🤔 Supply Chain Managers Undecided on AI Investments!

[Semih Asil]

According to new Gartner research, two-thirds (67%) of supply chain managers are allocating their digital investments to artificial intelligence. However, more than half (55%) are unsure about the return on investment (ROI) this technology will bring.

The main message of the research is this: The transition to AI-powered operations is causing use cases to proliferate faster than companies can develop effective change management approaches. In other words, there is no definitive judgment yet regarding ROI.

Lorraine Gavin, Senior Principal Analyst in Gartner's supply chain practice, states, "Organizations are getting better at change management for individual initiatives. But the bigger challenge today is deciding where to invest limited change management resources to support the most critical business outcomes. AI makes this decision more important than ever."

Gartner notes that to achieve ROI from AI investments, Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCOs) must implement "right-sized" strategies that link change management with AI strategies, supply chain strategies, and broader corporate priorities. This way, change resources will be directed towards outcomes rather than individual activities.

To obtain these results, Gartner surveyed 394 supply chain professionals with annual revenues of at least $250 million between November 2025 and February 2026. Additionally, they conducted a further survey with 135 senior supply chain leaders from January to April 2026 to measure AI use cases and clarify their current ROI.

As AI initiatives increase, Gartner advises CSCOs to move beyond uniform approaches and align change investments with the outcomes they are trying to achieve. Gartner predicts that by 2030, organizations that right-size their change management efforts in this way will achieve twice the ROI in AI initiatives compared to those that continue to rely on outdated methodologies.

 

[BuinsoftTech]

As a B2B SaaS vendor, this indecision sounds very familiar. When we meet with potential customers at buinsoft.com, the most frequent objection we hear is the question, "When will the AI investment pay off?" To demonstrate concrete ROI in the supply chain, the first step is to keep the pilot project scope narrow – a single process, measurable metrics, 90 days. Small wins build confidence in decision-makers faster than broad transformation projects.