#30: Keith Carter Associate Professor | Author | TEDx Speaker

#30: Keith Carter Associate Professor | Author | TEDx Speaker Featured Image

Keith is an associate professor at the NUS School of Computing, where he has two mandates: teaching and consulting. He has a passion for engaging and inspiring students to achieve more. He teaches Supply Chain Visualization, and Purchasing and Materials Management and connects students with companies at all levels to bring the theory to life in the business world.

His book, Actionable Intelligence: A Guide to Delivering Business Results with Big Data Fast!, provides expert guidance to establish a culture of fact-based decision making and appropriate high-speed governance.

From 1999 to 2012 Keith worked for the Estee Lauder Companies, Global Supply Chain Center of Excellence, tasked to lead the strategic changes to supply chain to improve the overall performance of the company. Keith established and led Global Supply Chain initiatives: Supply Chain Intelligence, Knowledge Management, Transformation Governance, and Data Management. All to achieve end-to-end supply chain visibility.

As part of his service mandate with School of Computing, he consults companies on Innovation, Customer Centricity, and Actionable Intelligence. Selected examples are Retail & Supply Chain: GUCCI, P&G, Bollore, Panasonic & SAP and Financial Services: KPMG, Goldman Sachs, DBS, and China Construction Bank.

He is invited to speak around the world including prestigious venues TEDx, Gartner, IBM, KPMG, SingHealth, Media & Infocomm Development Authority, Financial Times, The Economist and more.

Outside of work, he is an avid sportsman, author, private pilot, fencer, and family man. Born in Long Island, he has spent most of his life in New York till moving to Singapore in 2012 where he currently resides.

Listen to the full discussion here:

 

 

Connect with the Guest:

Keith Carter: LinkedIn | Twitter  Website

Some of the highlights from the podcast:

  • Why the hype with AI is connected with the “Emperor’s New Clothes” story?
  • Responding Instantly to a Customer’s request should be the top priority for any executive in Supply Chain
  • Mistakes made by Supply Chain executives implementing digitization strategies? – You change the hardware but not the software
  • Importance of Post Governance for Intelligence (Data) – don’t waste time in the bureaucracy – show the measurable deliverables
  • Don’t hire data scientists from outside – build them from the inside – they need to understand the company inside-out
  • Talking Blockchain: There’s hardly a Judge in the World that will look at a Smart Contract!
  • The best skill for anyone to have at this moment is The ability to Google things!

Show notes:

  • [01:45] What attracted you to Asia? New York seemed to have treated you well. Why choose to leave the US behind and head for Singapore?
  • [03:43] How did your consulting experience help you choose this path to become an expert in the supply chain, procurement, big data, and machine learning? I know you used to consult big banking clients in the past – Goldman Sachs and Solomon Brothers.
  • [05:24] What were the main challenges and learning points from your experience with Estee Lauder? You served a few supply chain related roles and your last role was Global Supply Chain Intelligence Lead. Almost 13 years of your professional life dedicated to this company. Any key lessons you can share with our audience?
  • [13:32] Let’s talk about your book for a moment -“Actionable Intelligence: A Guide to Delivering Business Results With Big Data Fast.” – How does this term – “Actionable Intelligence” come to life?
  • [17:05] What are some of the biggest mistakes executives make when implementing big data and AI in their supply chain?
  • [19:50] Is AI used as buzz word too much? Can you share what is your opinion on the hype with AI?
  • [26:20] If a Chief Supply Chain needs to implement next year to improve their operations – what should it be? AI, machine learning, big data, blockchain?
  • [30:59] Let’s go into some examples of where strategy and technology meet and create a greater impact on the customer delight process. Maybe you can share some case studies.
  • [37:43] What are the mistakes that you see executives in Supply Chain making when implementing digitization strategies?
  • [46:29] What should executives focus on when hiring in Supply Chain? What are some of the key skills you see as critical for any company’s success?
  • [55:37] What are some of the skills you are teaching your students to take on to be best prepared for the future?

Mentioned in the podcast:

  • x.ai – Our AI software eases the pain of scheduling across your entire company

Quote from the Episode:

About the Host:

The host, Radu Palamariu is the co-author of “From Source to Sold – Stories of Leadership in Supply Chain”. He has been named one of the top 3 Global Supply Chain Influencers on LinkedIn and was featured in ForbesBloombergWEFBangkok Post, and MIT Supply Chain Talent magazine. Radu invites executives to share stories and perspectives around technology, logistics, e-commerce, supply chain, and manufacturing, and their views on how the future will look.

Alcott Global connects and upgrades the supply chain ecosystem by finding the right talent through executive search, developing talent through learning solutions, and meeting supply chain technology needs through a comprehensive crunch base marketplace.

The supply chain executive search has been our focus since the very beginning, offering recruitment services for top-tier supply chain roles at every level of the end-to-end supply chain: plan, source / procure, make, and deliver. Our consultants have years of experience in placing top talent, in North America, LATAM, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and APAC, and besides speed, one of our biggest strengths is our network within the supply chain industry, and we capitalize on it to find the best solutions.

Through the years, we have grown as an organization and our offerings with it. One of our initiatives, the learning solutions- training and supply chain academy, is focused on transforming leadership- self-leadership, executive presence, influence capital, and business acumen. Through Supplify, we aim to match corporations with the top technology companies to solve their supply chain and logistics challenges with a focus on innovation and digital transformation.

We are in constant touch with the leaders in supply chain, inviting them to inspire the supply chain professionals in thought-provoking podcast episodes and events, and showcasing what is possible at the yearly Leaders in Supply Chain Awards.

Related Episodes:

Episode #24: Blake Larson MD International Lalamove

Episode #29: Razat Gaurav CEO of LLamasoft

Episode #39: Richard White CEO of WiseTech Global and CargoWise

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