When it comes to leveraging AI in supply chain planning, ‘‘it’s not technology for technology’s sake. It’s technology to help drive business value, to solve business challenges, and make business decisions’’. This was one of the key topics discussed by SAP’s Richard Howells and Lori Harner, VP and Global Head of Product Marketing for Supply Chain Planning, in the recent episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast.

How AI is changing the role

Supply chain planning is entering a new phase. For years, the goal was to balance supply and demand as efficiently as possible, but that is no longer enough in a world shaped by disruption, rising customer expectations, and growing complexity.

Today’s planners are dealing with volatility as the new normal, from geopolitical shocks and climate events to demand swings, supply constraints, and margin pressure. At the same time, customer expectations are rising, while sustainability requirements are increasing – all that puts a lot of pressure on planners of today. As Lori mentioned, ‘‘planners are looking for systems that learn, recommend, and act, which is really where AI comes in’’.

Rather than acting as a standalone technology, AI is helping organizations improve forecasting, detect risk earlier, optimize inventory, simulate scenarios, and recommend better actions faster, giving an opportunity to move from reactive firefighting toward more proactive, decision-centric planning.

The planner of the future

When it comes to leveraging AI in your day-to-day job, the question arises: Is AI a friend or foe?  Lori shared her thoughts on this concern and shared her perspective on what the role of the planner of the future looks like. The planner of the future is not about replacing people with technology. Instead, AI is there to support planners by taking over repetitive, manual tasks so they can focus on higher-value work that requires judgment, collaboration, and strategic thinking. In this model, AI becomes a practical partner that helps planners work faster, see risks earlier, and spend less time on firefighting and more time on decision-making.

That is where AI is coming to help reshape the planning process. New tools will replicate old behaviors.

We are seeing an evolution of planning poles and responsibilities. Rather than sorting through endless exceptions, updating spreadsheets, or chasing down information across systems, planners can rely on AI to not only help find, cleanse and harmonize data, but also surface priorities, recommend actions, and automate routine steps. That creates more space for value-added work such as scenario analysis, cross-functional coordination, and proactive planning.

Lori’s view reflects a broader shift in supply chain planning: the best systems do not remove people from the process, they empower them. In her description of the planner of the future, AI works alongside humans in an “agent plus human interaction” model, where the system recommends actions, runs simulations, and routes tasks, while planners focus on higher-value decisions and cross-functional coordination.

Accurate data and why trust matters

But this future only works if planners trust the system. New technology naturally brings some uncertainty, and as AI becomes part of everyday work, organizations need to create an environment where employees feel confident using it. Without trust in the technology, it becomes much harder to embrace the move toward autonomous planning.

Word trust is a big deal because you've got to trust the data and you've got to trust the tools that are analyzing the data.

As highlighted in the podcast, planning can feel like a black box when data is fragmented and the logic behind recommendations is not fully visible. That is why strong data governance, real-time integration, validation, transparency, and traceability are essential to making AI-driven planning both usable and credible.

The biggest mistake companies make is treating planning modernization like an IT install instead of a business transformation. To succeed, organizations need process redesign, KPI alignment, change management, and a clear path for adoption.​

Ultimately, the future of supply chain planning is about moving from efficiency to resilience and, over time, toward autonomous planning. AI will not replace planners, but it will help them work with better data, faster insight, and greater confidence.

As Lori summarized: ‘‘Planning is no longer about balancing our supply and demand. It needs to have transformation data from all sources. That data needs to be normalized and be usable within the applications. And then AI on top of that for complete strategic insights that empower your teams to make those confident, real-time decisions’’.

Discover how SAP can help you reimagine your supply chain planning with AI agents and a unified platform that connects sales, demand, inventory, supply, and production.