Watch: Supply Chain Planning Talent

The role of the supply chain planner isn’t going away, no matter the advancements in technology, says Cristina Carvallo, senior director at Gartner. But the position does require adopting new skills.

The job of the planner is changing dramatically because of supply chain uncertainty, and while artificial intelligence will automate some functions, a human planner's judgment will still be required to support some of the more complex decisions. 

Nevertheless, the planner needs AI literacy and strong supply chain and business acumen in order to evaluate plans the technology creates. The goal is to pick the ones that best fit strategic objectives.

The planner’s role is changing in another way, Carvallo says. “Historically, our planners tend to be problem solvers and now we need to shift them to be problem framers. So how do we frame problems effectively so we can collaborate with AI to solve those problems?”

The essence of talent development hasn't changed, and building knowledge by doing will continue, she says. “We need experiential learning and relationship-based learning opportunities.”

Gamification is one way that companies are training employees to use AI. Planners are presented a problem much in the way of a game and told to solve it. Relationship-based learning either partners planners to view others’ skills or gives planners a coach or mentor. Following either method, reflection time is useful to review what was learned.

Carvallo feels it’s a mistake to stop hiring entry-level people on the assumption they will learn all they need to know on the job. A company needs a “pipeline” of talent that can learn additional skills and move up to higher-level positions. “Our predictions are that organizations that stop hiring early talent today will pay a premium in a few years because they will still need this talent for the future.”