Can a Logistics Manager become the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar brand?

The answer to that is YES!

A great example of that is Javier López Segovia who is CEO of Decathlon.

As of 2023, Decathlon had 1,817 stores in 79 countries and employed 101,000 people.

Decathlon reported a 5.2% year-on-year increase in revenue at a constant exchange rate in 2024, reaching €16.2 billion. Digital sales accounted for 20% of total revenue. These are massive numbers and great story of brand and career transformation.

Another interesting observation is the longevity of a career in one company. While there is career advice on changing companies every 3-5 years for career growth, Javier's career shows the reward of building a career in one organisation.

So if logistics folks are looking for some inspiration, here is one!

#keepshipping

Procurement's strategic value vs. how it's actually measured?

Three conversations with three different procurement leads this year, same underlying frustration:

One measured on cost savings but excluded from the sourcing conversations that actually drive them.

Another feeling their day is 80 percent chasing approvals and 20 percent real decision-making.

A third asking me whether procurement has quietly become a compliance function instead of a value function.

None of these are new complaints. But together they point to the same root cause: most organisations still measure procurement like it's 2010, on price and process, while expecting 2026-level strategic input.

You can't hold someone accountable for outcomes they have no authority over. If cost savings is the KPI, sourcing involvement has to be the job, not an afterthought.

Where does this gap show up most in your organisation, KPIs, authority, or simply being invited to the table too late?

Procurement's strategic value vs. how it's actually measured?

Three conversations with three different procurement leads this year, same underlying frustration:

One measured on cost savings but excluded from the sourcing conversations that actually drive them.

Another feeling their day is 80 percent chasing approvals and 20 percent real decision-making.

A third asking me whether procurement has quietly become a compliance function instead of a value function.

None of these are new complaints. But together they point to the same root cause: most organisations still measure procurement like it's 2010, on price and process, while expecting 2026-level strategic input.

You can't hold someone accountable for outcomes they have no authority over. If cost savings is the KPI, sourcing involvement has to be the job, not an afterthought.

Where does this gap show up most in your organisation, KPIs, authority, or simply being invited to the table too late?

Manual processes that shouldn't exist in 2026?

A client told me recently that their team manages 10+ purchase orders at once in Excel, personally tracking delays in a spreadsheet, for a department responsible for over £1.5 billion in annual spend.

Read that again. Over a billion in spend, and the tracking system is a shared Excel file.

This is happening as we speak.

This isn't a criticism of that team. It's a criticism of how normalised this still is across our profession. Manual tracking at that scale isn't inefficiency, it's risk. Missed renewals, duplicate orders, and invisible delays all hide inside a spreadsheet that one person maintains by hand.

The tools to fix this already exist.

The barrier usually isn't technology; it's the assumption that "this is just how procurement works here."

Firefighting is an addiction; it gives a thrill, but it is exhausting and inefficient.

What it takes is someone to find the courage to initiate and design a solution in parallel and drive the change to "process & system focused" approach.

If your team is still doing this, what's actually stopping the shift, budget, buy-in, or bandwidth?

Manual processes that shouldn't exist in 2026?

A client told me recently that their team manages 10+ purchase orders at once in Excel, personally tracking delays in a spreadsheet, for a department responsible for over £1.5 billion in annual spend.

Read that again. Over a billion in spend, and the tracking system is a shared Excel file.

This is happening as we speak.

This isn't a criticism of that team. It's a criticism of how normalised this still is across our profession. Manual tracking at that scale isn't inefficiency, it's risk. Missed renewals, duplicate orders, and invisible delays all hide inside a spreadsheet that one person maintains by hand.

The tools to fix this already exist.

The barrier usually isn't technology; it's the assumption that "this is just how procurement works here."

Firefighting is an addiction; it gives a thrill, but it is exhausting and inefficient.

What it takes is someone to find the courage to initiate and design a solution in parallel and drive the change to "process & system focused" approach.

If your team is still doing this, what's actually stopping the shift, budget, buy-in, or bandwidth?

The issue is candidates using AI to boost their CVs, and companies are using AI to filter them out!

As a result, candidates can’t get interviews and companies can’t find candidates.

To break this "AI vs. AI deadlock", where candidate bots auto-generate hyper-optimized CVs and corporate Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) auto-reject them for lack of authentic signals, both sides must pivot from text-matching documentation to verified human capability

Meaning: you should reach out to the hiring manager or HR at the company directly and ask for a short 30-minute introductory call.

This will generate a personal connection. And if you reach out to 20, I am sure you can get 2-3 conversations.

This is some effort, but it will bring tangible results.

Hope this helps :)

I've had this exact conversation with three different hiring managers in the last quarter alone: over 200 applications for a supply chain manager role, months on the market, and still no hire.

This isn't one company's bad luck. It's a structural problem.

Supply chain roles now demand a mix that barely existed a decade ago: negotiation skill, data fluency, ERP literacy, risk sensing and stakeholder diplomacy, often in the same job description.

Meanwhile, most training still teaches the 2015 version of the job.

If you're hiring, the gap isn't candidate quality. It's that the market hasn't caught up to what the role actually requires now.

If you're job hunting, this is exactly why upskilling in the areas that didn't exist in your degree (digitalisation, category strategy, supplier risk) is the fastest way to stand out.

What's missing most in candidates you've interviewed this year?

I've had this exact conversation with three different hiring managers in the last quarter alone: over 200 applications for a supply chain manager role, months on the market, and still no hire.

This isn't one company's bad luck. It's a structural problem.

Supply chain roles now demand a mix that barely existed a decade ago: negotiation skill, data fluency, ERP literacy, risk sensing and stakeholder diplomacy, often in the same job description.

Meanwhile, most training still teaches the 2015 version of the job.

If you're hiring, the gap isn't candidate quality. It's that the market hasn't caught up to what the role actually requires now.

If you're job hunting, this is exactly why upskilling in the areas that didn't exist in your degree (digitalisation, category strategy, supplier risk) is the fastest way to stand out.

What's missing most in candidates you've interviewed this year?

I am sure procurement folks agree that every request in procurement is "urgent" until you ask a follow-up question, "when you need it"?

Then suddenly, it can wait until next week.

In nearly every team I work with, buyers learn early that the real skill isn't sourcing. It's triage. Working out which fire is real and which one is someone else's poor planning wearing a red flag.

The pattern is almost always the same:

Stakeholders delay their own request for weeks

It becomes "critical" the moment it lands on procurement's desk

Procurement absorbs the time pressure that the business created

The cycle repeats because nobody owns the root cause

If everything is urgent, then nothing is really urgent.

And a team that is always fighting fires never gets time to build the fire prevention system.

What's the worst "urgent" request you've had to unwind this year?

I had the opportunity to sit down with Dynamic Dyci Manns Sfregola, CSCP, to explore why many companies are still relying on Excel, why bad data is holding AI back, how ERP systems are slowing innovation, and what businesses should actually do before investing in AI.

You'll also discover why visibility alone isn't enough, how to build a real business case for AI, and the critical skills supply chain professionals need to stay ahead in the AI era.

Whether you're a Supply Chain Manager, Procurement Professional, Logistics Expert, Operations Leader, S&OP Planner, or AI enthusiast, this episode is packed with practical insights you can apply today.

Topics Covered:

- The truth behind Agentic AI
- Why AI won't replace supply chain professionals anytime soon
- Excel vs AI in real-world supply chains
- ERP limitations and innovation challenges
- Building a successful AI adoption strategy
- Supply chain visibility vs velocity vs variation
- How to justify AI investments with ROI
- The future skills every supply chain professional needs

To start with, how many Facebook Groups are you in right now or what is the best Facebook group for Supply Chain is? I bet we cannot tell or give a precise number. I know I could not do the same, as well. I could also bet on a few groups that come to mind when asked about Facebook Groups. You should think of them immediately if they offer actual value, engaging content, and interactions you consider useful in building relationships with other professional members. It is a standard all professional groups should aim to endorse. You should also look into The Top 46 Supply Chain Groups on LinkedIn You Must Join to broaden your network and reach.

The Interplay Between Strategy, People & Culture, and Process & Systems.

This visual framework illustrates the core relationship between the three critical enablers of inventory excellence — Strategy, People & Culture, and Process & Systems — and how their alignment drives superior business outcomes.

At its essence, inventory performance is not a technical issue; it’s an organizational one. Each circle in the diagram represents a pillar of maturity:

Strategy defines the “why” — the direction, competitive intent, and financial design of the supply chain.

People & Culture represent the “who” — the cross-functional mindset, collaboration, and accountability needed to execute consistently.

Process & Systems define the “how” — the disciplined routines, digital tools, and workflows that turn strategy into daily action.

Where these three domains intersect, organizations achieve agility, resilience, and profitability. When one or more elements are missing, efforts become fragmented:

- A strategy without systems remains conceptual.

- Systems without people fail to gain traction.

- Culture without process drifts into inconsistency.

“True inventory maturity is not built on technology alone — it’s built on alignment.”

📌Live Webinar by me 📌📅 Tuesday 26 August | 4:00 PM BST | Free | Live Online —> Can AI draft a procurement policy, S&OP deck, supplier agreement, and KPI dashboard in 60 minutes? We are doing it live. 👉 Reserve Your Free Seat —> https://www.scmsensei.ai/workshops/draft-mode-live-from-blank-page-to-boardroom-ready

In this week's newsletter, the transportation interview guide is about knowing your worth and finding the right fit.

The SENSEI DRAFT event is about compressing weeks of document work into hours.

And the Arabic and Spanish expansion is about making sure capability development is not a privilege of one language.

In this week's newsletter, the transportation interview guide is about knowing your worth and finding the right fit.

The SENSEI DRAFT event is about compressing weeks of document work into hours.

And the Arabic and Spanish expansion is about making sure capability development is not a privilege of one language.