Videos
BearingPoint's Wahid Khan on Why Manufacturers Can't Wait on AI
Recorded at the World Economic Forum’s Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains Forum 2026, this video was produced in collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s Lighthouse Operating System Academy.
Insights
- The first measurable return from AI in manufacturing is a drop in supply-chain disruptions, which most firms miss while tracking productivity gains.
- Manufacturers are scaling simulation from a few scenarios to thousands, changing how supply chains get tested before failures occur.
- Within five to ten years, coordination shifts from human-and-machine toward agentic AI-to-AI systems working together.
Where does AI value in manufacturing actually show up first? Wahid Khan, a partner at BearingPoint, has an answer. The clearest early return is fewer supply-chain disruptions. Most firms miss it while tracking productivity gains. Manufacturers are getting there by scaling from a handful of simulations to thousands. Khan argues that isolating AI's ROI this early remains an open problem. Even so, the early movers who invest now will compound their advantage over those who wait.
Jeff Kavanaugh:
I'm Jeff Kavanaugh with the Infosys Knowledge Institute here at the World Economic Forum, Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Forum in beautiful San Francisco.
We're here for a leadership event and I'm happy to be joined by Wahid.
Wahid Khan:
My name is Wahid, I'm a partner at BearingPoint, and as you I'm also here in beautiful San Francisco, having a lot of insightful workshops and meetings related to advanced manufacturing and supply chain.
Jeff Kavanaugh:
How are leaders manufacturing ROI from AI in manufacturing beyond the productivity gains alone?
Wahid Khan:
Currently it's a little too early to really define where the ROI is coming from. And what we are also seeing is the number of disruptions is getting reduced as you have simulations which are already being used to do the supply chain and manufacturing. And they may go from two or three to ten thousand, so the sheer numbers of them.
Jeff Kavanaugh:
Yeah correct, correct, correct. Yeah the main topic is the increase of production and efficiency. How do you see the changing relationship between humans and intelligent systems across manufacturing and supply chain operations?
Wahid Khan:
So, as we all know, in all production and warehousing facilities we always have humans. And what we are seeing also is that it's going to be some kind of a co-relationship between humans and machines or AI, as they will need to work together in the future. And I even think that it's going to be a way bigger shift, that in like five or ten years we will have machine-to-machine or AI-to-AI working together with agentic AIs, and this will change the game totally.
Jeff Kavanaugh:
What do you see as the most important point to get that ROI higher, which will increase adoption?
Wahid Khan:
Invest early. I think we need to start now. We need the companies to start now Because with an early mover, especially in this phase, you will have a competitive advantage. Because you are learning. And the whole iteration and the evolution, if you wait, there's a phrase saying this is the worst it's ever going to be. It's always getting better and if you jump in late then you lose out.
Jeff Kavanaugh:
Yeah, correct, correct. Great. Thank you for your time.
Wahid Khan:
Yeah, thank you very much. Thank you.
