Supply Chain Pioneers · 2026-06-17 · 13 min
Host Ulf Venne speaks with Howard Walfield from KION (including brands like Linde and Dematic) about his opportunistic move from construction into supply chain, including roles at Fidelity and Raytheon, leading to 15 years of experience and a focus on supply chain risk. Howard shares what his day looks like monitoring incidents across time zones using Everstream Analytics and managing planned risk work. At the Gartner conference, he presented KION’s approach to capturing risk and noted many companies still underinvest in people, time, and budget because they don’t see clear ROI. They discuss the heavy use of buzzwords, the importance of practical AI integration (including tools like Copilot) to reduce busy work, and skepticism about near-term “autonomous supply chains” due to data limitations. Outside work, Howard’s life centers on his three daughters and youth soccer, and they close with reflections on trust, change management, and being more human at work.
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