This presentation will reveal how a major automotive supplier is driving technological transformation in supply chain across its organisation, including digitalisation and AI initiatives focused on core systems and data from key sources such as SAP and MES. Fabian Pobantz, who drives digitalisation and AI across operations, will connect the company’s roadmap to progress and development in key AI areas as well, including physical AI and humanoids, as well as the generative AI journey and rollout of agentic AI.

A key focus for Schaeffler is how digitalisation can enable teams to understand and accept changes in roles and responsibilities, including how teams in supply chain or purchasing work with IT departments and with autonomous agents. He will also show how a data-driven, digital organisation can help senior leaders to make better decisions.

Join this session for an honest, but inspiring assessment of the journey of technological maturity and the need to create foundational building blocks for successful digital transformation, including:

• Aligning digital roadmaps to strategic priorities and KPIs in operations.
• Maturity levels and uses cases for key AI technologies, such as physical AI, genAI and agentic AI.
• How organisation and teams are changing ways of working and collaborating across operations and IT, supported by autonomous agents. 

SEAT has become one of the benchmarks for the wider Volkswagen Group for digitalisation and data strategy in logistics management, with advances shared in detail at past ALSC Digital Strategies Europe conferences. In recent years, it has integrated visibility of material, delivery times, capacity and inventory in its groundbreaking digital control tower and Customer Driven Supply Chain strategy. The carmaker has also implemented hyper-automation and the use of generative AI in key procurement and documentation processes.

Now, it is moving at pace to roll out agentic AI as a of a strategy to support its employees in logistics tasks.

In this presentation, Rafael Sanchez, head of Customer Driven Supply Chain, will share how SEAT is further advancing its AI and data-driven logistics strategy. The carmaker’s logistics task manager will help to centralise communication across sources in logistics, such as categorising data, displaying KPIs and simplifying complex logistics operations. Learn more about how this approach can help with intricate scenarios planning involving suppliers, factories, and supply chain capacities, with capabilities for disruption alerts, intelligent risk assessment, and automated reporting.

SEAT will share its data and system strategy for developing and implementing these agents, and the role they can play in addressing critical business metrics, including reducing inventory stocks, optimising working capital, and enhancing delivery reliability.

Join this keynote presentation and gain exclusive insights into:

• SEAT’s digitalisation and AI roadmap, including its IT infrastructure and process map to centralise logistics data, and key steps to leverage analytics, hyper-automation and AI.
• How SEAT is rolling out autonomous AI agents to support key logistics tasks and information and help empower decision making and value-added activity.
• The key role that training plays in the carmaker’s AI rollout and how people will continue to drive decision making.
• Next steps for the carmaker’s digitalisation and automation journey in logistics. 

As artificial intelligence evolves and expands possibilities, automotive logistics, data and digital professionals must build an AI roadmap based on the company’s strategic goals and priorities more than technology itself. At the same time, companies need a strategy that can be flexible and adaptable to new potential, from advances in AI to new opportunities in visibility and connectivity.  

This panel will explore how companies are approaching their roadmap for AI in supply chain and logistics, from building a master data set, to implementing machine learning and AI-powered solutions across logistics. It will also consider steps for companies who are only at the very early stages, as well as the skills, mindset and culture needed to drive transformation.  

In this panel, hear from supply chain planners, logistics and digital product owners how they are:

• Developing a comprehensive but practical AI adoption strategy
• Ensuring AI roadmaps are based on solid foundations, aligned to business goals, technology nuances, resources and capabilities
• Recognising the risks and pitfalls in the roadmap, and combatting them by establishing an effective AI governance structure
• Understanding the training and people culture required to ensure the AI strategy doesn’t go off the road

Automotive manufacturers must increasingly have a full understanding of parts and material origins across their supply chains, including to meet regulatory compliance around forced labour, sustainability and to manage trade policy and tariffs. Whilst these requirements are complex, they are also an opportunity: having a visual representation and understanding of material flows, combined with demand and capacity planning, can provide critical insights into processes, risks and efficiency, whilst enabling data-driven decision making.

Attend this opening session to hear from manufacturers, logistics and technology providers on how they are:

• Identifying key links in their supply chains globally to meet compliance and trade requirements
• Overcoming lack of standardised systems and lack of real time data
• Developing strategies and tools to monitor and mitigate risks
• Using supply chain mapping to gain insights and business intelligence

Oliver Ganser, who leads digitalisation across BMW Group's purchasing and supplier network, will share how BMW Group is embedding AI – including innovations in agentic AI – across its purchasing and supplier ecosystems to drive efficiency, agility, and resilience.

Join this session to understand more about the technology and IT which support the carmaker's supply chain and ensure such innovations are a success. The session will also highlight how BMW is upskilling teams, collaborating across business and technology experts, and integrating AI into existing digital infrastructures to scale impact across global operations. 

Attendees will gain practical insights into how genAI is being used to support procurement and bid analysis processes, including assessment of supplier information, location analysis and contract analysis. Meanwhile, AI agents across multiple functions can further support employees in areas like sourcing, quality checks, risk assessment, logistics and more.

Given the scale of complexity in the automotive supply chain, functions like procurement, supplier and provider management require large volume of data and documentation just to work through RFQs, tenders and performance management. For some employees and suppliers, more time might be spent managing paperwork than doing value-added analysis, assessment and optimisation.

But these are exactly the areas where the strategic application of natural language and genAI models can make a real difference in productivity and decision making. 

This panel will discuss compelling use cases and opportunities for genAI and agentic AI across the automotive supply chain, including in documentation, procurement, logistics planning and more. Experts will discuss strategic objectives, as well approaches to upskill and empower employees to ensure the technologies reduce waste, increase value-added processes and increase performance.

Key talking points:

• Real-world applications of genAI and agentic AI in procurement, logistics, and supplier collaboration.
• Strategies for scaling AI adoption, including training, governance, and integration with legacy systems.
• Quantifiable benefits in time savings, cost reduction, and supply chain responsiveness.

In this showcase presentation, hear from Dr. Volker Dörrsam, Senior Director for Digitalization and Supply Chain Excellence at Infineon describe how the team rolled out real solutions, overcame missteps, and built on lessons learned to scale up digital tools in supply chain operations.

Digital transformation in automotive logistics is not a one-way path, but often a winding road that includes key enterprise system modernisation, targeted tools, collaboration and learning with vendors, and inevitable challenges and mistakes along the way.

With two use cases to discuss, learn about how Infineon developed a “digital first” culture in the organisation, and why it is still important to have a “human in the loop” approach, even when more AI and new technologies are incorporated into legacy systems.

Digitalisation and AI offer automotive manufacturers and logistics providers many opportunities to streamline and automate processes, from data analysis to network design to RFQ and tenders. But in an industry that still depends highly on human skills and on relationships, it is more important than ever for automotive manufacturers and providers to focus on the skills, mindsets and potential of its people.

But that does not mean that roles and tasks won’t continue to change, especially as more automation and AI opportunities arise. How should people working across supply chain and logistics adapt, and what are the key tasks and decisions that should always be led and managed using human intelligence?

This session will explore changing skills, mindset and functions in digitalised automotive logistics, and help companies to think strategically about its people and resources even as it explores new opportunities in technologies. It will also look to assess where leaders ultimately see AI and machines offering the most value, and where people can.

Join this session to understand more about:

• How automotive logistics companies are upskilling and adapting teams to succeed in parallel to AI and automation opportunities
• Understanding where people should focus the most time, effort and value
• Insights into why people and relationships will matter even in the age of AI
• How supply chain and logistics expertise and leadership is changing