How AI can improve ethical sourcing and sustainability

Supply chain sustainability is an ambitious strategy for managing the environmental, social and corporate governance impacts of product sourcing, manufacturing and delivery. But the inherent complexity of supply chains makes it difficult to ensure that each component in a product, from raw materials to subassemblies, finished goods, packaging and transportation, meet the environmental and labor regulations of countries and international organizations.  

Companies have long used information technology to manage their supply chains, but most still struggle to achieve adequate visibility into the practices of their suppliers. In recent years, the environmental, social and governance (ESG) movement has brought new pressures from shareholders, customers and regulators for companies to collect and report data on their sustainability practices.

Artificial intelligence shows promise for helping organizations make sense of the enormous amounts of data needed for supply chain sustainability and for meeting increasingly strict ESG requirements.

RobobAI (pronounced "robo buy"), a vendor of spend analysis and procurement management software based in Sydney, Australia, is applying its AI-driven analytics platform to supply chain sustainability.

In this podcast, CEO Julian Harris explains how RobobAI works and how it monitors risks, such as raw materials from suppliers sanctioned for modern slavery. He also describes ways it supports diversity by, for example, identifying opportunities to employ indigenous labor.

A native of Wales, Harris held executive leadership positions at several IT service companies before co-founding RobobAI in 2017. He is also chairman of Search365, a company with offices in Australia and Singapore offering AI, analytics and search products for the financial services and government sectors.

Other topics discussed in the podcast include:

• where RobobAI fits in ERP and supply chain management software architectures
• how it can improve supplier visibility by analyzing spend data from multiple ERP systems and other data sources
• how Coca-Cola uses RobobAI to improve visibility into its suppliers
• where the ESG movement stands today

Host: David Essex, Industry Editor, TechTarget

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