Artificial intelligence is emerging as the most disruptive force in supply chains over the next decade, outpacing all other technologies as leaders reassess how their networks operate, invest and compete, according to a new report.
The 2026 MHI Annual Industry Report, Rewiring the Future: A Supply Chain Playbook for Innovation, is based on a survey of supply chain leaders and finds that nearly half of respondents, 48 per cent, now rate AI’s impact as significant or greater, up 25 percentage points from 2025. One quarter (24 per cent) describe AI as transformational. Robotics and automation ranked second, with 39 per cent viewing their impact as significant or greater, a 16‑point increase year over year.
The report said the emergence of AI is prompting leaders to rethink nearly every aspect of supply chain operations. Organizations are investing not only in advanced technologies such as AI, robotics and real‑time analytics, but also in workforce development to ensure they can deploy and scale those tools effectively.
AI is already adding value across functions such as inventory management, demand planning and logistics, according to the report. Looking ahead, supply chain organizations are expected to increasingly rely on AI to enhance forecasting, improve visibility and address disruptions. Agentic AI, which can operate independently with human oversight, is highlighted as a technology with the potential to eliminate high‑volume repetitive tasks and support more adaptive, responsive supply chains.
Despite strong interest, the survey found many organizations are struggling with where to begin and how to scale AI initiatives. Respondents cited unclear use cases, automation costs, difficulty building business cases, talent shortages and budget constraints as key barriers.
The report also pointed to the growing integration of generative AI, agentic AI, physical AI and edge AI, which is pushing supply chains toward software‑defined models that are continuously adaptive and increasingly orchestrated by intelligent systems. This shift is changing how companies solve problems, allocate capital and deploy labour.
While technology adoption is accelerating, uncertainty remains the dominant challenge. Respondents ranked economic uncertainty, inflation and geopolitical risks as the most impactful trends affecting supply chains in 2026. Workforce and talent shortages followed, along with the pace of digitization and the need for real‑time data, supply chain visibility and resiliency, and cybersecurity and data security.
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