ISM World 2026: Three Mile-High Supply Chain Differentiators
To “ascend” in today’s supply chain environment, organizations must learn to manage speed — the speed of change, technology development, skills evolution and geopolitical dynamics.
“Velocity is the new currency of business,” Chris Sawchuk, global procurement advisory practice leader at The Hackett Group, said during a session at ISM World 2026. “Many things are becoming more commoditized, and the speed by which (supply chain professionals) are able to act is going to be the competitive differentiator between organizations.”
Ascend was the theme of Institute for Supply Management®’s (ISM®) Annual Conference, which took place April 26-28 at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora, Colorado.
The Conference offered attendees, who came from all over the world, strategies on how to distinguish themselves from competitors. In addition to speed, AI (easily the topic of the Conference) and people emerged as differentiators discussed outside of Denver.
The sessions, workshops, mini-presentations in the Innovation Park trade show, and other events gave emerging and seasoned professionals as well as executives actionable ideas, strategies and new skills they could implement in their organizations.
Networking opportunities enabled more discussions about strategies, key issues and more. And awards presentations and sessions — including a panel of J. Shipman award winners featuring the 2026 recipient, Farryn Melton; Craig Reed, MBA, CPSM (2025) and Susan Spence, MBA (2020), Chair of the Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee — were informative and inspirational.
A Second Differentiator: AI
Reed, vice president of global procurement at Thermo Fisher Scientific, noted that technological advancements like AI can work to supply managers’ advantage because they are first to see many the dynamics. AI is another differentiator.
“I think we are in a very unique position in this overall process,” he said during the Closing General Session, which included the Shipman panel. “We have the opportunity to see it all first and introduce it to our organizations, helping them understand how to use it to make the business better.”
During the Opening General Session, technology journalist and keynote speaker Kara Swisher cautioned that organizations should make sure AI advances the function’s needs, adding that overreliance on technologies that lack a human element is risky. Swisher is a best-selling author, host of the “On with Kara Swisher” podcasts and host of “Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever,” a six-part docuseries that premiered on CNN on April 11.
Still, she lauded the use of AI in potentially accelerating breakthroughs in drug and vaccine development and gene editing, while expressing skepticism of lofty claims from tech companies.
A Third Differentiator: People
In accepting the Shipman Award at the black-tie ISM Awards Gala, Melton, president and CEO of Strategic Edge Advisories, said she was honored to be included in such a prestigious group.
“When I think about my career, I don’t think about times,” she said. “I think about moments, and moments that we were pushing for pyramid to be more — more than cost savings, more than the process, more than something that’s brought in after the fact, something that can truly shape the business, drive resilience, create access and deliver real value.”
Over time, Melton said, she has realized how much leadership matters in building capacity and capability — and sustaining it through change.
“And if there’s one thing I’m most proud of, it’s the people. The teams I’ve had the privilege to work with, the leaders that I’ve had (and the individuals): They are the ones out there today that are making decisions and driving real impact,” she said.
ISM World 2027 will be held on May 16-18 at the Gaylord National Resort & Conference Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, outside of Washington, D.C.
(Photo credit: Ember Light Media)