A new report released by MHI and Deloitte finds that artificial intelligence (AI) is viewed as the most disruptive supply chain technology for the next decade.
The 2026 MHI Annual Industry Report, “Rewiring the Future: A Supply Chain Playbook for Innovation,” finds that the emergence of AI is causing supply chain leaders to reassess every aspect of their operations, investing not only in advanced digital technologies such as AI, robotics, and real-time analytics but also in their workforce.
The publication, based on a survey of supply chain leaders, reports that a quarter of respondents (24 percent) categorize AI as transformational and nearly half (48 percent) consider its disruptive impact to be significant or greater—up 25 percentage points since 2025.
Robotics and automation follow AI as the second most disruptive technology, with 39 percent rating its impact as significant or greater, up 16 percentage points.
By focusing on the intersection of business and technology, the report goes beyond tech trends to explore how operational assessments, smart automation, data-driven decision making, and new approaches to talent development can be woven together to “rewire” supply chain performance.
According to the report, 56 percent of organizations expect to increase their spending on supply chain innovation with 52 percent saying they are planning to spend over $1 million. Seventeen percent plan to spend over $10 million.
The report said this spending reflects a more disciplined investment approach as companies are stepping back to confirm what problem they’re trying to solve, selecting management, and scenario planning to better justify, control, and scale technology investments.
It added today’s supply chain organizations operate in an environment defined by relentless disruption, volatility, and rapidly shifting market demands. They said geopolitical uncertainty, labor shortages, accelerating technology cycles, and elevated customer expectations have converged to make predictability a thing of the past.
Strategic priorities now include strengthening risk management, enhancing transparency, enabling rapid fulfillment, and embedding sustainability throughout the supply chain, the report said.
“Supply chains can no longer be optimized at the edges,” said John Paxton, CEO of MHI. “They must be rewired end‑to‑end. Only connected, intelligent, and automated real-time networks will withstand the volatility and meet the future customer demands for speed and efficiency.”
The report said AI is already adding value in a wide range of supply chain processes, from inventory management to demand planning to logistics. Moving forward, supply chain organizations will increasingly leverage AI to enhance all aspects of their operations. It said agentic AI specifically has the potential to quickly eliminate high volume repetitive tasks, proactively address disruptions, enhance forecasting precision, and improve overall visibility within the supply chain.
While leaders are excited about AI’s potential, the report finds that they are getting stuck on where to start and what it takes to scale. It added the barriers are real and practical—unclear use cases and automation cost, paired with limited understanding; difficulty building business cases; talent shortages; and budget constraints.
According to this year’s respondents, these are the top trends impacting supply chains:
Economic Uncertainty, Inflation and Geopolitical Risks
Workforce, Talent Shortage and Changing Worker Skillsets
Pace of Technology Adoption, Digitization and the Need for Real-Time Data
Supply Chain Visibility, Agility and Resiliency
Cybersecurity and Data Security
Rising Cost of Capital
Inventory Challenges
E-Commerce Growth
Customer-Centricity
Reshoring
“The biggest threat we face isn’t disruption — it’s the failure to innovate and the risk of running tomorrow’s operations on yesterday’s equipment and technology,” Paxton said.
MHI is an international trade association that has represented the material handling, logistics, and supply chain industry since 1945.
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