Supply chain organizations are moving from reactive planning to orchestrated decision making. Nowhere was that more apparent than at Kinexions 2026, our flagship customer event, held June 1–3 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (If you missed it, keep reading and watch the on-demand sessions).
The world’s top supply chain leaders joined together to sort through the trends that are all hype vs the insights that actually move businesses forward. The idea was baked into this year's theme, Decisions to Outcomes. At Agentic Speed.
This matters because today, organizations have more data, technology, and intelligence than ever before. Yet many feel like they’re fumbling around in the dark as they try to turn decisions into meaningful business outcomes. The discussions at Kinexions helped close gaps between insights and action, between data and outcomes.
Whether you missed this year’s event or want to relive what happened, keep reading to discover:
- What announcements were made and why they matter
- What hot topics and themes are shaping supply chains now
- Snapshots of fun moments and meaningful connections
- Key takeaways and customer insights
Key announcements from Kinexions 2026
We announced new collaborations, products, and advancements that will help our customers move to seamless, orchestrated decision-making. Here are some highlights:
Nvidia and Kinaxis are collaborating to explore how long-running AI agents can help organizations continuously optimize and adapt supply chain decisions at scale. Read more.
- We introduced Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE), a new way of working alongside our customers to co-build AI-native solutions directly in their operating environments, helping them move beyond isolated decisions into coordinated execution that drives measurable business outcomes. Read the press release.
- We announced Remix, or the Kinexions Maestro Remix Agent Hackathon. This is a new customer and partner program designed to turn AI agents into innovative solutions our community can actively build. Learn more.
- Our customers won big at our annual Kinaxis Customer Awards! We recognized organizations and individuals who are redefining what’s possible in modern supply chains. Find out who won.
Hot topics and themes shaping supply chains now
The state of play is forever changed, and traditional planning systems can’t keep up
Supply chains are facing continual volatility, not episodic disruption. And fragmented data, systems, and processes amplify delays, blind spots, and misaligned decisions. This means a shift toward coordinated, real-time, end-to-end orchestration—that connects sensing, planning, execution, and learning into a continuous loop—rather than static planning is essential.
AI is no longer an aspiration, but a key part of supply chain planning and orchestration
It’s no surprise that AI dominates supply chain conversations, but what stood out at Kinexions 2026 was how many of our customers are not just speaking about AI in the abstract. They’re sharing practical results they’re already getting and lessons they’re learning along the way. For example, they are using AI to:
- Identify and prioritize exceptions
- Diagnose root causes
- Recommend actions
- Support scenario planning
- Automate repetitive planning tasks
The result: less manual work, faster decision-making, and improved consistency and scalability to drive outcomes.
Agents need to understand your real-world supply chain physics
AI agents hold the key to both supply chain automation and enterprise-wide orchestration. But simply deploying agents without giving them the proper context to understand your specific business and supply chain variables won’t give you the outcomes you’re looking for.
In their opening keynotes, Kinaxis CEO Razat Gaurav, Chief Product Officer Andrew Bell, and Chief of Agentic Solutions Manik Sharma highlighted the data architectures and semantic relationships that truly make agentic AI a game changer for the supply chain and the enterprise beyond.
If you missed it, you can check out Razat's full keynote on our YouTube channel.
People and processes matter more than ever
Automation and technology won’t solve everything. The best outcomes are not just mathematically optimal, they require human judgment and grounding in the physical world. That means building in real-world constraints, physical context, and practical processes. It also means being willing to examine processes and reimagine them for better results.
Core memories unlocked—snapshots from Kinexions
Our customers always turn this event from just another conference into a meaningful opportunity to come together, learn, celebrate, and build memories that last.
Beyond the main stage, Kinexions featured:
- Live, inspiring product demos
Fun and memorable community celebrations
- Inspiring customer stories
- Cutting-edge innovation showcases
- Peer-to-peer networking
- In-depth breakout sessions with practical tips and advice
Key takeaways and insights
2026 is moving fast, here are several insights from Last Vegas that point to where the world is today:
- Transformation depends on people and processes, not just technology. Cardinal Health shared their four-year supply chain transformation journey that resulted in improved service levels, reduced backorders, reduced inventory with better availability, faster, and more scalable deployments. The bottom line: automation is great for speed and repeatable decisions, but you need humans for complex, contextual decisions.
- AI and agents are key enablers, but only effective when grounded in the physics of real-world supply chains, with constraints and dependencies built in.
- Companies need to give their people a reason to trust AI and automation. Build trust by starting with high-value, well-defined use cases, keep people in the loop, and demonstrate its accuracy, reliability, and transparency.
Enterprise AI is co-built. Success requires deep domain knowledge, not just technical AI skill. It makes a composable platform even more important.
- Build a strong foundation before layering AI and automation. Unilever walked us through their road to standardization and automation, which resulted in improved forecast accuracy, higher service levels, reduced inventory, and increased “no-touch” planning.
- Technology adoption requires training and culture change. BAT, Qualcomm, and others shared their stories of running AI training programs, building maturity models and educational pathways, creating transparency, and continually demonstrating high-value results with AI to encourage adoption.
- Today’s supply chain planners will be tomorrow’s orchestrators, working alongside digital agents to manage end-to-end supply chain outcomes. The shifts they’ll need to make will be going from data management to decision-making, from tactical work to strategic thinking, and from manual analysis to outcome ownership.
What’s next and more resources
Speed and adaptability are now the primary competitive advantages, which means organizations must continually, proactively innovate. And you don’t have to do it alone. We’re here to embrace the discomfort and uncertainty with you, help you build the skills and leverage the technology your organization needs to gain that competitive advantage.
Here’s how you can learn more and keep up with what’s next:
- Watch essential Kinexions sessions on-demand
- Find us at other events in your area
- Subscribe to our blog
- Catching upcoming interesting highlights on our YouTube playlist
We’re already counting down until the next Kinexions later this year in Barcelona, from October 26-28. See you there!
