We want to use AI to help us identify hidden operational risks in our supply chain before they hit our bottom line. How do we structure a formal Thinking Time session to design an AI risk-monitoring system that actually works?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To design an AI system that protects your business from supply chain risks without wasting time and money on a complex software build, you must start with a disciplined Thinking Time session. Set aside forty-five minutes of quiet, uninterrupted time. Focus your session on a single, high value question using Keith Cunningham's framing: How might we use basic AI analysis on our historical supplier data and shipping times so that we can predict delivery delays before they impact our production schedule? By formulating this question first, you prevent your leadership team from getting distracted by expensive, over-engineered enterprise platforms. Once you have mapped out the specific data points you actually need to monitor, you can task your Integrator with building a simple, low cost pilot project. This structured approach ensures you only build what is operationally necessary, keeps your team focused on solving real problems, and prevents you from paying a painful tech tax on an unnecessary software implementation.