10 For ’25

Each year, Zero100’s data science team analyzes millions of data points and marries them with insights from thousands of conversations with the Zero100 Community and our research team. The result? Ten predictions and imperatives to guide global operations leaders and their teams on the path to a Zero Percent Carbon, 100% Digital Supply Chain.

But this report isn’t intended as an exercise in crystal-ball gazing. It’s a strategic checkpoint— a chance for leaders to align on pivotal shifts in the macro landscape so we can adjust course, refine, or double down on initiatives. As Dr Dirk Holbach, CSCO at Henkel Consumer Brands, says in the report foreword, “Balancing supply chain basics with innovation requires acting with openness, framing disruption as an opportunity, and courageously finding new ways of doing business."

The full report, available for members now, lays out the predictions in full, each with three related imperatives leaders can use to shape strategies now.

PREDICTION ONE

1 in 5 Companies Implement an AI Agent in Operations

AI agents can autonomously achieve outcomes and are built to learn and adapt decisions instead of merely executing pre-defined steps. For example, Microsoft is testing agents that plan schedules, and Aera’s latest release leverages a team of multiple agents to efficiently manage complex, unstructured workflows.

AN IMPERATIVE: Evaluate the platforms you already have and when AI agents might be available—if you aren’t a technology or automotive company, our data suggests it may not be worth building this capability in-house, especially as the tech landscape matures.

PREDICTION TWO

Digital Twins Hit Adolescence as 40% of Companies Adopt Them

The concept of a digital twin is not new, but adoption has grown significantly—up 56% between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023, with 30% of companies now integrating them into operations. This is a clear shift from early experimentation to adolescent application. Yesterday’s bleeding edge is today’s investment.

AN IMPERATIVE: Like Bayer’s digital factories for corn seed, consider the knock-on effect of digital twins to improve organizational digital fluency and translation across silos.

PREDICTION THREE

2x Growth of “Translators” in Supply Chain

Translators are the people transferring technical knowledge and architecting business requirements over the lifecycle of a digital product. Today, only 3% of all new jobs in the supply chain are translators, and we believe this needs to be around 15% in digital-native supply chains.

AN IMPERATIVE: Identify your translators and build their collective experiences and skills into development programs.

PREDICTION FOUR

New Warehouse Jobs Shrink by 5% as Last-Mile Capabilities Grow

After positive growth for over a decade, as of 2023, the YoY growth rate for warehouse work in the US is -2%. But parcel volume isn’t in decline, it is growing steadily by 2% YoY—a classic example of automation at work in the logistics sector. Plus, last-mile investment is on the rise, with $41 of every $100 spent on supply chains funneled into last-mile operations.

AN IMPERATIVE: The human-machine teams’ path forward is to split logistics into warehouse and delivery – prioritize machines in warehouses and people in logistics.

PREDICTION FIVE

4x Income-Adjusted Robot Density in China, South Korea, and Singapore

China tops the charts in terms of manufacturing prowess and has an explicit five-year plan to become a global leader in robotics. And when we look at The Automation Readiness Index (ARI), South Korea and Singapore are among the top three countries preparing for the smooth integration of intelligent automation into their economies.

AN IMPERATIVE: Evaluate where you are facing a misalignment between labor and work needs, then consider if robotics could help as well as the potential value proposition.

PREDICTION SIX

10% of Companies Prioritize Knowledge Graphs in Supply Chain

What does a strong data foundation look like in practice? Net-net, it’s about the architecture and the operating model to get results from data. Today, 4% of companies, including Volkswagen and Amazon, are investing in new jobs that manage knowledge graphs in the supply chain while 3% are prioritizing new jobs in managing data schemas.

AN IMPERATIVE: Invest in dedicated roles accountable for maintaining knowledge graphs.

PREDICTION SEVEN

2% of Apparel Launches Feature Alternative Materials

Apparel companies are embracing innovative solutions when it comes to regenerative practices and circularity, setting SBTi targets 1.7x higher than their peers in other industries. Examples come from pioneers like Walmart’s sourcing team, which is creating yarn out of CO2.

AN IMPERATIVE: Align the goals (and systems) of your R&D and operations teams around operationalizing DfX principles that optimize the multivariable equation across sustainability, manufacturability, and innovation.

PREDICTION EIGHT

Digital Leaders Are 2x Further Ahead on Scope 3 Targets

Supply chain leaders wield the power to make a huge impact, and digital leadership is key to making that impact a reality. When corroborating SBTi report data with Zero100 data, we found that digital leaders are, on average, +28% ahead of on-track target progress and 1.7x ahead compared to digital laggards. We predict an even greater margin between leaders and laggards in 2025.

AN IMPERATIVE : Link executive bonuses to time-bound and measurable annual sustainability targets.

PREDICTION NINE

Consolidation of the Sourcing Tech Landscape, with 3 Emerging AI Providers Acquired

We estimate upwards of 112 different vendor providers servicing the largest supply chains across the sourcing landscape alone. And in the race to catch a competitive edge with growing genAI capabilities, there has been a surge in acquisitions in 2023 within the technology industry, which is on track to more than double its M&A activity in 2024.

AN IMPERATIVE : Benchmark your sourcing tech stack against peers inside and outside your industry, especially for emerging AI use cases. (We can help with this!)

PREDICTION TEN

Agile Supply Chain Teams Grow Revenue 5x Faster

Our data shows that the single biggest indicator of a strong Fusion Team capability (resulting in improved performance metrics) is the size of the agile capability. Companies with below average size agile teams shrank revenue (-0.5%), while those with larger teams grew revenue (+2.7%).

AN IMPERATIVE: Take inventory of your internal “supply chain products” and note which have product managers accountable for the sustained lifecycle—if the conclusion is not many, that’s a good place to start growing tech adoption.

Winning in a digital-first, customer-centric era demands an “always-on” approach to strategic transformation— and these ten predictions intend to serve as a starter kit for you and your leadership team on the most critical imperatives for 2025. We hope this data inspires you and your team to keep going, adjust course, or quicken your pace, encouraged by the art (and data science) of what’s possible.

To access the full report, visit members.zero100.com.

If you are not a Zero100 member, please fill out the form below to inquire about report access.