Nelly Geranton has run supply chains across Shanghai, London, Paris, and Houston. Her core argument: global optimisation is over. Regional nuance is the new competitive edge — and AI agents are what make it executable at scale. This conversation covers what happens when agents start managing other agents, why unstructured data was the real obstacle to SaaS success for two decades, and what it means to actually hire an AI team.
WHAT THIS EPISODE COVERS
STANDOUT QUOTES
"We are not looking any longer just at automation and optimising transactional tasks. We're looking at how we're going to orchestrate agents — and eventually our agents will be managing other agents."
"Now we're going to be looking at how processes need to be defined to maximise these intelligent tools. It's flipped."
"My answer to you, Suja, is: I will allow you to hire AI teams. You go pick the AI teams that are going to help you be more productive."
EPISODE CHAPTERS
00:00 Cold open — regionalization, unstructured data, agents managing agents
01:45 Nelly's introduction: from mechanical engineering to global supply chain
05:00 Building a global career — cultural adaptability across Shanghai, London, Houston
11:00 Regionalization vs. globalisation: what's actually driving the shift
16:00 Energy transition supply chains: the regional complexity of renewables
22:00 Cross-functional breakdown: where collaboration fails and what fixes it
28:00 AI in operations: from optimisation to orchestration
33:00 Live demo moment: real invoices, real data, real-time action
37:00 Value creation philosophy: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
40:00 Close