AI IN SUPPLY CHAIN
“ My career has always capitalised on an epoch that drives fundamental change at business and society level ”
DUNCAN ANGOVE , CEO , BLUE YONDER
Q . WHAT DOES YOUR ROLE AS CEO ENTAIL ?
» I travel a lot because we ’ re a geographically-dispersed company , so we have employees all around the world . This week , for example , I started my Monday morning in London , where you have the UK ’ s biggest brands running on Blue Yonder software rails . Then I went to Germany , where we have approximately 300 employees , before moving on to France . We have customers and associates all around the world , so that drives a lot of my time .
When I ’ m not travelling , I have a very product engineering-oriented agenda . Our philosophy is that if you don ’ t get the product right , nothing else really matters . You can have delightfully happy customers but they ’ re not going to buy more if you don ’ t have differentiated products that drive huge value for them . So , we spend a lot of time on product strategy , product investments and ask , ‘ where can we drive step changes in value for customers ?’. That probably consumes half of my time .
Q . HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE ?
» Every company has values and , generally , they include respect , empathy , inclusion and diversity – to us , those are non-negotiable . I don ’ t care how talented you are ; if you don ’ t embody those values in how you treat associates and customers , you ’ re out . However , I think it would be a very sad world if those were
54 February 2025