AI to be Most Disruptive Technology for Next Decade: MHI and Deloitte

Robotics and automation follow AI as the second most disruptive technology.

Apr 15, 2026

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is viewed as the most disruptive technology for the next decade, according to a report released by MHI and Deloitte.

In fact, 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.

Key takeaways:

· One-quarter of respondents (24%) categorize AI as transformational and nearly half (48%) consider its disruptive impact to be significant or greater—up 25 percentage points since 2025.

· Robotics and automation follow AI as the second most disruptive technology, with 39% rating its impact as significant or greater, up 16 percentage points.

· Moving forward, supply chain organizations will increasingly leverage AI to enhance all aspects of their operations. Agentic AI—which can operate independently with human guidance or oversight—specifically has the potential to quickly eliminate high volume repetitive tasks, proactively address disruptions, enhance forecasting precision, and improve overall visibility within the supply chain.

· While leaders are excited about AI’s potential, the survey finds that they are getting stuck on where to start and what it takes to scale such as unclear use cases and automation cost, paired with limited understanding; difficulty building business cases; talent shortages; and budget constraints.

· The integration of generative AI, agentic AI, physical AI, and edge AI into operations is ushering in a future where fulfillment and supply chain activities become software-defined, perpetually adaptive, and backed by intelligent orchestration engines.

· According to this year’s respondents, the Top 5 most impactful supply chain trends are: