The Zero100 Podcast

Hosted by Zero100

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118

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Aug 2026

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About the show

Welcome to Zero100, the “unboring” supply chain podcast. Each week, Zero100's researchers, analysts, and data scientists deliver sharp takes on the news, delve into new research, and interview leaders at the forefront of supply chain’s digital revolution, giving you the insights you need to drive growth and resilience.

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September 8, 202615 min

Closing the Gap Between AI Conviction and Execution at Zero100 Live EU

With AI capabilities evolving quarter-on-quarter and executive leadership demanding immediate ROI, treating digital transformation as a static, once-a-year roadmap is a trap. Fresh off the floor at Zero100 Live EU – our flagship London gathering for operations and supply chain leaders – Matt Davis (Chief Content Officer), Lauren Acoba (VP, Head of Research & Advisory), and Caroline Chumakov (VP, Research & Advisory) sit down for a real-time debrief, unpicking why intelligence is no longer the bottleneck in supply chain, how agentic AI is shifting human roles toward high-stakes judgment, and why the real path forward lies in rewiring cross-functional workflows into end-to-end Power Threads.

September 1, 202621 min

Has the “Just Reroute It” Supply Chain Strategy Reached Its Limit?

For years, the default rule of global logistics was simple: when a shipping lane gets blocked, you reroute. But with the Strait of Hormuz functionally closed, the Red Sea facing persistent conflict, and drought constraining the Panama Canal, the “just reroute it” playbook is officially broken. This week, Geraint John (VP, Research & Advisory) sits down with Oliver Sawbridge (Senior Director, Research & Advisory) to unpack why temporary workarounds and inventory buffers are no longer enough, breaking down how compounding climate and geopolitical risks at key global chokepoints are forcing leading operations teams toward regionalized network design for true resilience.

August 25, 202624 min

Build, Buy, or Partner? Rethinking Enterprise Tech in the Age of AI

With AI evolving month-on-month and boardrooms demanding instant tech strategies, the old binary choice of “build versus buy” is starting to look like a trap. On this episode of The Zero100 Podcast, Justin Gillebo (Senior Director, Research & Advisory) sits down with Kelly Coutinho (VP, Research & Advisory) and Rahul George (Director, Data Products) to unpack why enterprise tech strategy has shifted into a new triad: build, buy, or partner. Tune in as they explore why building has become cheap while ownership hasn’t, how to evaluate when a “bolt-on” AI solution makes sense, and why your ultimate goal shouldn't be predicting 2029, but building the operational agility to adapt when it arrives.

August 18, 202624 min

Are We Measuring AI ROI All Wrong?

Enterprise leaders are facing a massive dilemma: AI bills are exploding, yet finance leaders are struggling to see where any of that money is coming back to the business. But are companies making a fundamental mistake by treating AI like just another IT project chasing quick savings? This week on the podcast, Cody Stack (VP, Data & Analytics) is joined by Geraint John (VP, Research & Advisory) and Justin Gillebo (Senior Director, Research & Advisory) to unpack why it’s time rethink the true value of AI. Drawing from real-world examples – from Walmart’s autonomous tail-spend agents to multi-hundred-million-dollar commodity cost intelligence – they challenge the trap of chasing isolated 90-day ROI and simple headcount cuts. Instead, they outline how mature operators are managing token costs, metrics like decision latency, and end-to-end workflow orchestration to move past quick-win science fairs and build true, lasting enterprise value.

August 11, 202623 min

How CVS Turned Supply Chain Into a Growth Engine – and Merchandising's Best Friend

For most of his 20+ year career, Josh White watched supply chain get treated like every other retailer treats it: a cost to be minimized. But as Chief Supply Chain and Logistics Officer at CVS, he's spent his tenure rewriting that narrative: repositioning supply chain as a growth enabler that his Chief Merchandising Officer now calls “his supply chain.” This week, Josh tells Zero100’s Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer Kevin O’Marah how he pulled off both transformations at once. The growth piece required automation that punches above its weight, AI-powered demand sensing, and flexible systems built for future capabilities. But winning over merchandising required something harder: a shift from “that plan will break our network” to “here's what it would take to make that possible.”

August 4, 202616 min

The Zero100 Mailbag: Chinese vs US LLMs, Plus Your Top AI Scaling Questions Answered

Should companies bet on US or Chinese AI models – and is that even the right question? How can teams push past “too small to matter” AI pilots and ambitious projects that never ship? And is “our data isn’t ready yet” still a valid reason to delay AI adoption? This week, Chief Content Officer Matt Davis sits down with VP, Research & Advisory Caroline and Senior Research Director Oliver Sawbridge to unpack these questions, alongside others from the Zero100 community, getting into everything from process debt to overhyped fears we think will change drastically over the next twelve months.

July 28, 202627 min

The Hidden Timeline of Supply Chain Shocks

When a disruption hits a major shipping lane, consumers and markets often presume that if prices don't spike the next day, the danger has passed. But that calm is a dangerous illusion. This week, VP, Data & Analytics Data Cody Stack and VPs, Research Geraint John and Jenna Fink unpack why the most dangerous disruptions aren't always the high-profile consumer tech stories, but the quieter shocks to food, fertilizer, fuel, plastics, and packaging. They explore why standard risk playbooks consistently miss industrial raw material crises, how fixed seasonal windows in agriculture trap businesses on delayed timelines, and why resilience must shift from a reactive function to an embedded design capability across sourcing, planning, logistics, and product design.

July 21, 202620 min

Operational Sovereignty: The Supply Chain Imperative for 2028

What happens when the supply chain playbook you’ve spent decades building becomes obsolete overnight? Fresh from Zero100’s Off the Grid event in the Irish countryside, Chief Content Officer Matt Davis sits down with VP, Research & Advisory Kelly Coutinho, and Account Manager Lewis Barnes to discuss the supply chain shift to “operational sovereignty,” and why 2028 is shaping up to be a defining year for operations. They also explore why 60% of workflows belong to no single function, how AI is exposing decades of process debt, and why the biggest barrier to AI adoption isn't technological, but human.

July 14, 202621 min

Are AI Layoffs Really About AI?

Major companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon are increasingly pointing to AI efficiency as a primary driver for workforce restructuring. But is the narrative of “doing more with less” the whole story? This week, Zero100 VPs, Research & Advisory Lauren Acoba and Caroline Chumakov move past the headlines to explore how companies are navigating this transition. They discuss why headcount reduction is often more complicated than it appears, how to preserve vital institutional knowledge, and why forward-thinking leaders are using AI to redeploy talent into new, high-value roles that drive long-term resilience.

July 7, 202623 min

Is Your Agentic Rollout Creating New Cybersecurity Risks?

When Zero100 surveyed COOs, cybersecurity breaches emerged as the #1 business continuity risk for 2026, outranking geopolitics and tariffs. The driving force behind this anxiety? The rapid rise of agentic AI. Unlike traditional software, these autonomous systems learn and evolve through use, introducing a massive new risk landscape. This week, Senior Director, Research & Advisory Justin Gillebo sits down with VP, Research & Advisory Geraint John and Chief Research Officer Kevin O’Marah to unpack why agentic workflows require continuous operational governance, and how to balance fast-paced citizen innovation with strict guardrails before your supply chain misfires.