Artificial intelligence (AI) has been deemed as the “most disruptive technology for the next decade” for the supply chain, a new report released by US industry trade association MHI and professional services firm Deloitte, states.

A survey of supply chain leaders found that while 24% of respondents believe AI is transformational, almost half (48%) feel it has had a “significantly” disruptive impact; an increase of 25 percentage points since 2025.

The second most disruptive technology, is robotics and automation, with 39% of survey respondents rating its impact as significant - an increase of 19 percentage points on last year.

“The 2026 MHI Annual Industry Report, Rewiring the Future: A Supply Chain Playbook for Innovation, finds that the emergence of AI is causing supply chain leaders to reassess every aspect of their operations, investing not only in advanced digital technologies such as AI, robotics, and real-time analytics but also in their workforce,” MHI states. 

This year’s survey also found that 56% of organisations expect to increase their spending on supply chain innovation with 52% saying they are planning to spend over USD1 million and 17% planning to spend USD10 million or more.

“This spending reflects a more disciplined investment approach as companies are stepping back to confirm what problem they’re trying to solve, selecting management, and scenario planning to better justify, control, and scale technology investments,” MHI continues.

The report has predicted that eight categories of technology will rise through the next five years: AI; advanced analytics; cloud computing and storage; Internet of Things/sensors; robotics and automation; wearable and mobile technology; autonomous vehicles and drones and; humanoid robotics.

The survey also found that while leaders are excited about AI’s potential, “they are getting stuck on where to start and what it takes to scale”.

The barriers to adoption are proving to be real such as unclear use cases and automation cost, paired with limited understanding; difficulty building business cases; talent shortages; and budget constraints.

“Supply chains can no longer be optimised at the edges,” says John Paxton, CEO of MHI. “They must be rewired end-to-end. 

“Only connected, intelligent, and automated real-time networks will withstand the volatility and meet the future customer demands for speed and efficiency.

“The biggest threat we face isn’t disruption—it’s the failure to innovate and the risk of running tomorrow’s operations on yesterday’s equipment and technology.”