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Talkin’ Bots: Trends, AI, and the Road Ahead

• Dwight & Company • Season 1 • Episode 4

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Automation buyers are evolving—and industry veterans Mandy Dwight and Guy Courtin are here to explain why that's changing everything. Recording from Boston's iconic Public Garden (sadly, not from the famous Good Will Hunting bench), they dive deep into how today's robotics customers are no longer wowed by flashy demos and bold promises.

"What I've seen which is really encouraging is that the buyer has become smarter about the solutions and what's available out there," explains Courtin, VP of Industry and Global Alliances at Tecsys. This sophistication means robot vendors must work harder, but it ultimately creates healthier, more sustainable implementations across the industry.

The conversation explores how automation ecosystems are replacing isolated solutions, with companies consolidating technologies to address comprehensive warehouse challenges. They question traditional ROI calculations that focus narrowly on labor reduction rather than strategic value, particularly relevant for 3PLs using automation to free space for higher-margin services like kitting and returns processing.

Economic uncertainty looms large in automation decisions, creating both challenges and opportunities. Courtin suggests that forward-thinking companies willing to invest now could position themselves advantageously when markets stabilize.

The pair also tackles AI's role in automation, the importance of supply chain education, and offer invaluable insights for anyone navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of warehouse automation and robotics implementation.

Episode Introduction and Setup

Speaker 1

We toyed with the idea that the guests had to sing the Roscos theme song. Make One Up and Sing One. Hey everyone, I'm Mandy Dwight of Dwight Company. We're a boutique sales and marketing firm specifically for automation and robotics companies. I'm also the host of the Roskos podcast, which you're watching today. I'm here with my good industry friend, guy Corton from Texas.

Speaker 1

The company, not the state, not the state I thank you for clarifying um and today we I've known gee forever, good industry friend and I said gee, I'm thinking about going and sitting in the most distracting place in in um boston the public garden, you know, filming a podcast where we talk about something that has nothing to do with the public garden robotics and automation and kind of the state of the industry. And Guy said I have the absolute perfect place.

Speaker 2

And you didn't find it. But that's okay, we'll pretend this is the perfect place. So for those of you who don't know, so, introduction first. Thanks, mandy, for having me. I really appreciate it. So again, guy Cocteau, I'm the vice president of industry and global alliances at Texas. We are a a canadian-based software company, but I've been in supply chain over 25 years and part of that time when we met was when I started working in the robotic space. But what I told you to do is we had to find the goodwill hunting bench, yes, and you failed, that's okay yeah, well, gee, there were um in my defense.

Speaker 2

There were a lot of tourists on the bench you should have kicked them out, and I see some state park rangers walking around and some things I just don't want to do on a friday you should have been like how those? You like apples. You like apples. Yes, how about those apples? I got her number.

Speaker 1

You got me, you got me, you got me. So, so yeah, we're in an iconic spot. Um, if we're not super interesting today, hopefully maybe something walking by us will be interesting to you. There are some swan boats in the background. We thought about filming on the swans. Uh, swan boats.

Speaker 2

Liability, liability, completely I'm sure we'd have to pay. You would have to pay some kind of park fee to do that, but you know regardless we're worth it.

Speaker 1

That's what I tell myself all the time.

Speaker 1

We're worth it 100 so um, so yeah, so you know, gee. Um, you know, gee. We're both Boston people and I said to Guy let's do the podcast. When are you in Boston? Because the thing about Guy is Guy is never in Boston, even though he's from Boston. He is. We joke, we call him the international man of mystery. He's always on a flight. I've run into him in the Delta lounge before just because we're always here, there and everywhere. But part of him being out there is he sees all of the things you know. So if you want to know what the best robotic industry trends are, what automation is hot, what people are looking at, what the state of the industry is, you call up Guy and you have a conversation about it.

Speaker 2

Appreciate it. I actually was just on a plane yesterday. Where'd you go? I was coming back from Houston and actually, side note, I was at one of our customers and we did talk about robotics. So we can get into that in a little bit. But yeah, they were. They were certainly looking at some smaller version of VLM, ASRS type stuff, so it was really interesting.

Speaker 1

Oh, that is interesting. I mean, well, that's the thing I mean. I really want to dig into today what trends you're seeing out there. You know, because we, you know, we sell the robotic solutions. We're system integrators, we're software companies, hardware companies, but it doesn't matter about the technology. It matters about what the pain point that the user has and what it really does and solves for them. So what are you hearing?

Evolution of Robotics Buyers

Speaker 2

Yeah, I think that's a. I think it's a great lead in to manage. I think what we have to remember you and I and everybody else and all of us who are on this side of the house, so to speak right, the ones that are selling robots, selling solutions we live and breathe this every day. Yeah, true, right, when you and I first started working together, I mean, you were selling robotic solutions, I was selling robotic solutions, and what I've learned is that we would go into some customers and start talking about robots as if they knew everything we knew, and what I've realized is we have to remind ourselves that most, if not all, of our customers that we talk to have a day job, and that day job does not involve using robots. Robots are a tool to make their day job better, more efficient, more effective. So I think the first thing that I've seen, and really sort of try to make sure I remind myself every day, is that when I do talk to my customers and prospects and talk to people in the industry, is that they don't.

Speaker 2

They don't live and breathe this they are doing things like for us in Texas. They're doing things in the healthcare space. They're doing things in distribution and in automotive parts and in HVAC right, sometimes in retail. So they're focused on doing things like take care of patients right, moving product in and out of the door. They're not worried about oh, what's the latest flavor of an AMR?

Speaker 1

or a BLM or a GTP.

Speaker 2

So I think that's the first thing that I've been seeing a trend of which is where we stand in the industry in terms of those who are selling it. Like everything, technology we're way ahead of the people that are actually going to use it, and what I found but what I have found, which is really, I think, refreshing recently is that if you go back two, three years I think a lot of times there was this sort of awe. If I came in and told you a robot, people were like Whoa, okay, you're smart, I got to buy your stuff Today. What I'm seeing is people are smarter. Right, the buyer is smarter. They're pushing back. They're asking the right questions. They're not just saying, oh, you're telling me this AMR is going to reduce my pick rate, so I should buy right away. They're asking the next question Well, what does that mean for takeaway? What does that mean for induct? What does it mean about where my inventory sits in the warehouse? What does it mean about my shelving and all this? They're asking the right questions.

Speaker 2

So, I think what I've seen which is really encouraging is that the buyer has become smarter about the solutions and the availability and what's out there.

Speaker 2

That's the big one that I've seen recently, and I think maybe it's hard for robotic vendors, because now we actually have to work harder, it's a lot harder it's a lot harder, but I think it's also better for the industry, because now when the consumer actually buys a robot, they're going to go into it eyes wide open as opposed to just buying it because they feel like they're pressured into it because it's this cool robot. So I think that's good overall for the industry. Harder for robotic vendors because we got to do better selling, but better for the industry as a whole because now I think the results will be more realistic and I think people will actually understand what it is they're getting and what problem they can actually address with the robot.

Speaker 1

I mean that's so interesting. But you're right, there's been a change, an evolution there with the end user, with the buyer. So what has contributed to that?

Speaker 2

I think a lot of it has to do with just people learning more, right, and I think it has a lot to do at some levels with folks like yourselves who are out there sort of consulting and helping these end users cut through the marketing BS and the unknowns, right, and I think that's a big help. I also think you know when you think about the evolution of robotics, right, and I think that's big help. I also think you know when you think about the evolution of robotics, right. Kiva Systems was bought by Amazon. What 14 years ago, 12 years ago?

Speaker 1

something like that.

Speaker 2

It's not that long ago right Companies like Six River and Locus, and all these are not even in their air quotes teenage years yet. So part of it too, is that in the past three, four years we've just had so much of this evolution and people learning about it and the buyer being smarter and by asking the right questions and doing the research and all this, but also the earlier robotic systems, I think people have actually started to see them in the wild and actually see what they can do. Well, what they can't do, and I think that's been good. And in the meantime, I think robotics companies which I think is also very positive are constantly trying to grow what they can't do right. So if we look at locus by, you know, moving with the origin, but they saw the origin robot but buying another robot to do heavier freight right you look at, obviously, a geek plus with all their, their solutions.

Speaker 2

you look at okado, who bought six river. Now they can do the asrs and the River AMR. So you're seeing more and more of these vendors being able to say you know what I don't need to say? Here's my robot, you need to buy it and you force your format into it. It's what do you need to solve? And do I have a robot in my arsenal that can solve that problem?

Integration Challenges in Automation

Speaker 1

You know, you've mentioned something interesting, right, because, like you go into a facility and people, a robot doesn't work alone. Right, it's a flow, it's a software. Softwares work together, hardwares work together. And you mentioned some consolidation of companies, so that to me is very interesting, because it used to be you bought this from this, like back when you and I worked together right, bought this from this vendor, this from this vendor, and then we mashed it together and hopefully we were friendly enough to do that right.

Speaker 2

Right, and I think that's the other part too which I've seen. Which is really interesting is we are asking the customers, asking the hard question well, wait a minute, if I have a vlm and I have a conveyor and I want to put amrs in, how do they all talk together? Yeah, now, they may be not perfect orchestration, but I want some fact. I can't have these in islands, because then what all I'm going to do is you know, and I, I certainly am not going to say I'm a, I'm a, I'm an academic on this. But right, the theory of constraints, right, if I, just if I optimize in one part of my warehouse, maybe I just push that constraint somewhere else. So I've optimized on my pig pig area, but my put away or my takeoff or my induct has now become such a mess that overall, my warehouse has lost efficiency. Right, and I think the consumer is starting to figure that out or see that to your point.

Speaker 2

The robotics companies themselves are now at some level, being forced to say if you want to stay relevant, you need to be able to address a lot more than just hey, I can do each is picking really well, or I can do pallet moving really well, okay, can you do the next ancillary piece on top of that?

Speaker 2

Well, or can you partner with someone to do it? Well, but you need to have a story right. You need to have a vision to be able to tell the customer hey, if I'm going to do this for you I know that these are the issues might come up. I have a way to solve for those. Maybe it's not me, but maybe you know this is what I do. Right, and I think that's the part is, it's not a big bang where we can do everything in 12 months and it's all taken care of. But I need to see some kind of vision, and I think that's what we're seeing is consolidation. I think that's what we're starting to see more automation. Partners, players themselves try to either acquire or build their own other solutions.

Speaker 1

Form factors and I think we're only going to continue to see that. Yeah, no, I was. I was thinking about that. I mean, because the end user, what they've always been measured on, is productivity and ROI and all those different things, and they took some gambles in the past that didn't pay off, which could have cost them salary, jobs, things like that.

Speaker 2

Yeah, and I think that's and it's interesting. That's something that I'm still debating in my mind, if you will, because you're right, the ROI. But then I always wonder are we measuring the right ROI with some robotics? Because sometimes it's a very air quotes, traditional. Oh, you give me X amount of robots in Y amount of months it's going to take away Z amount of FTE and increase you know ABC amount of throughput. Yeah, I get it that. That that is one way of looking at it, but part of me thinks are we missing something bigger, which is, you know, as warehouses themselves evolve, going from basically just, you know, storing inventory and throughput to doing more complex things, do we need to start looking at, well, what is my warehouse going to look like in five years and do I have the pieces in place today to prepare for that? And maybe that ROI I can't measure for five, six, seven years, whereas we're sort of trained oh, you got to get it within a year.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, how do you work with the end user to see that? Because they're so laser focused sometimes you know it's that.

Speaker 2

That's the million dollar question, right, and I think that's the part where I I you know to pimp you guys out, but publicly right working with folks like you to understand that, because it's it, it's, it has to be, it has to be a vision beyond what is my near term problem. Right, it has to be, it has to. You have to be able to have that conversation of what am I trying to do in the next five, 10 years with this facility, with the facilities I might have? And I think until you have that vision, you don't understand exactly what am I investing in today. So, for example, I think until you have that vision, you don't understand exactly what am I investing in today.

Speaker 2

So, for example, I think what I remember seeing like right after or right during the pandemic right Huge explosion in AMR sales right, I was a six for over there right and we were seeing this Locust, of course, we're seeing this Geek Plus and others fetch for a box of time, and the reason being is it's realized, looking back in hindsight, it's free, basic. Well, we're all stuck at home. So e-commerce was going through the roof. We couldn't get labor in because we had COVID, and then, when the labor was in, we couldn't have a mass together because we had to have, you know, certain distances. So all of a sudden, in this very near term, the solution of hey, I can just drop in as AMRs, by the way, like at Six River the time we realized well, I can do the mapping remotely, I want to have people in the warehouse, so I could literally send someone with a camera and map the warehouse. So I can do all the work remotely, right, and you can instantly or not instantly very quickly get value because now you're going to have this robot which is going to help you pick and carry the freight and do all that stuff. To address what? This problem of e-commerce growth, of us being at home, no labor, great.

Speaker 2

But then the pandemic went away, thankfully, yeah, and then we saw e-commerce numbers sort of regressed to the mean right. So I will freely admit this. I was working at Six River, which is part of Shopify. I remember Shopify and Toby saying oh you know, e-commerce is going to be 20, 30, 40, 50%. I'm like, look at the trend line. Like, once the pandemic ended, we went back to about 20% of overall retail. Still a great number, yeah.

Speaker 2

But the reason I bring this up is that that was a as a response to a very finite big problem. But to your point, I think what we need is to have more vision about where is this going to go in five years. Now, like everything you're still going to have, I would say 80% are just going to think, nope, I'm going to go back my traditional methodology. Give me a six month ROI, I'm not going to invest in it. Fine. What about the 20% that are cutting edge, right? Why are companies like Amazon investing so much in robotics? Now, it's all their stuff. I get it, yeah. But right, recently, news of Amazon just investing a tremendous amount in new robotics in their warehouses, right?

Speaker 1

Right.

Speaker 2

They are. They obviously understand that this is the long term vision, what they're trying to do. So I think that's that's a conversation we need to force the industry to have. It's not easy, right.

Speaker 1

Cause it goes back to the whole thing of it's change management.

Speaker 2

No one liked change back to what they would said earlier too. It's, it's. I've seen this a thousand times. I'm sure you have too. Is you go talk to the head of operations and they're like.

Speaker 1

I got two more years to retire. Oh, I hear that a lot. You're asking me to do what? Yeah, it's very safe, you don't?

Speaker 2

want to rock the boat? Just sail out, get your cake and go. Once I retire, you talk to the next person yeah, it's their problem their problem. But I don't want to ruin my pet risk, my pension. I get that, yeah I get that that's the part I think right now.

Speaker 2

I hate to bring this up, but as we have gen x and millennials coming in, like when I was coming in it's, is there an opportunity for there's going to be some turnover, where you are going to have leadership who is going to have more of that, a comfort with automation and other parts of technology, and be have more of a long term vision on this stuff. I don't know, but I think you know. I don't want to say it's a hope, but I do think there's some demographical change that might help with that. But I also think, for me personally, looking at the space, warehouses are becoming more and more dynamic and being asked to do so much more than they were 10, 15, 20 years ago. It has to change. People have to realize that they cannot continue to invest the way they used to and look at ROIs the way they used to. It's not going to work.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I mean, with that said, brownfield versus Greenfield, right? So Greenfield, we know that's a far off. That's a five plus year plan. Brownfield, you're in it today. So what are you seeing? Like, because the economy is a little, we're going to leave that there. But what are you seeing right now?

Speaker 2

Yeah, the economy is a little there. We, you know, we certainly don't have to bring up the t word tariffs, because that, that's all the can't work.

Speaker 1

Well, that's another, another episode, that's uh, yeah that's a four week episode yeah, because it's going to change every two days.

Economic Impacts on Automation Decisions

Speaker 2

Yeah, you could film that every day, absolutely so, yeah, what I'm seeing which is interesting is is there is right now there is sort of a handbrake because the economy, yeah, there is a handbrake where people are saying and we just joked, but true about this too, about tariffs where people are saying you know what? I'm gonna wait, I'm gonna that project I was gonna do, let's put it off for another quarter I'm hearing that a ton yeah, let's, let's hold off, let's, let's protect cash and let's see what's gonna happen.

Speaker 2

Okay, I, I get that and and I, you know, I appreciate that at the standpoint of if I were a cfo for our ceo, whatever, like, you got to protect cash, you got it.

Speaker 1

You don't know now with.

Speaker 2

That being said, I always tell, remind people too, like when we've had big recessions and things like that some of the companies that were created during the recessions are companies like microsoft and google. Right, I mean, people took chances.

Speaker 1

I didn't think about that. That's an interesting even when the economy for putting some positivity on well, even when yeah, you know it's it's.

Speaker 2

You know it's, it's one of those you know. I want to completely butcher this quote, but I remember please do I will.

Speaker 2

Um, you know, joe kennedy said one time like, I think, when, when his shoeshine boy was giving him stock advice, it was time to short the stock market right. So it takes for the inverse of that right whenever he's panicking. It's time I think someone else said this. Like you know, when there's blood in the street, go buy real estate. There might be a movie quote, yeah, but anyways it's a good one, I'm gonna steal it yeah but it's true. It's like when there's when people are affording money and they're nervous take chances.

Speaker 1

Yeah, when there's a body in the back bay fens, you buy a condo over there. Is that what you're telling me? Yeah, right, yeah, exactly. Because prices are low.

Speaker 2

And you know that body's going to be fished out at some point and no one's going to remember it. So that's what you have to do. But that takes a lot of courage, obviously. Yeah, that takes a lot of support from leadership, from the board, from investors and, let's face it, investors and investors sometimes all they care about is next quarter right, and they panic on things.

Speaker 2

So I think that's the challenge, and I think the challenge is how do we, or how do you, identify the companies that are willing to take those chances? I think those are the ones that might take the chance, the opportunity now to make those investments, to then position themselves when things do get back to air quotes normal and going up and people are spending that they're ready for it. How?

Speaker 1

do you?

Speaker 2

identify those people. You know it's a challenge. I would if I knew that I don't know you wouldn't. You'd be too rich to sit here, yeah I'd be sitting up in one of those buildings looking down on you right now. But no, joking, it's hard, it's hard to say it is all about, and this is, I apologize, this is business school bingo 101. Say it, you know you have to identify the ones who are willing to take the risk, the ones who are willing for change, and yada, yada yada.

Speaker 1

The ones that are market leaders, but it's like how you identify those I don't know.

Speaker 2

Sometimes it's a gut feeling and you just don't know. Right, feeling I think. Sometimes it's, it's, I think a lot of times and this I will say, I remember this from my days when I was at i2 it's, it's. It is super cliche again, it is about personalities, right? Do you? Do you identify the leadership, certain companies who they themselves have, that that inner desire to try things and to be take risks, right, and then it's you sell it to them, right, because then they're going to want to see it. Now, when I was at ituber, this all the time, like side note, like we would always say you know, for our marketing efforts, you find the one or two people at that company that you can tell are hungry for attention, like and you reach.

Speaker 2

Hey, you want to do a press release, you want to do an interview, you want to do this you want to do a podcast, do a you want to do an interview, you want to do this, that you want to do a podcast, you want to do a podcast. And then you get them because there's a personal value in it for them.

Speaker 2

But the same thing here. I think it's one of those where for robotic vendors, for technology vendors, it goes back get away from future function. Yeah, it's all about how do I identify the personalities, the leadership, the people that are willing to take that risk and go on the journey, regardless of what industry? Right, you might find someone that's working in a pulp mill, but they've got great vision and they really want, they're hungry to do stuff. Latch on to them right, see what they can do.

Speaker 2

Maybe someone who's at a you know ai startup, but you realize they're kind of an old fuddy-duddy and they're not gonna do anything so I think a lot of it, especially in times like this, comes down to the personalities and I think, for what I've seen from the robotic side, is I being able to identify those leaders who have that vision, who get away from saying, well, what's the roi? On the six-month basis they get it. Who, oh, okay, if I put these robots in today, here's what I could do in 12 months. Right, and if I could do that in 12 months, I can go to my bosses and say here's our new business plan. So I'll give you an example. We talked to a 3PL who's trying to figure out how do they add more value to their services, how do they add more value-added services, and one of the things they recognize is oh, if I could put more in automation, I could free up all the space in my warehouse to then do things like kitting.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I'm hearing that from 3PLs. It's funny that you say that.

Speaker 2

Do returns, do last mile assembly? Yeah, those are all value-added services. If all I could do is free up thousand square feet because I put in an asrs or a vlm to take that inventory off the floor, I can allocate that space to do some value add services. And oh guess what? Now I can charge my customer a premium. Right, I could get stickier with the customer.

AI's Role in Automation

Speaker 2

So those are the ones I think you need to be able to. You know, if I'm an automation, I'm a software vendor. Like I have to identify and be able to see, like I give you a side story, like I was in Houston visiting a customer. They're super aggressive in the standpoint of they're like we're not going to, we're not in this box, like we want to solve these problems, we're not just going to focus on these and what that. What's that's done is. It's given them the flexibility, the leadership to really pursue different things, and some with us, some on their own, but it's been really refreshing. But again, it comes down to what it's that personality.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it's so true. I mean thinking about when I've worked with people before. That's who you pick.

Speaker 2

That's who you pick.

Speaker 1

That's who you pick. I mean, you mentioned the, the word ai, I'm gonna go there I mean you have to go I know I mean. What do you want to say? Ai's been around forever, but now here it is again and I, I don't know what do you? What are you thinking about it?

Speaker 2

all right, so here's my shtick right. Ai's been around, yes, since 1956.

Speaker 1

Yeah, so uh, I was gonna give it a 90, so, yeah, I mean, yeah, okay, 56.

Speaker 2

I, I remember studying ai when I was in college and I went to college. Uh, we don, I went to college.

Speaker 1

We don't date ourselves.

Speaker 2

The year didn't start with a 2, it started with a 1, so, anyways, ai has been around forever. I think, having said that, ai is a tool. It's a super powerful tool. It holds a lot of promise. It is just a tool If we go back a couple years. Remember blockchain.

Speaker 1

I haven't heard about that guy in a while where did that go?

Speaker 2

that was supposed to. That was supposed to completely change supply chain right before that. The cloud, now the cloud is everything yeah, the cloud yeah it's here before it's above us before that I mean the internet, right, we, we, how soon you forget.

Speaker 2

But the internet hasn't been around that long. It's been around for a while, but it has been around for like centuries. Yeah, um, you know, I worked at forester here in massachusetts. Uh, in the late 90s, right when the internet was starting. Yeah, and I look back on those days and I'm like we, I had customers who would tell me it was a fad that's wild yeah, I had customers one who's no longer around named borders bookstore, who would tell me it was a fad, that's wild.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I had customers one who's no longer around named borders bookstore, who would tell me when I went to meet with them they missed a couple things well, they, well this is the part that scared me is they always tell us we'd walk in the room. They say, don't, don't talk about amazon. And we're kind of like well, that's who's eating your lunch you gotta talk, you gotta always know who's who's watching.

Speaker 2

You're like, no, no, don't talk about amazon, they don't exist. And I'm like, well, no, they do. Um, but yeah it. That was 1999. Yeah, you know, that was not that long ago. So the reason I bring it up is I think it's like ai. Right, ai is a great tool. I think it's. There's a lot of interesting things going on. I think anybody out there needs to think about AI. My advice to everybody, though, is, when you think about AI and I talked to this about robotics, vendors and others is it fundamentally comes back to data.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

And I think for robotics companies. There's a really interesting play here, because robotics companies are a tremendous consumer of data and a tremendous producer of data. Right, the digital exhaust that comes out of robots yeah is is breathtaking.

Speaker 2

Right when I worked at six river and, I'm sure, in your forays in the robotic space, like, think about all the pieces of data that we're gathering every millisecond off that robot, right where it's moving, what it's picking, what it's where it's picking, how it picked, what was delaying it, where this palette is in the, in the aisle it's not supposed to be, and then aggregate that over a whole shift, over a whole week, over a whole month, over a whole year, and you see the tremendous amount of digital exhaust you get. Which for an AI engine? That's gold, yeah, right, but it's one of those, again, it's, you know, be smart, right, be smart. It's this tool. I always talk about narrow ai, which is really about focus on, on ai use cases that have definable data set, definable outcome and definable rules, right, so don't try to boil the ocean. Uh, what I drives me crazy was I hear a lot of supply chain companies oh, we're going to put AI in here and it's going to solve everything.

Speaker 1

No, yeah, it's not.

Speaker 2

If you're going to tell me I'm going to use AI in the warehouse to do better path you know pick path optimization, absolutely, that makes sense. Yeah Right, I've got a warehouse. It's a finite, defined area. I know the rules, I know where the SKUs are, I know how fast my pickers can go Great, let's use AI and figure out how to do that better. So I would say AI, certainly do not ignore it. But also do not get caught up on the axle and say it's going to solve world hunger. It's not. It's a fantastic tool. With automation, I think there's a play for AI because of the fact automation has the data, has the rules, has the use cases. So I think, from that perspective, automation might be one of the areas where AI could actually get or see tremendous gains, as opposed to saying, well, I'm going to do AI for supply chain planning.

Supply Chain Education and Careers

Speaker 1

Yeah, no, I agree, I mean you're talking about supply chain planning and before you, so I know you really well, right, but I went on your LinkedIn profile and I saw that you do some work with University of Tennessee their supply chain program, so talk to me a little bit about that.

Speaker 2

Yeah, it was great, so I used. I used to be on the board of the UTK supply chain council.

Speaker 1

Go Vols, go Orange. It was great.

Speaker 2

Fantastic organization, fantastic school. Shameless plug for UTK. Anybody's interested in supply chain, undergrad or graduate.

Speaker 1

They have a good program. Amazing program, amazing program.

Speaker 2

So a lot of the work I did, which was really good, is being on the board with a number of tier one customers Procter Gamble, amazon, target.

Speaker 1

I love to see the giving back.

Speaker 2

The giving back part was great and it was really. Really what was great about it is to be able to talk to these supply chain professionals I know on a quarterly basis about what they're dealing with, what they're seeing, etc. So that was really good. What was really also rewarding was working with the kids, like kids you know, some were phd students and I know they're.

Speaker 2

We're all, yeah, we're all kids but it was great because it's and what was really fascinating and this I always took away is like 75 of them wanted to work in procurement. Yeah, that's the look I gave when I heard. I was like, why don't work in procurement? Now, part of it was like a lot like png and craft and all that a lot of jobs to come in and do procurement.

Speaker 1

Oh yeah, there's a lot A lot and I get it.

Speaker 2

But it was fascinating to have those conversations with them because the students were just like oh, it's so cool If we get to like do buying strategies and sourcing strategies. I'm like procurement.

Speaker 1

Call me in 10 years.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I'm like call me five, five minutes after you do that, but good for you. Um, so it was really interesting, so I it was really rewarding. I've. So ted stank is the head of it. He always, you know, gives me trouble about coming back and working away, which I would love to. Um, it's, it's a great organization. I think it's it's one of the hidden gems in in for supply chain. Yeah, I think it's one of the hidden gems for supply chain recruiting. Yeah, I think it's one of the hidden gems for supply chain recruiting. Yeah, I think it's why the hidden gems were just supply chain knowledge and being part of that group. Just the knowledge sharing in there was fantastic. And again, utk was where I did a lot of stuff, but Penn State has a great program, michigan State, stanford, northeastern, here in Boston has a fantastic supply chain program.

Speaker 2

I think it's really. I love it. It's really encouraging to see that supply chain is now becoming. You know, it's not just buried in operations.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it's a real thing.

Speaker 2

It's a real thing, as it should be. Just don't just do procurement. There's other cool stuff in supply chain.

Espresso Martini Social Club

Speaker 1

It's so true. So, yeah, I mean, you know we're kind of closing our session today, but you know, guy, we're salespeople at heart and business development people, and this is a little back story about Guy, right. So we're salespeople, we're on the road all the time. You kind of take what little joys you can have sometimes from being on the road and Guy and I. One thing that we screenshot and send to each other all the time it's an espresso martini. One thing that we screenshot and send to each other all the time it's an espresso martini. So it's like oh, I, I found a good one in you name. The city, was it?

Speaker 2

des moines iowa yeah I found a good.

Speaker 1

Oh, I'll write that on my list when I get there. We also get the mandy. Never go there and have this one yes so with that um I, I have something for you. Oh, it's not an espresso martini, because we get definitely arrested for drinking in this park, not that I'd know.

Speaker 2

Not that anybody would, yeah, but I have something for you.

Speaker 1

So we have espresso martini social club hats. Oh, is the director laughing? Because we have one for you. You so come put this on. And forest, is that you over there laughing? We have one for you. To come put these on. I love you were having such a good hair day too. I was. I did so so so, yeah, so this is gonna blow away. This looks we look like jerks, but anyway know. So I was telling one of our mutual friends about this and she's like who's in this club?

Speaker 2

Oh.

Speaker 1

Is this a club I can be in? And I said well, can you show up to Boston on the 11th?

Speaker 2

And she said no, I can't.

Speaker 1

Well, then you can't be in the club, so she sent this.

Speaker 2

Very nice.

Speaker 1

So our friend Allie Walker, also in the social club. I mean funny story.

Speaker 2

I'm surprised she didn't show up, because of all the people she's going on vacation With her family.

Speaker 1

They're going to 30A. She's like I love you, but 30A. So, anyway, I sent that to Allie Walker and, talking about supply chain, she's like when did it go? I can't find it. And I sent her a picture of the amazon box on her front step and she's like, oh, I'll go find that. Oh, yeah, we have that. So, thank you, supply chain.

Speaker 2

So hey, well, it wasn't her 3pl, right, that was delivering.

Speaker 1

No, no, no, no no, and yeah, shout out to ali walker. So put my my hat on. So this looks so good. I'm not wearing this at the rest, but Allie Walker's like I'm wearing that all over 30A, so watch for those pictures, all right, so anyway. So anyway, guy Cordon, thank you so much for being here from Texas, not the state, the company.

Speaker 1

You know Mandy Dwight, host of Roscos, also Dwight and Company boutique sales and marketing for Automation and Robotics Companies. I'm forced to say that with every episode because it's the sponsor. Yeah, I guess I'm the sponsor and Pete. Any last thoughts?

Speaker 2

No, this is great man. I appreciate it and look forward to the next episode. If you guys will have me on again, Absolutely.

Speaker 1

This team needs to come over. We have to put on our hats and I'll wave goodbye to everybody, katie, and I'll wave goodbye to everybody, katie. Nobody looks that good here, katie. It's how it is Not wearing shoes. Okay, I gotta say bye, bye. I appreciate that you wore the Wimbledon outfit too for today, do you like it, I do. I do.