Webinar Description

Supply chain planning has never mattered more. As organizations navigate continued volatility, shifting customer expectations, economic uncertainty, and the rapid acceleration of AI and new technology, the ability to plan, adapt, and make smarter decisions will be a critical competitive advantage over the next 12 months. The tools are changing quickly, but the challenge remains the same: how do you turn information, technology, and experience into better decisions for the business?

In this episode of *Let’s Wine About Supply Chain*, we sit down with Julia Bedanova, Chief Operating Officer at Million Dollar Baby Co., for a candid conversation about planning, operations, leadership, and navigating change. Julia’s current role puts her at the heart of the planning process for a leading children’s furnishings company, while her rich career across supply chain and operations gives her a valuable perspective on where the industry has been and where it’s going. For anyone involved in supply chain, and especially those responsible for planning and decision-making, this conversation offers timely insights and perspective for the year ahead.

What you will take away:

• The Transition from Scribe to Steward: A primary takeaway is the necessity of moving the workforce away from manual data entry and "firefighting" (Scribes) toward roles as "Stewards" who govern AI-driven systems and focus on strategic trade-off negotiations.
• The End of Deterministic Planning: The session highlights why legacy, deterministic systems that plan for "averages" are failing in 2026. The takeaway is the need for Probabilistic Reasoning—modeling a range of possibilities to thrive within uncertainty.
• Bridging the Data Readiness Gap: Audiences will understand the "intelligence vacuum" caused by the fact that only a small % of enterprise data is AI-ready. A key lesson is the mandate for Data Normalization to ensure AI initiatives actually scale.
• Human-Machine Augmentation: A critical lesson is that the future is about Augmentation, Not Replacement. Winning organizations will be those that blend machine precision with human socio-emotional intelligence and strategic trade-off capabilities.

Speakers:

Julia Bedanova, Chief Operating Officer, Million Dollar Baby
Amy Thorn, CEO of DBM Associates and Owner/Winemaker of Thorn Hill Vineyard, Thorn Hill Vineyard

Host & Moderator:

Bart A. De Muynck, Supply Chain Advisor and Industry Expert, Better Supply Chains

Moderator:

Robert Bowman, Editor-in-Chief, SupplyChainBrain