The Zero100 Podcast

Companies are running tons of AI pilots, yet most struggle to move from experimentation to scaled impact. Zero100’s latest research reveals why: only 15% of organizations say their data foundation is ready to support AI at scale, while the rest wrestle with fragmentated data and meetings where teams spend more time debating which numbers to trust than making decisions. This week, Kelly Coutinho (VP, Research & Advisory), Julia “JD” Dahlgren ( Director, Data Science), and Justin Gillebo (Senior Director, Research & Advisory) explore what “decision safe data” actually means, why agentic systems raise the bar on clarity, and working from one source of truth.
The data cleanliness issue that gave 500,000 free gas and electricity (01:11)
Why 85% of companies aren’t ready for “decision-safe” AI (02:18)
How humans and AI fail differently (07:40)
How "good enough" data can lead to misaligned metrics and escalating operational costs (10:04)
The human in the loop – from training a replacement to becoming a collaborator (13:57)
The “decision agreement” test: How to know when your AI is ready for production (15:49)
The ultimate prize? Compressing the time between signal and response (17:37)

Circularity is climbing the agenda in fashion, but what actually drives results? Former Puma Chief Sourcing Officer Anne-Laure Descours has spent 30 years working across Asia’s supply chains, seeing firsthand which sustainability efforts stick… and which stall. In this episode, she joins Senior Director, Research & Advisory Jenna Fink to explore how manufacturers are embedding sustainability into real business performance. From the limits of textile recycling to the coalitions and production decisions shaping material innovation, Anne-Laure explains why the competitive edge sits upstream, and why suppliers often see the commercial logic more clearly than brands.
When “doing it right” became a competitive edge (01:10)
China’s “Two Mountains” philosophy: green growth = real growth (02:43)
Metrics matter… but the real work happens in factories (05:42)
The unsung heroes: machinery and suppliers driving the backstage innovation (07:33)
RE:FIBRE, circularity hype, and why we can’t recycle 150B garments a year (08:17)
The waste-to-energy pivot (because sorting doesn’t scale) (11:38)
Making the business case for sustainability: wins, fails, and supplier-led change (14:03)
Boardroom perspectives, DNA traceability, and giving makers their due (18:06)

Toyota practically wrote the book on continuous improvement. But can the plays that won championships before still win them today? This week, Kevin Austin, Group Vice President, Supply Chain at Toyota North America, tackles one of the hardest leadership challenges: transforming a company built on discipline and proven systems without losing what made it great. In conversation with Zero100 Chief Research Officer Kevin O'Marah (yes, two Kevins), he reveals why TPS is the foundation that makes transformation possible, and what happens when AI meets craftspeople who've spent 30 years building cars.
The tension between pride, legacy, and a world that got way more complex (01:20)
How to know when digital transformation isn’t working (and you’re the bottleneck) (03:37)
Early missteps and why noble missions beat shiny tools (05:37)
Fixing friction from forecasting all the way to customer delivery (08:20)
When customers can track a $10 pizza but not a $50,000 vehicle (12:37)
How TPS creates a stable backbone for experimentation (15:17)
When AI meets craftsmanship: Amplifying 30 years of judgment with technology (17:07)
What stays Toyota, what must change, and Kevin's north star (22:24)

For every bold AI vision from a CEO, there's a COO thinking: “That's not happening on your timeline.” Zero100’s new survey reveals the scale of the disconnect: 83% of COOs see a significant gap between what’s being promised and what’s operationally feasible. But COOs aren't skeptics – they’re realists who know what execution actually takes. Chief Research Officer Kevin O’Marah and VP, Research & Advisory Services Lauren Acoba reveal how top COOs are bridging the gap: targeting specific workflows, building on existing tech stacks, and playing the long game while delivering near-term wins.
Inside the data: What 100 COOs told us about AI (01:45)
Closing the loop and creating value beyond the sale (05:32)
Why COOs want to move from execution to strategy (and why CEOs should be relieved) (09:16)
Stop! Don’t rip out your tech stack: Why layering AI is the smarter play (14:31)
The Goldilocks approach to placing successful AI bets (17:50)
The COO decade and why ops leaders are built for what’s next (21:11)

The Zero100 mailbag is open – and the questions inside reveal what's really keeping supply chain leaders up at night. With a little help from our own agentic AI sorting system, Chief Content Officer Matt Davis, Principal, Research Jenna Fink, and VP, Research Geraint John tackle what they've been hearing from the community. How do you move logistics from dashboards to execution? How do you orchestrate multiple AI agents on the same process? And how do you transform operations when the same people driving change are also keeping everything from falling apart?
How to sell a data cleanup project (and the CPG that cut 192 hours of downtime) (02:12)
Why procurement is having its AI moment (05:37)
The transformation paradox: how do you change while keeping the wheels turning? (08:20)
Orchestration: Zero100's word of the year (12:05)
The visibility-to-execution gap (and why logistics is lagging) (16:26)
Getting agents to actually work together (20:37)