Fewer supply chain leaders believe they are ready for the future now (66%) than last year (73%), according to Blue Yonder’s “Supply Chain Compass” report.
“Supply chain leaders are being asked to make more decisions, more frequently and with less time available,” says Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “In supply chain management, confidence is not simply a mindset. It is built on end-to-end visibility, unified data and practical AI that allows teams to make good decisions quickly and at scale. Blue Yonder enables companies to link together planning, sourcing and execution functions so they can reduce decision fatigue, rapidly respond to disruptions and manage the business with more control.”
Key takeaways:
· Amid widespread uncertainty, leaders’ Top 2 priorities are improving efficiency and productivity and achieving faster, better decision-making.
· The report also looked at the 46% of leaders who identified as highly optimistic about the future of their supply chains to find any differences in performance or outcomes over those who were not highly optimistic.
- Only 48% of less optimistic leaders believe they are ready for the future, compared to 87% of optimistic leaders.
- Improving efficiency and productivity is the No. 1 strategic priority for 2026, selected by 35% of leaders, followed by faster, better decision-making, which moved up significantly this year to claim the No. 2 spot after only ranking seventh in last year’s report.
- While supply chain leaders felt more equipped to handle technological threats or operational issues, they are slowest to be able to effectively respond to geopolitical disruptions. Only 20% of leaders can develop and deploy a response within 24 hours. Another 38% take longer than a week to develop and deploy a response to geopolitical disruptions.
- Unified data platforms are the most widely adopted new technology, already deployed by 51% of supply chain leaders.
- AI adoption is widening: 45% are using machine learning and predictive AI today, 24% are using generative AI (double from 2025), and only 8% are using agentic AI.
- The 46% of leaders highly optimistic have confidence in their approaches to building resilience, managing supply chains and establishing priorities. Notably, the less optimistic group is nearly twice as likely to state they need a new approach (43% vs. 23%) than the highly optimistic group.
- Improving efficiency/productivity was the top strategic priority for 2026, selected by 35% of supply chain leaders. The report also identifies a dramatic shift in importance: faster, better decision-making has become far more important than it was in 2025.
