Critical thinking skills are crucial when deploying AI in the supply chain

Supply chain professionals, both men and women, are increasingly positive about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI). As part of International Women’s Day (March 8), Supply Chain Media’s Martijn Lofvers discussed this topic at Webinar Wednesday with two female supply chain professionals: Melanie Salter of Boom! and Ella Cullen of Minespider. ‘How much better could we plan if we take diversity of thought into account when developing AI tools?’

By Marcel te Lindert

Minespider was founded seven years ago to track the journey of metals through the supply chain and publish the data in digital product passports. These include the origin, composition and carbon footprint of the metals and whether they have been sustainably extracted from the ground. The digital product passports use blockchain technology, says Minespider co-founder and chief marketing officer Ella Cullen. ‘That technology is crucial in these complex supply chains where companies are sometimes partners and other times competitors. Blockchain technology helps collaborate based on irrefutable, decentralised data.’

Besides blockchain, Minespider is increasingly using artificial intelligence. ‘The biggest challenge is structured data collection and storage. Many companies therefore struggle with creating product passports. We enable them to upload all available information, after which our AI tools extract the necessary data from it. The result is a product passport that complies with laws and regulations and shows what data is still missing,’ Cullen explains. ‘One of the customers is ABB, which allows service engineers to access the product passport of motor components by scanning a QR code. They can talk to the passport using AI and ask when the part was last repaired.’

Women less optimistic

Not only at ABB, but also at other companies, AI is a topic of conversation. This is evident from an analysis of CEO interviews. Melanie Salter understands this well. ‘This technology offers exciting opportunities. Think of the complex models we use to optimise our supply chains. We can now talk to these models to better understand the outcomes. That leads to democratisation of technology. Suddenly anyone can work with those models, not just professionals trained to do so,’ says the director of supply chain research at Boom!, the international network that connects more than 1,000 women in 66 countries.

Two-year-old research by consultancy PwC shows that women are less optimistic than men about the impact of AI on their jobs. AI offers new career opportunities according to 23 per cent of men, while only 17 per cent of women believe so. ‘One explanation may be that many women work part-time due to their caring responsibilities and are therefore more likely to have jobs with repetitive tasks. Those are the jobs that are first threatened by AI,’ Salter argues. Conversely, discussion leader Martijn Lofvers urges women to embrace AI. ‘As a result, they need to spend less time on those repetitive tasks and can add more value.’

Revolutionary changes

Recent research by Boom! itself shows that sentiment about AI has become a lot more positive in a short time, among both men and women. A whopping 39 per cent expect AI to have an absolute impact on the supply chain in the next three years, while 41 per cent even speak of revolutionary changes. Interestingly, Cullen is among the remaining 20 per cent who are cautious. ‘I am convinced that AI will lead to revolutionary changes. I just doubt that will be the case in the next three years.’ Salter concurs with her. ‘We’ve been shouting for 20 years how important it is to align the KPIs of different departments, but that still hasn’t happened everywhere. Many changes in business are slower than initially expected.’

What certainly does not contribute to accelerating AI adoption is that 56 per cent of supply chain organisations have not formulated an AI strategy. Only 19 per cent do have a clear AI strategy and are propagating it in the organisation. ‘This does not surprise me at all. We have been talking for years about the importance of a supply chain strategy aligned with the business strategy, but many supply chain organisations still lack one. Let alone have a strategy for deploying AI,’ Salter argues. Cullen stresses the importance of an AI strategy. ‘If only because companies need to know what the legal and ethical implications of AI are.’

Critical thinking skills

Research by the Boston Consulting Group among 6,500 professionals shows that women are using AI more than men today, although the differences are small. Of the women surveyed, 72 per cent said they use GenAI to work more efficiently, compared to only 66 per cent of men. Also, 65 per cent of women say they like to experiment with new GenAI tools, while only 35 per cent report having the right skills to do so. Salter dismisses that last figure. ‘With GenAI, anyone can talk to a model, you don’t need specific competencies for that. Just get started.’

All users of AI in general, and GenAI in particular, need is critical thinking skills. Salter: ‘I notice in my own environment that we often take ChatGPT’s answers for true. We need critical thinking skills to dare to question the outcomes. Previous research shows that critical thinking skills are often lacking precisely in the new generation of talents.’

Diversity of thinking

Lofvers shows a diagram on the screen that contrasts masculine energy with feminine energy. The diagram contrasts the left brain versus the right brain, logic versus intuition, thinking versus feeling, analytical ability versus creativity and competing versus collaborating. Salter denounces the terms masculine and feminine that seem to reinforce stereotypes, but indicates the importance of taking these opposites into account.

‘Our planning tools are built on everything we count to the left brain. Things like intuition and creativity have never been used for that. I would like us to bring this diversity of thinking into the development of new tools. How much better will this enable us to plan than we do now? If we use diversity of thinking, our supply chains will look completely different.’