and how people are actually putting all of their leadership capacity and all of their brains into solving different problems within the supply chain in different industries. So I'm very lucky to attract this talent in the course. And definitely Columbia is an amazing university and we're very lucky to have great students.
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B
We're going to touch on all of that. That was a great preview of coming attractions, Katerina. So let's do this. So, Brian, I'm gonna circle back to you first. I want to start with kind of a couple fun warm up questions. In the intros of all three of y', all, we kind of touched on academic and professional pursuits. I want to ask you a question, two part question, if you would. Number one, tell us a little bit more about what you studied or are studying at Columbia and what's one extracurricular passion or hobby of yours, Brianna?
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C
All right, so like you mentioned, second year MBA at Columbia. And the best part about Columbia is you can choose your own adventure and mix and match. So most of my curriculum is business, finance focused, strategy focused, and then I get to dip into the other colleges and do some sustainability and supply chain. So that's mostly what I'm studying. Sustainable operations and supply chain through business. And my hobbies, I really like grandma hobbies. So I make sourdough, I garden, and I really love that.
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B
Hey, that is outstanding. And Amanda, who's helping us, making it happen every day here at Sapacha. Now we are a bread factory right now, Brianna, so you are going to have to share some recipes. Seriously. She's been nailing this sourdough recipe. So those are some of the greatest great hobbies in my book, at least. So great. It's great to see you here today. Karina. Really quick. Brianna mentioned making bread, gardening, knitting. Do you, do you do any of those things, Katarina?
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I cook quite a lot. I know, Scott, most of your guests are into sports, but you have a very different crowd here to buy. So I do a lot of cooking and I actually do quite some painting myself. So very much into the arts and I organize a lot of like collages, painting, drawing events with my friends.
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B
Okay, Curran, Brianna, Ingrid, did y' all know that about Katharina, what she just shared, especially painting?
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D
I did not know the painting aspect. That's a new little fun fact I just picked up.
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Good, good, good.
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That's what we're here for. Okay. We got some really cool hobbies. Supply chain can be tough. It's good to have hobbies where we can decompress a little bit. Curran, same question. Now, you've already graduated with your masters from Columbia, so if you would elaborate. Just tell us something about that experience. And same question. Where do you spend some of your free time on weekends?
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D
Yeah. So from my undergrad, I was a industrial engineer, which gave me a very analytical background. And then moving into the Summa Sustainable Management program, it was a, you know, very eye opening experience being able to kind of use that analytical background, but to then give it some context. A lot of times in engineering, we kind of work in the abstract. So this was a phenomenal opportunity to kind of marry both worlds and kind of see how it plays out in the real world. Personally, I love to ski. I'm a huge skier. And that kind of is what sparked, I think, my passion for sustainability. I do a lot of backcountry skiing where I'm hiking out in the mountains, kind of just me in the wilderness or me and one buddy. And, you know, just seeing how the environment has changed over the years has definitely given me reason to kind of have this passion to protect it for future generations.
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B
Kurt, I love that. And from what I've done, I've done some homework on all, all four of y', all, really. And I think there's a lot of kindred spirits and the passion for sustainability and protecting what we all enjoy today so our kids and their kids can enjoy those same wonderful, beautiful landscapes. So good stuff. And for our audience out there, especially my fellow Atlanta Falcons audience, Kern has agreed not to bring up 28 to three because he's a big Patriots fan. So I just want to put it out there. All right, Ingrid, same two part question. Tell us a little more about your academic pursuits at Columbia and a really neat hobby of yours.
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E
Sure. So I am in my second semester of the Master of Science in Sustainability Management program. Most of my coursework focuses on corporate sustainability strategy and metrics. In addition to supply chain, I'm studying carbon accounting, life life cycle assessment, ESG reporting, and in terms of passions outside of sustainability, I really enjoy candle making, playing tennis when the weather is good, and I love to read. One of my favorite genres is solar punk or climate fiction. So Thinking imaginatively about the future.
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B
I like it. I like it. That can be very thought provoking. Ingrid, you haven't seen any, nothing that scares you about the future? Is it all positive, uplifting and optimistic?
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E
Well, I'm an optimist, so I like to think optimistically. But of course what's motivating me to do this work is that there's some concerning things on the horizon that I
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want to work to tackle with others.
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Well, I tell you, we all can feel a lot better seeing all three members here, four members now, generation already making an impact and making for a brighter future. So Katharine, I want to circle back to you on, on two things. First, on a serious note, one thing I've noticed just in the last few minutes with Brianna and Curran and Ingrid is how well rounded either the curriculum or the programming or the experience is almost, it sounds like very intentional, both by the individuals, but also I'm assuming by the university too. That's a great advantage as you get out in industry, especially industry like global supply chain. Your thoughts?
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A
Katarina, you have content really quick. Scott, thanks for bringing it up. The School of Professional Studies at Columbia is very focused on actually hitting exactly that gap which is between academia and the work environment, bringing professionals and actually preparing the next generation of sustainability managers and leaders to basically embed sustainability within their area of expertise. And I think if there is a common thread between everything you heard today is how everyone, independently of their areas of expertise and their link to supply chain, which is of course everywhere, everyone has these lenses of trying to bring sustainability to their area of activity. And that is a very big problem. Program at the School of Professional Studies in the Summa program. And it's really a pleasure to see how all of the new generation is thinking on how they're going to apply it on their careers.
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B
I'm with you. Thinking and acting. Thinking and acting for sure. The good stuff. And on a lighter note, Katarina, we just heard there from Kurin and Ingrid. Snow skiing, getting outside tennis and of course candle making. Do you share any of those hobbies, Katerina?
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A
Well, something that Ingrid and Briana had probably heard that class this semester. I love skiing as well. I had actually an injury in January. I have an ACL thorn. So I think I'm a little bit less into skiing now. But Korean, I wish you all the luck. But yes, I've been there. And also with Ingrid, I have as well with my arts lenses. I love crafts so I have done some, some candles, swimming with maybe something for us to connect on. Briana, already knows this. I, I cook quite a bit.
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B
I love that. And I'll tell you one more thing about crafting. Woodworking seems to be back between woodworking and pickle ball is taking over the world. I'm still on the outside looking in, so we'll see if we pick that up this year. But good stuff. And Katarina, hope you get back, you heal up and you're get back on the slope soon. All right, so let's stick with you, Katerina, and then we're going to learn a lot more about our three panelists here. If you would elaborate a little bit more about your role at Columbia University as well as some of the great work you have done in industry.
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A
Sure. So I'm faculty at Columbia. I teach sustainable operations and supply chain management course that is part of the School of Professional Studies Sustainability Management Masters of Science program. I'm sorry, it's a lot of words to go through. And one of the amazing things about the course which I think Brianna brought up as a, as a great advantage of Columbia University overall is the flexibility for students to basically be drawing from different programs, different schools and actually make their degrees fit to what they want to do moving next. And that's how actually Brianna found our course and so many others. As of now, I would say about half of the current students in the supply chain course are from other schools within Columbia. We are a very popular course. To my knowledge, no other bachelor or master's program at Columbia actually offer supply chain management studies. So we are very lucky to attract a very diverse set of students. And it's a great pleasure to see that people that might or might end, might not end up in a supply chain, a direct supply chain job, are interested in learning more about what the role is about and what the industry is about and trying to make the best decisions when they go to their jobs. Understanding that everything you're going to do is going to have an impact in materials and suppliers, in flows and embedding it.
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B
Everything's got a supply chain and I think the public is slowly but surely realizing that, which is a great thing, of course. And then, you know, Katerina, one of the things I love about what you bring into those classes is your real world experience that continues to this day. Do you want to share a little bit about that?
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A
ARUP is a global large engineering firm, top 10. We have about 19,000 engineers. We design the most and advise on the most complex infrastructure projects worldwide. We have about 140 offices. And I'm very proud to say probably attract one of the most brilliant minds in the engineering space. And in my role, I serve all North America and South America solving the most complex engineering projects within supply chain. So the types of assets that I generally operate tend to be hospitals, very high security research facilities, a lot of critical infrastructure like airports, rail stations. So Scott, I think it's very different from some of the guests you have here, which are much more on the retail side or on the AI side. But this is more about the building environment and the things that everyone uses every day. When you go to a hospital, when you take a train and you don't even think about the level of security, planning, materials, hazardous materials, waste that goes into all of that. So that's what I do when I'm not with this amazing minds on Monday
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B
night for, for class, 19,000 engineers. You know what you can't do with 19,000 engineers? Not much. You can basically do everything. That is a. That's amazing. I have to look up your organization and I can appreciate, as you mentioned a couple times, the highly complex challenges. You know, I don't know about what yalls take on this but, but some days, whether as an entrepreneur, as a supply chain practitioner, or just as a human being, I really appreciate the simple problems we have in life. Right? Changing a light bulb, that's a luxury, right? Take it out, put one in. I love that we're faced, as all four of y' all have implied or said, with some really big, systemic, very complex challenges in supply chain and elsewhere. I'm so glad we've got some smart folks figuring that out. So now that we've kind of set the table a good bit, I want to dive in a little bit deeper because we're talking about things you're already doing again now generation. It's not, it's not coming coming attractions is what you're doing now. So Ingrid, I want to start with you. We referenced some of your, your non profit work you did and of course your academic pursuits now, as well as some of your passions. What's one thing that you have fallen in love with in terms of what you've done in global supply chain already?
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E
I would have to say that I really love working within food system sustainability. My previous job, as you mentioned earlier, I was senior manager of community engagement at the Good Food Institute. Basically, I had the opportunity to convene scientists, industry leaders, policymakers who were all united by this goal to make plant based foods cheaper and tastier. But sort of the favorite part of that job for me was facilitating the Relationship building between farmers at one end of the supply chain and then alternative protein stakeholders at the other end of the supply chain. It was really rewarding work to be able to work at both ends and facilitate connections between the two.
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B
You see the passion that jumps off the screen and I'll just tell you, there's so much, so many cool things going on that in that alternative protein space. I'm going to tell myself maybe a little bit here because this is a boring version maybe, I don't know. During the pandemic I fell in love with tofu fried tofu, tofu and soups, number of different ways. And. And I never had that growing up. Right. It's not. That wasn't part of our meet and three, and it has really been one of my favorite recent culinary adventures. So. So, Ingrid, we're gonna have to compare notes a little bit. I know again there's a lot more cool things happening in the alternative protein space, but what an awesome mission. Katarina, really quick, Ingrid talked about the food industry and I was reading somewhere that about a third of all food produced globally goes to waste up to a third. We're talking over a trillion dollars annually, not even to include putting the value aside that could be repurposed to, you know, go to where, you know, families in need and whatnot. Katarina, your thoughts on that or the passion that Ingrid shared earlier on her, her leadership role in industry.
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A
It's a really good number to keep in mind especially as for, for all this new generation that is trying to improve on sustainability. I can share a little bit with you, Scott, because we have come across this problem now on my head at arup with some of our clients that are struggling exactly with metrics like this. There are a couple things you can actually do to change that. Well at the first, definitely improve your demand planning and think a little bit more about what you're bringing into your supply chain. That's the first opportunity to reduce waste. But also if at some point downstream that's actually the ratio that you end up with, there are a lot of incredible technologies out there to manage organic waste that can basically transform that into for example, a fertilizer, like an aerobic digester equipment and then allows you to create a circularity within your supply chain and actually use that waste to fertilize in agriculture, the production of new food. So that's one of the things we have actually worked quite a bit with some of our clients and of course donation is always a great option. But I love the first one because it Just seems it's the right thing to do when you try to incorporate circularity in your systems.
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B
I'm with you. I'm with you. All right, so one quick. Ingrid, what's your favorite alternative protein? Really quick, before I move on.
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E
You know, honestly, tofu is also my favorite alternative protein. It's very versatile. It's also the original alternative protein. It's been around for a long time. One of my other interests is actually food history and culture. It's a cool food and a tasty one.
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B
You know what, a lot of folks call me a nerd when I, when I share my love for tofu and I'm glad to have some kindred spirits here. So we'll have to get some interview some recipe suggestions from you as well. Kurt, let's go to you and the question is one thing you love about what you do in global supply chain. Your thoughts?
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D
I think one of my favorite parts about being in global supply chain is kind of the collaboration amongst different groups of people and hearing how everyone approaches different problems differently. And it really opened up my eyes once I started working in the supply chain industry. But how many different possible solutions there are to one single problem. Definitely going through college, we're kind of, you know, we're taught like, okay, this is a problem, this is how you approach it. But once you get into the real world, the possibilities are endless. And some of them are just the most creative solutions that drive real business impact. Creating more sales while at the same time also reducing our carbon footprint. You know, we always think about new ways of forecasting where the demand is going to be. How do we move product there in advance to make sure that we're not doing all these extra shipments, moving things around, creating, you know, wasted time, wasted dollars, and also wasted CO2 emissions. So it was just a really great eye opening experience to just be able to talk to people from all over the world and just see how they all think just so uniquely.
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B
I love that. Two quick thoughts and then Katerina, we'll get your thoughts on what we heard there from current two, number one, current. Confirm this for me. I've heard inventory is cool again. Is that right?
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D
Inventory is back, baby. It is. It is the hot topic.
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B
And then secondly, you didn't miss a beat there. And then secondly, on a more serious note, the front end of your response and last in your response, reference this. But when you get a bunch of folks from a different bunch of different walks of life in all the different ways we define that, it is amazing when we start sharing and those different perspectives and how we look at problems, opportunities, you name it very differently. There's so much good stuff that comes out of that. That's kind of one of the things you spoke to there. Katerina, your thoughts? What we heard there from Kern, I
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love what he mentioned about collaboration, I think is one of the things we go in the course quite in depth in terms of the flows of information and the importance of actually breaking silos across the different functions of the supply chain and beyond your own organization to collab, collaborate with others. And it makes me very proud to see that he's applying some of these things and experiencing himself and improving it for all the others in the space.
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B
I'm with you. I am with you. Okay, so, Brianna, same question. One thing that you just love what you're doing in industry.
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C
Yeah. What I love about supply chain is that it's really the infrastructure behind everyday life. It's kind of like the operating system of the consumer world. And you don't always see what's happening behind the scenes, but it's what makes everything work. And there's something really exciting about being behind the scenes and knowing that every product relies on millions of coordinated decisions. And because of that, supply chains have this huge and often underappreciated opportunity to really drive change, especially when it comes to sustainability and how products ultimately reach their end destination.
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B
Being with the customer, the operating system of the consumer world. I love that. And towards the end of your response there, I've long held that one of the coolest things about the global supply chain industry is we are so much in a unique position to drive so much good change. On the flip side, we're the reasons some not so good things exist, and we got to tackle that too. But really, we're in such a great position to create, to make such a great, positive and powerful impact. Katerina, what'd you hear there from Brianna?
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A
I think it's right on the head. This is exactly where, where supply chain fits into everyone's everyday life and everyone's careers as well. And why do we need all these brilliant, talented minds to. To help us improve the system slowly, Slowly, as you said, Scott, bit by bit, well, it gets to a better world.
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B
That's right. That's right. Hour by hour. Sometimes it feels right. And you got to trademark that operating system of the consumer world. Briana, you better trademark it quick. I like that. Okay. Leadership. You know, that's been a major common thread already in the. In the first part of today's podcast discussion. And then you know, of course, the four leaders that I'm talking to and some of the passions and some of, some of the impact and some of the, the missions that you're on, it's fascinating stuff. But I got to ask you all and I'm gonna go, I'm just gonna go back in reverse order and I'll stay with you. Brianna, when it comes to leadership, you know, what's one thing that you believe will define the most effective supply chain leaders over the next five years? It's very challenging. Your thoughts, Brianna?
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C
I think it's the ability to drive transparency across their entire value chain. And right now what I've seen is one of the biggest challenges is that companies don't even fully know how to measure their scope 3 emissions because there's such a disconnect between how suppliers operate and what companies are actually tracking and reporting. And I've seen this firsthand working with clients. For a food example, it's pretty straightforward to measure what's happening in a restaurant in let's say, New York City, but it's much harder to trace the environmental footprint of a small farmer in Texas where you're getting the meat. But they're all part of the same supply chain. So the leaders who stand out will be the ones who can close that gap and have stronger communication with suppliers and improve visibility together.
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B
Brianna, it's interesting as you shared that, you know, emissions are a newer challenge that we're still coming to grips and trying to make progress on. But it reminds me of a very old adage, Katarina. If we can't measure it, it's impossible to manage it. That's right. That's right. We're still getting there. Katerina, your quick thoughts on what we heard there from Brianna?
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A
Oh, I think it is, it is really an important issue, especially in supply chain more than anywhere else, the transparency. And it's really hard to address, to be able to manage with all the different systems and all the different connectivity between where data exists, if they exist, and incorporate as well like small local organizations and suppliers into a quite complex system. So it's going to take a couple decades to get there, but slowly we, we're improving there.
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B
We certainly will. And, and I think of one specific thing when it comes to emissions, you know, I've read and there's varying data studies on this, but somewhere between 10 and 15% of first attempt deliveries fail. Right. Think of all the added miles and emissions and just waste in general. Right. And think about how big the gains would be if we just Ratchet that number down 1%, maybe half a percent. Let's get half percent this year, maybe two next year, I don't know.
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A
Or Scott, not a great number is to think that supply chain accounts for almost 94% of your actually emissions in your business on average across industries. So as people are focusing on scope one and scope two and it's the low hanging fruit, it is a great opportunity to actually make progress. But in reality you're not going to decarbonize until you get to supply chain.
- [29:47]
B
Well said, well said. And I know urban logistics is certainly one of your big areas of expertise. We're going to have to have you back and we're going to take a deep dive in that. It's fascinating space. Okay, current, we're going in reverse order here. We're talking leadership. We're talking one thing that will define the most successful, effective supply chain leaders over the next five years. What's that one thing current?
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D
You know, I think there's a lot of discussion around AI and all these great tools that are out there. But I think what will really drive the change and you know, what makes an effective leader is their ability to communicate those findings. You know, I think there's great teams of people doing amazing things with technology, with new KPIs, new approaches on how to, you know, look at some of these issues that we're dealing with and internally. But unless those are effectively communicated to all the proper teams, no one really knows how to take the right steps and action on those results. I do really believe that the leaders in the next five years, and it's not a groundbreaking kind of thought to think that someone who can communicate will be a great leader. But I think it holds true. It's, you know, they are the people that bring, you know, the different groups together. You know, supply chain reaches in almost every aspect and every step along the way to getting the product to the final customer. And that's a lot of different teams. And being able to coordinate everyone, making sure everyone's on the same page, aligned with the same mission is a real challenge. And if you can accomplish that, I think there's a lot of success in those people's future.
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E
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B
Well said. Sometimes what is old is new again. And, and that's really important. When I hear communication, Katarina, on one hand, it is, you know, communication, communication, communication. And, and you could argue it always has been. However, the twist, the big twist is how we communicate continues to evolve. You know, when I was in college, we'd fill out blue books during exams. I don't know if y' all do that anymore. That was not fun. My right hand would be killing me as I left exams and got a C plus on email, you know, faxes, no longer texting, social. I mean, you think of all the different ways that, how we have to communicate and persuade, influence, inform, whatever, how that changes technologically. So even those that communicate so well in one mode have to learn new modes to reach new people coming into the workforce that are used to different channels. Katerina, your thoughts on what Karin just shared?
- [32:46]
A
Scott, it's right there, right? The digital world is here to stay. There's so many channels to communicate within organizations and I think we all experience it every day. How the decision making that needs to go into what is the right channel to communicate to the right people. How many people needs to read a certain communication, how to be inclusive. At the same time, kind of not dragging too many people into a discussion that you don't need them to be on. It's a really, it's really an art and a balance to continue to develop, especially as new tools are going to be launched with AI here and with other technologies as well.
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B
That's right. And to one of your points, do all 37 people need to be in that meeting that you're about to send an email out on? No. Sometimes seven works, sometimes no meeting is doing on email or Slack. Right. But well said, Katarina. And hey, really quick, before I ask you the same question, Ingrid, let me just do a pulse check because I read a few months back that due to AI challenges and others, that blue books were making a comeback and that there were more manual answers to exams. Do y' all still use blue books at Columbia University?
- [33:54]
A
Well, you're gonna be surprised, Scott. We don't do blue books, but actually all the students in this course do exams in pen and paper. In my course, which I think very proud of, and sometimes some of the master's students come in, was like, this is my first time actually doing a pen paper exam. But I'm old school, so I like both ways. I'm a current. Yeah, like this needs to be right. You sit with your knowledge. There is no tech. And now, yeah, let's see how it goes for you.
- [34:21]
B
You know, I just taught my son what show your work means. Right? And you know, when you, there's nowhere to hide, you know it or you don't, so. But I am glad I'm not in your class right now because I think I'd fail a lot of these high level principles. Ingrid, same question. We're talking supply chain leadership. What's one thing you think will define the really successful supply chain leaders over the next five years?
- [34:42]
E
Absolutely. Yeah. I think before I answer, I, I want to say, you know, you really can't accomplish much without solid communication, so I just completely support what Kurin said. But I do want to add, I think getting familiar with some of these tools that are coming out is going to be really beneficial. Specifically, I think effective supply chain leaders would benefit from being familiar with the latest climate risk and scenario analysis tools. Downscaling technology is beginning to unlock localized, high resolution projections at the asset level for climate change, whether that's rising temperature, increased flooding, more extreme and more frequent extreme weather events. I really think that all supply chain risk managers would benefit from understanding how this technology works, the, the methods behind it. And I'm actually taking a class in this subject right now and it's, it's just mind blowing stuff, man.
- [35:42]
B
Okay. I'm a bit of a weather nerd. We'll have to compare notes. I spent two years in Kansas and I know that's not exactly what you're talking about, but that's a fascinating part of the weather world. Katarina, really quick, let's talk about a lot of what Ingrid just shared. And one of my favorite parts of, of her response was getting the data, getting it down to the decision level in the hands of the people that are making the decisions day in and day out. Sometimes we kind of create technological silos, as weird as that may sound, where the information that the, for example, the front line needs, it's hoarded at the board level. Right. And we got to bridge that better. But your thoughts on what Ingrid said there, Katarina?
- [36:20]
A
Yeah, Scott, I think you mentioned earlier that you can't improve what you can't measure. And if there was a second line around this, it would be you at the same time, like there is no possibility for you to do better in your supply chain in terms of transparency, have a lower impact from a sustainability perspective if you don't bring together all the knowledge and all the people and have all the communication and all the metrics aligned with that mission. There is a lot I'm pretty sure you have seen as well all of us, a lot of reports out there with facts, with no actual insight. Something that is not actionable for you to be tracking progress or to be tracking anything more sophisticated. Change in your supply chain and cross cutting across departments. And that's what we need to do more. We need to be able to have a holistic view of our supply chains and as well, especially for the carbonization. It's a group work, it's not someone along.
- [37:16]
B
Yeah, well said, Katarina. And you know, it's not solely a climate issue, but I look at chocolate and cocoa production, I look at the cattle, cattle herds in the States, I think they're at 70 year lows, some of that due to climate factors. So I'm glad, Ingrid. We got smart people taking data driven approach, inform and hopefully educate some decision making that goes on. All right, so Brianna, I'll circle back to you as we hit this next topic. I always, when we have these now generation conversations, I love pulsing the panel on what it's like matriculating through, going through the schools, in this case Columbia University and in particular, kind of a two part question. Brianna, what it's like to be in Professor Carvillo's supply chain classes and the overall student experience at Columbia University. Your thoughts, Brianna?
- [38:08]
C
Yeah, for the first part, I think our supply chain class is really refreshing because there can be complex topics that our professor makes very easy to understand and she comes up with these vocabulary dictionaries that we can study and it's simple to understand even though they're complex. And she also makes sure that we're learning because of her work experience. We are not just learning academics, we're learning how it works in the real world. And this was the first time I've actually had like formal education on supply chain. I've worked in practice. So it's very, very cool to see that bridge between the academic world and working in supply chain and industry. And our professor makes that very simple to understand. And as far as what makes Columbia amazing, it's definitely the people. The people, the professors, they elevate everything. Even in our class on Monday we had a case study that we were turning to whoever was sitting next to us and you just strike up these conversations that uncover your eyes to different things. For example, the person I was sitting next to worked at a non profit. That was basically the intersection of all of my different passions and he was Telling me about, like what he's doing as nonprofit. And it just uncovered my eyes to, wow, there's a really cool nonprofit that I could go explore. And I have a connection built in because he was sitting next to me in class. And that kind of overlap between academics, your network and real world impact is
- [39:52]
B
pretty seamless at Columbia and incredibly valuable. Really quick, Karina, she talked about the bridge right between the academic and the real world and of course, the immense value of people at Columbia that makes it very special. Your quick thoughts there?
- [40:06]
A
I think School of Professional Studies is all about it. And particularly our program in sustainability management is offering every professional with different backgrounds that opportunity to bridge the real world with academia by having a group of faculty and lecturers at the program that are practitioners. So I am practitioner. Most of my colleagues are as well. So that brings a very different, I think, taste to what being in school and having an experience with talking to your colleagues, resolving case studies in class with whoever you're sitting with. And I'm really glad that this is resonating with the students.
- [40:43]
B
Sounds like it. I'm going to go to you next. Ingrid, same two questions, Katarina's classes, right? What do you love about those and the overall Columbia experience?
- [40:54]
E
The class has been really, really special. It's, it's helped me unpack important differences between some sustainability buzzwords like efficiency and resilience. I think often sustainability professionals are trained to believe that you can easily have both of these things. But in fact, supply chain management really underscores that there are some inherent trade offs between waste reduction and risk preparedness. And it makes sustainability work quite difficult when you know that. But it's also exciting and it's interesting and I love that the work is challenging. I really appreciated that deeper understanding of the nuances behind these buzzwords that we're using every day. And in terms of my Columbia experience more broadly, I love it. There are so many sustainability opportunities, specifically at Columbia, really, no matter your interest area. I've even been able to serve as a teaching assistant for some climate justice classes, which is another one of my interests. There's really a class and a community and a faculty member and students that you can connect with that, that share your passions across the campus. So I, I love the program. It's been great.
- [42:16]
B
Fascinating. Those are two strong testimonials. I want to go back to one thing she mentioned though. Katerina, Ingrid mentioned the importance of getting below surface level, understanding of problems big and small. And I think, you know, for right or for wrong. I think humanity is getting trained, unfortunately, by some of the media. You know, the click bait, the headlines. And then that's where our understanding, we make, we make snap judgments because we're humans. And I think developing the discipline that Ingrid's talking about to, to truly get well beyond the headlines, well beyond long held assumptions or new health assumptions, and get to the heart of the matter. Those are muscles that have to be developed and worked and practiced so you can. It becomes almost what you do every day. Your thoughts, Katarina?
- [43:02]
A
Well, I think it's really important to go beyond, as Ingrid put it, the buzzword, and actually understand what it does take to do the job and put it in a way that is simple enough for everyone to understand the basics on how to approach it, but then live it. And I think it resonates a little bit what Corinne and Brianna were saying before. Leave it for everyone to be able in their area of expertise as they jump into work to see what other possibilities are out there, what other resources do you have to solve that problem? There is not a one solution fits all. But is the system thinking of assessing the problem and understanding that it's not just that surface level, see the systems behind it and actually take action?
- [43:48]
B
Yeah, Katerina, I think the only one solution fits all is maybe the light bulb. I think that's the only problem. And even then, even then you go to Home Depot and you got 3,000 different light bulbs anyway. All right, Kern, same question. I'll tell you clearly. Brianna and Ingrid seem to be raving fans of their experiences at Columbia University and their ongoing experiences. How about you as a recent graduate? Times two. Your thoughts about both supply chain classes with Katarina and the overall student experience?
- [44:19]
D
Well, I first of all loved my experience at Columbia. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work at the same time. I think the one word I'd use to describe it is opportunity. By going to a great school like Columbia and meeting all these amazing people, you unlock all these amazing opportunities for either social reasons or career reasons. Specifically with the supply chain class. I came into this program dead set on going back into finance. That's all I was thinking about. Like, all right, how do I look at decarbonization strategies and hedges? And Professor Cravalo was like, you know, you should really take a look at supply chain. You might actually find that you'll like it a lot because a lot of your past studies play right into it. What you're doing right now is actually a lot of supply chain, whether you realize it or not, because that directly feeds into the value of a company and how they operate. And I would not have be in the position I am now without taking that class and, you know, having my eyes open to the immense opportunities there are in Supply chain. And I've had a lot of fun working at this job and getting to know all the different components of supply chain. And that's all thanks to Katarina's class.
- [45:30]
B
Okay, so Katerina, if it were me, that'd be like the best thing I heard all day long. But react to that. I got a related follow up question.
- [45:38]
A
Now. I want to say it's I apologize for all my finance colleagues listening to this podcast today, but I'm very proud that I steal Kuran from finance to Supply chain. It took me a couple lectures, but I remember right before the class starts, Koran would be on a room on the side solving on a, you know, black charcoal board some of his problems with his trades. And that's where, like, slowly, slowly I start embedding these ideas. Like, Ron, we need talent like you in the industry. You know, like, just think about it, it could be fun. And I'm really proud to see that we are right now attracting, not just in the course, great people with diverse backgrounds, but also changing people's ideas on what they want to do after Colombia and getting them to join the industry, which, as you know, Scott, we very much need talent and we need people interested in Supply chain to make a difference.
- [46:36]
B
Katerina, you're dead on. You're absolutely right. And so Brianna and Ingrid and Curran, that's where y' all already know where we're going next because now y' all have a shared responsibility to do the same thing and get folks from all walks of life, all skill levels, all talents, you name it. You know, coming into this industry so that we can continue to innovate and solve problems and hopefully leave no one behind. So, Katarina, on a related note, now that you've heard Brianna and Ingrid and Curran, you've had the experiences with them over the last few years and of course you still have lots of bright students, fellow bright students in your classes. What is one or two of your favorite aspects of engaging with the Briannas, Ingrid's and the Currans of the world, Right?
- [47:23]
A
I think they all touched some of this, and especially Brianna is that idea that at Columbia you just come across people that are in so many different parts of the economy with so many different backgrounds and talented and willing to do things differently. So every, every week when I'm lecturing, I'm posed with questions I have never thought about. And every class is different and every group of students come with a different perspective based on what I have experience in the world. To me, that is so refreshing to have this group of professionals that come from such a diverse background, so talented that come together at the School of Professional Studies to learn something and take it back and make it better. I think it is an incredible privilege to have access to these young professionals. And I hope that, and I'm happy to hear that they are taking from their experience in their program just enough learnings to be able to come back and use as well their own minds. Because the world will change. There is nothing that school can teach you that is going to be forever true. In the world of supply chain, the world changes. And having the capability to analyze, adapt and improve is really, really important. I'm really privileged to be able to see it happening in real life every Monday.
- [48:53]
B
I'll tell you, I am jealous. I have glimpses these conversations. But you mentioned one thing that really I can feel in my bones. The questions you get in your classes from folks like this here. I am not envious of your role. I'm not cut out to be a teacher and tackle those complex questions. So we're gonna have to have y' all back again soon and do a catch up episode. But in the meantime, I want to give every give our audience out there that are listening or watching this episode. I'm sure y' all have struck a nerve with many of those out there. I want to make sure that folks know how to connect with each of y' all in case they want to invite you in to speak at their event or, you know, compare notes. You name it. And I want to start with you, Professor Katarina Carvalho. How can folks track you down and connect with you?
- [49:41]
A
LinkedIn is a great resource and I always keep an eye on it. So feel free to connect anytime. I love to exchange notes and I love to connect with everyone in the industry. So you can find me with Katrina Carvalho, Columbia or Arabs and you'll definitely come across my profile and I very happy to connect with everyone.
- [49:58]
B
Outstanding. And by the way, congratulations. I believe I saw you were named one of the esteemed leaders Women of the Revolution supply chain queen Sher Hanish put together. That was outstanding. What an incredible list of dynamos. Katarina.
- [50:14]
A
Thank you so much, Scott. It's definitely a very rewarding recognition from. From Sherry.
- [50:21]
B
All right, so Brianna Striegel. I said that right last name, right, didn't I? Oh, man, Making sure. Making sure. Okay, so how can folks connect with you? Brianna?
- [50:32]
C
Yeah, LinkedIn as well. I'm a big proponent of a cold LinkedIn message, so feel free to message me and I'm happy to coffee chat.
- [50:41]
B
All right. I like it. I like that. And I tell you, as I say a lot, I wish I had come up with LinkedIn about 20 years ago, man, I tell you, it has been the go to platform for so many. But reach out to Brianna there. And of course, Katarina Ingrid, same question. How can folks connect with you?
- [51:00]
C
Same thing.
- [51:01]
E
Please reach out on LinkedIn. You can find me at Ingrid Eck. Just search for my name.
- [51:07]
B
It is just that easy. Ingrid Ek, thank you so much for being here as well. And finally, Curran Murphy, Corinne J. Murphy. How can folks track you down, my friend?
- [51:18]
D
Not a unique situation here. You can find me on LinkedIn. Kurt Murphy. And happy to respond to any cold messages I get.
- [51:26]
B
Outstanding. All right, LinkedIn, you're going to be a sponsor at some point, my friends, if you're listening or viewing out there. But anyway, Karen Murphy, thanks for being here. Ingrid Ek, Brianna Striegel, and of course, Professor Katerina Carvalho. Thanks so much for facilitating this conversation and much more importantly, doing what you're doing to bring people into this beautiful global industry that's so consequential and encouraging them to go out and tackle big, big feats in industry. So thanks for being here and thanks for what you do. All right, so folks, big thanks to our panel, of course, Columbia University, if you've ever been curious about what it's like to not only be a student there or business leader there, to talk supply chain up in New York City at Columbia. And by the way, Katerina, where can folks learn more whether they're future students, whether the future undergrads or future master's students, should they just maybe reach out to you or do you point them somewhere?
- [52:25]
A
Absolutely. If you are interested in knowing more about our program at Columbia and the different masters we offer our course in particular, please reach out. You can also email me directly into AA4097. I know it's a strange email, but is AA4097@colombia.edu and I'm very happy to tell you more about our program and how to get in touch with us.
- [52:51]
B
Outstanding. That is a unique email. Good stuff. But hey, folks, we try to share information, trusted information. And so if you're interested, please reach out to Katarina. Big thanks, Dr. Stephanie Thomas. And wise folks go check out and get involved with their incredible work supporting Supply Chain students everywhere. I want to say that they've got three dozen schools part of the WISE organization or thereabouts. Of course. Big thanks to our wonderful audience. You are what we do. Keep all the feet. Hey, feedback's a blessing. And our audience gives us a lot of great feedback. Keep it coming. That's how we all get better. But you know, you got homework. Today this incredible panel. These four leaders here brought a lot of very actionable perspective and passion. A glimpse of where we are today and a glimpse of where we're going. Take one thing you heard from Ingred and Brianna and Kin and Katarina and share it or do something with it. Right? Deeds, not words. That's what it's all about. And with that said, on behalf the whole team here at Supply Chain Now, Scott Luden, challenging all of our wonderful audience members out there. Do good, give forward, be the change that's needed. We'll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now. Thanks everybody. Join the Supply Chain now community. For more Supply Chain perspectives, news and 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,