The Hackett Group: Supply Chain AI Adoption Rising Amid Economic Pressures

By: The Hackett Group, Inc. via Business Wire

April 04, 2025 at 10:00 AM EDT

New report shows 50% of leaders testing Gen AI to build resilient, agile supply chains as urgency grows

The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT), a leading generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) strategic consultancy and executive advisory firm, released findings from its 2025 Key Issues Study, revealing how AI is poised to reshape supply chains. Approximately 50% of supply chain leaders are testing Gen AI, yet full-scale deployment remains nascent. As economic uncertainty and cost pressures mount, supply chain executives must act now to accelerate AI-driven transformation and remain competitive.

“Supply chain leaders are facing a period of unprecedented volatility, where shifting policies and geopolitical uncertainty can disrupt operations overnight,” said Erin Blair, principal, Strategy and Operations at The Hackett Group. “To stay competitive, organizations must build agility into their supply chains while maintaining cost-efficiency and customer satisfaction. AI-powered digital transformation will be key to navigating these challenges and ensuring long-term resilience.”

Supply chain organizations are early in the AI journey

Supply chain leaders report increasing interest in AI-powered tools like supply chain intelligence, predictive analytics, data visualization, and Gen AI to improve resilience and efficiency. The study found:

Prescriptive AI is emerging as a game changer in the supply chain, providing real-time, data-driven decision-making capabilities to mitigate risks.
Approximately 50% of supply chain teams are piloting Gen AI, but widespread adoption is limited so far; planning is currently the top area of Gen AI deployment.
Economic uncertainty is a top concern for 75% of supply chain leaders, increasing pressure to improve cost-efficiency, assure product availability and build supply chain agility/resilience – their top three priorities for 2025.
Talent/skill development is the top reported initiative for supply chain leaders in 2025, as a key factor in supporting business agility. However, it’s the initiative they currently feel least confident in their ability to achieve.

Supply chain’s mandate for 2025

Digital transformation, including the use of AI, will aid in delivering against supply chain challenges and economic and geopolitical uncertainty. To enable growth and remain competitive in 2025, The Hackett Group recommends supply chain leaders focus on these five critical areas:

Drive sustainable cost reduction – optimize costs while strengthening supply chain resilience.
Focus on customer needs – ensure satisfaction and innovate to sustain demand amid uncertainty.
Build supply chain agility and resilience – optimize operations to maintain supply continuity and service levels.
Invest in the rapid creation of insights – improving data quality, access and the speed at which you can turn data into actionable insights.
Invest in digital transformation wisely – deploy thoughtful applications of AI; leverage vendors’ embedded Gen AI capabilities as part of technology upgrades.

The time to act is now

With rising cost pressures and increasing demand for supply chain agility, AI-driven transformation is no longer optional – it’s a competitive necessity. Supply chain teams that have yet to integrate Gen AI into their work must quickly assess where they can apply this transformational technology to remain competitive.

Download the full 2025 Supply Chain Agenda report here.

About The Hackett Group^®

The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) is an IP and platform-based, Gen AI strategic consulting and executive advisory firm that enables Digital World Class^® performance. Using AI XPLR^ä and ZBrain^ä – our ideation through implementation platforms – our experienced professionals help organizations realize the power of Gen AI and achieve quantifiable, breakthrough results, allowing us to be key architects of their Gen AI journey.

Our expertise is grounded in unparalleled best practices insights from benchmarking the world’s leading businesses – including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 89% of the Fortune 100, 70% of the DAX 40 and 55% of the FTSE 100. Visit us at www.thehackettgroup.com.

Trademarks

The Hackett Group^®, quadrant logo, and Digital World Class^® are the registered marks of The Hackett Group^®.

Cautionary Statement Regarding “Forward-Looking” Statements

This release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements including without limitation, words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” or other similar phrases or variations of such words or similar expressions indicating, present or future anticipated or expected occurrences or outcomes are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical fact and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may impact such forward-looking statements include without limitation, the ability of The Hackett Group to effectively market its digital transformation, our ability to transition our capabilities to support generative artificial intelligence (AI)-related consulting services and solutions and other consulting services, our ability to effectively integrate acquisitions, including the LeewayHertz acquisition into our operations, our ability to manage joint ventures and successfully cooperate with our joint venture partners, competition from other consulting and technology companies that may have or develop in the future, similar offerings, the commercial viability of The Hackett Group and its services as well as other risk detailed in The Hackett Group’s reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The Hackett Group does not undertake any duty to update this release or any forward-looking statements contained herein.