Every conversation about the autonomous supply chain eventually hits the same obstacle: the connections between businesses. Retailers and brands have invested heavily in forecasting, planning and warehouse automation. Yet the orders, dispatch advice notes and invoices that move between trading partners still depend on rigid EDI projects, email attachments, supplier portals and people re-keying data. AI can’t act on information it can’t reliably receive, so autonomy stops at the edge of each organisation.

This keynote argues that B2B connectivity is the missing foundation of supply chain AI, and that it has to be rebuilt as AI-native rather than bolted on later. It covers what changes when connectivity is designed around AI from the start. Partner onboarding goes from long integration projects to standardised, repeatable steps. Documents arriving as PDFs, spreadsheets or emails are converted into structured data automatically. Mapping and validation adapt to each partner without custom code. AI agents watch transaction flows, catch errors before they reach a warehouse or finance team, and resolve routine exceptions on their own.

The session draws on Procuros’ work connecting retailers, wholesalers and suppliers across Europe. It looks at where autonomy is realistic today, where people should
stay in the loop, and how to judge readiness across your trading partner network, including the smaller suppliers that traditional EDI has always left behind. Attendees will come away with a clear framework for assessing their current B2B integration landscape. They’ll also see which processes are ready to automate first and how cleaner partner data feeds the forecasting, replenishment and customer- experience goals that retail leaders care about most. The session suits supply chain, operations, IT and e-commerce leaders who want AI to move beyond pilots and into the daily flow of trade.