AI moves into core supply chains
AI is shifting from pilots to core procurement, inventory and demand‑planning decisions across hospitality — RELEX reports firms are embedding AI for trade‑offs between cost, service and risk. Investors and vendors are backing 'layered AI' and autonomous agents (Didero’s $30M Series A) to automate workflows and improve visibility, and peers like Hyatt are already using AI across operations and guest capture. ( )
RELEX’s State of Supply Chain 2026: Volatility, Trade‑Offs & the Rise of AI is based on a January 2026 survey of 514 retail, manufacturing, wholesale and supply‑chain leaders and finds 47% are using or planning AI‑driven inventory and supply optimization. (prnewswire.com) The report says 67% of retail and manufacturing leaders reported increased confidence in using AI for supply‑chain decisions year‑over‑year, while 54% prefer AI to make recommendations with humans finalizing decisions and only 10% would trust AI to make fully independent decisions. (prnewswire.com) RELEX also reports 71% of respondents plan to invest in generative and agentic AI and 60% plan to invest in predictive AI over the next three to five years. (prnewswire.com) Didero closed a $30 million Series A co‑led by Chemistry and Headline with participation from M12, Microsoft’s venture fund, to scale agentic AI that autonomously executes procurement work. (prnewswire.com) The company says its agents aim to automate tasks that consume roughly 70% of procurement teams’ time and already serves dozens of manufacturers and distributors. (blog.didero.ai) Supply Chain Management Review describes “layered AI” as combining behavioral data and multiple AI layers to detect cyber and operational risk across IT and OT environments, and it frames that approach as essential as supply‑chain ecosystems become more interconnected. (scmr.com) Hyatt has replaced its traditional city‑date search with a generative AI system to capture traveler intent earlier, a shift CEO Mark Hoplamazian discussed publicly at the International Hotel Investment Forum. (skift.com) The chain reports AI tools evaluated more than 1.5 million RFPs, producing roughly a 20% improvement in group sales productivity. (hospitality.today) United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) is rolling out RELEX’s inventory system at 12 distribution sites as part of a move to decentralize procurement so local teams can act on regional demand signals. (supplychaindive.com) Gartner predicts that by 2031, 60% of supply‑chain disruptions will be resolved without human intervention, highlighting analyst expectations that agentic and layered AI will increasingly handle exception workflows. (gartner.com)
