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Interview of visibility beyond Tier 1 suppliers, misaligned incentives, and short-term focuses. To break through these barriers, companies need to embed sustainability directly into how they design, source, and govern their supply chains. For one of our clients, we’ ve introduced a shadow carbon price, a mechanism where a company assigns a monetary value to its emissions, during supplier negotiations, enabling visibility of environmental trade-offs. Building this into sourcing decisions bridges the gap between sustainability goals and financial decision making, shifting the discussion from‘ can we afford this’ to‘ can we afford not to.’
“ Other effective strategies are coinvesting with key suppliers in lower-emission manufacturing capabilities to unlock Scope 3 emissions reductions, implementing digital traceability to understand the origin and impact of raw materials, and adopting circular thinking in design to involve procurement early in product development. Sustainability isn’ t just compliance, but a strategic opportunity. The companies that succeed will be those that treat ESG as a core operating principle built into every decision, supplier relationship, and product design choice.”
What’ s next?
As we move through 2025 and look ahead to 2026, supply chains are facing a convergence of systemic pressures – more frequent, more complex, and increasingly interconnected.“ Geopolitical and trade tensions are at the forefront of everyone’ s minds, and tariff regimes have become highly dynamic, forcing companies to rethink entire sourcing strategies,” Patrick explains.“ Climate disruptions are also increasingly expected, with companies facing droughts in Europe, unseasonal flooding in Asia, and heatwaves in the US in the last few months alone. Also, with supply chains becoming more digitized and companies increasingly sharing data with suppliers, they’ re becoming more exposed to cyber risk. I expect this to become a board-level issue, not just an IT concern, as we enter 2026.
“ Based on what we’ re seeing in the market right now, there are three trends that I believe will fundamentally define the future of supply chain management over the next five years. Firstly, we’ re seeing a shift from reactive firefighting to forward-looking, AI-supported decision making that integrates real-time data. With regulations tightening, especially in the EU, Scope 3 emissions tracking is becoming non-negotiable, and companies are increasingly tracking emissions across the full value chain. Lastly, building talent and capabilities is a core supply chain strategy, as technology alone won’ t deliver transformation, but people will.”
Having joined Inverto one year ago, we end our discussion by asking Patrick his reflections on his first full year in the position.“ I joined Inverto to help strengthen the company’ s presence in a new region, which is always super exciting,” he shares.“ It has been a tremendous experience so far and it’ s rewarding to be part of this amazing network. The Inverto team in North America is like a family, and it’ s great to nurture new talent and create an environment that fosters success for both individuals and the wider company.
“ Supply chains are entering an era where being fast, visible, and adaptive will matter more than being lean,” Patrick concludes.“ At Inverto, we’ re investing in AI enablement, integration of innovative solutions and ESG, and talent development because that’ s where the next wave of value will be created. Transformation is not about reacting to disruption but rather designing for advantage. Companies that utilize procurement and supply chains not to only weather storms but to grow, innovate, and build trust are the ones that will succeed.” ■
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