Can AI make better supply chain decisions, or just make bad ones faster?

In this episode of Resilient Supply Chain, I’m joined by Simon Bezrukov, Chief AI Officer at Bristlecone, for a grounded conversation about AI in supply chain, resilience, risk, data, visibility, and the uncomfortable bit nobody likes to put on the first slide: accountability.

Simon’s core point is sharp: AI agents are great at doing the paperwork of decisions, but they’re not yet great at owning the consequences. And that matters now because supply chains are under pressure from volatility, geopolitical shocks, cost constraints, sustainability demands, and the growing temptation to automate first and ask governance questions later. A marvellous human habit, really.

You’ll hear how agentic AI can help with micro-decisions, missing data, supplier communications, replanning, and playbook orchestration, but also why autonomy without guardrails risks creating “fast and confident mistakes”. We break down why LLMs are brilliant explainers, but not supply chain decision engines, especially when the real problem is optimisation across service, cost, cash, carbon, and risk.

You might be surprised to learn why more data does not always mean better forecasts, why stress testing may matter more than forecast precision, and why a smaller, well-governed model can beat a perfect digital twin nobody trusts. Simon also explains why human expertise is not being replaced. It is being amplified. For better and worse.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Bristlecone is cutting through the AI hype and helping build more resilient, practical, and sustainable supply chains.

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