Karen Ryan of Prompta, moderated an outstanding panel discussion titled 2020 And Beyond: the Future of Supplier Diversity at the 2018 LGBT+ Global Business Summit & Supplier Diversity Forum. The interactive session was focused squarely on how our world is changing at an incredible pace and how technologies like machine learning and AI are transforming how we do business today and will in the future.
The panellists were Kiruba Sankar, Director-CSR, Global Procurement, RBC Royal Bank, and Bibhu Mohapatra, Vendor Manager, IT & Technology Services, TELUS.
Led by Karen, the panel discussed how these rapid technology changes are expected to impact supply chains and procurement practices of the future, and how some sectoral industries are responding. The conversation touched upon the technological changes currently impacting the supply chain including AI, Bots, block chain, Big Data, automation, transportation, & cyber security and the associated business implications and how they are influencing procurement practices, social procurement and supplier diversity.
The session also looked at the impact of social change on supplier diversity and the panelists discussed some of the current and future challenges faced by organizations. They deliberated about the learning and education required to meet the growing demands for change around social procurement and supplier management and how to best support and guide companies and their leaders into 2020 and beyond.
