Episode 121: Balancing the Benefits of AI & the Health of Our Planet
This podcast episode explores the complex relationship between AI and sustainability in supply chains. Experts MarySue Barrett and Regenia Sanders highlight AI’s potential to optimize operations, improve climate monitoring, and support decarbonization, while also addressing AI’s significant energy, water, and mineral consumption. They discuss strategies for responsible AI governance, transparency, and cross-industry collaboration. The conversation emphasizes the growing importance of supply chain visibility, sustainable technology innovation, federal advocacy, and supplier engagement. Highlighting the Women’s Leadership Center’s role in empowering female leaders, the episode encourages thoughtful AI adoption as a powerful tool to balance business growth with environmental responsibility. Guest: MarySue Barrett, Women’s Leadership Center MarySue Barrett is a super-connector. Through MSB Policy Consulting, she actively shares her knowledge and network to help institutions achieve outsized results. Her energy, make-it-happen attitude, and enthusiasm are contagious. MarySue is thrilled to dedicate most of her time to advising Ann M. Drake and a new Women’s Leadership Center on programming, to ensure that women are at the forefront of solving global problems. She cultivates partnerships with corporations, think tanks, women’s leadership organizations, and universities on Bold Ideas such as harnessing AI to reduce environmental harms. Other clients have included M. Harris & Co., the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Pritzker Traubert Foundation, and the Brookings Institution, where she has a long affiliation as a Nonresident Senior Fellow. MarySue draws on a notable track record as a policy changemaker. For 25 years, she was President of the independent Metropolitan Planning Council. Earlier, she served in Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Administration as Chief of Policy. She has nourished her passion for learning from other cities through seven international leadership exchanges, including one sponsored by the International Women’s Forum. Guest: Regenia R. Sanders, Managing Partner Consulting, EY Regenia Sanders is an executive with 25+ years of experience driving business transformation and consulting for Fortune 500 and Private Equity companies, mainly in Automotive and Industrial Manufacturing. She specializes in Supply Chain Management, delivering global programs across sourcing, procurement, planning, manufacturing, and fulfillment. Regenia has led enterprise-wide transformations using technologies like SAP and best-in-class software, working from shopfloor to C-suite as a trusted advisor on cost reduction and operating models. At EY, she served as Business Consulting practice leader for the US Central Region and previously as Supply Chain & Operations leader for the Americas. She is currently Managing Partner of EY Atlanta and helped establish EY’s Supply Chain Planning as an industry leader. Known for translating complex ideas for broad audiences, Regenia drives supply chain innovation through analytics and advanced tech. She contributes to publications, panels, and academia, champions DEI as an executive sponsor at EY. Externally she sits on the Board of Directors for the National Minority Supplier Development Council and the Alumni Board of Directors for her alma mater, and the Advisory Board for Advancing Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management and Education (AWESOME). Host: Richard Howells, SAP Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability. Richard’s LinkedIn & Twitter Host: Oyku Ilgar, SAP Oyku Ilgar holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in Financial Administration and Accounting and another in English Translation Studies. After graduating Summa Cum Laude from her undergraduate studies in Istanbul, she pursued her master’s degree in Business Administration and Foreign Trade in Germany with a specialization in Marketing. Since 2017, Oyku has been working in the supply chain management area at SAP. As a marketer and blogger, she creates written, audible, and visual content focused on ERP and supply chain solutions, with a strong emphasis on business trends, AI, machine learning, and sustainability. Oyku’s SAP Community & LinkedIn Useful Links: Download Transcript Whitepaper: Balancing the Benefits of AI and the Health of Our Planet www.sap.com/ERP womensleadershipcenter.org Follow Us on Social Media Richard Howells: LinkedIn, X Oyku Ilgar: LinkedIn SAP Digital Supply Chain: LinkedIn Please give us a like, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future episodes!The post Episode 121: Balancing the Benefits of AI and the Health of Our Planet first appeared on The Future of Supply Chain.