Adam Reisfield
Adam has 4+ years of experience at Parabola across marketing, sales, and customer success
Last updated:
August 20, 2025
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Supply Chain Visibility in 2025 and Beyond

When asked about the biggest opportunities for their companies in 2025 in a survey conducted by Parabola, supply chain leaders pointed to two key areas: AI/ML for demand forecasting (55%) and advanced supply chain visibility tools (53%). This focus comes as no surprise, with 51% citing limited visibility as a top pain point in their current tech stacks.

The Visibility Challenge

"Visibility continues to be a huge gap for brands and 3PLs...the whole ecosystem," explains Matt Hertz, CEO of Third Person. "Planning is the hardest function of the ecommerce business. You look at what a planner goes through: these Bibles of Excel workbooks, and it's just a lot of guesses."

Defining Supply Chain Visibility

Supply chain visibility encompasses multiple aspects:

  • Package tracking
  • Cross-channel inventory insight
  • Payment tracking and reconciliation
  • Vendor management

AI's Role in Supply Chain Visibility

Hertz poses a compelling question: "Why not use computers who are better than humans at gauging trends and forecasting?"

StartOps founder Charles Cushing points to platforms like Four Kites and Project 44 as examples of tools paving the way for more supply chain visibility and management with AI.

Current Tech Stack Landscape

The survey revealed varied adoption rates across company sizes:

  • Large enterprises ($250M-$1B+) typically use enterprise-level ERPs
  • Mid-sized companies ($11M-$250M) often combine ERPs with specialized tools
  • Smaller companies ($1M-$10M) rely more on standalone solutions

Looking Ahead

The data shows three key principles will define successful tech stack strategies in 2025:

  1. Embrace AI or fall behind
  2. Prioritize integration and visibility
  3. Build for scale, not just for today

Success will come to organizations that can:

  • Make strategic bets on the right tools at the right time
  • Focus relentlessly on integration and automation
  • Measure and prove ROI to justify further investment
  • Build internal expertise alongside their tech stack

Based on a comprehensive survey of 90 supply chain and operations leaders conducted in early 2025 by Parabola and StartOps.

Adam Reisfield
Last updated:
August 20, 2025
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