The Zero100 Podcast

Target's running a quarter of HQ operations remotely. Unilever's outsourcing demand planning to seven global hubs. Lowe's manages North American inventory from thousands of miles away. Today's Global Capability Centers have evolved far beyond back-office support – they're making the calls that drive your business. But without trust, governance, and the right talent strategy, they'll never live up to their potential. This week, Caroline Chumakov and Geraint John (VPs, Research & Advisory) and Justin Gillebo (Senior Director, Research & Advisory) break down what actually belongs in a GCC, why India isn't the only answer, and how to avoid the “us vs them" trap that hinders most implementations.

Should you fix broken planning processes before automating them, or does that just delay progress? When an AI agent makes a bad decision, who's actually accountable? And how do junior employees build expertise when AI handles the foundational work they used to learn from? This week, Cody Stack (VP, Research Analytics) sits down with Kelly Coutinho (VP, Research & Advisory) and Lauren Acoba (VP, Head of Research & Advisory) to tackle these questions and others from Zero100’s supply chain and operations community.

At 16 years old, On has a rare advantage: young enough to be agile, mature enough to scale globally. This week, Chief Supply Chain Officer Craig Jones tells Kelly Coutinho (VP, Research & Advisory) how the company’s using this window to build supply chain as a competitive advantage, not a cost center – from the development of LightSpray’s three-minute shoe uppers to AI built on obsessively clean data. His philosophy? Automate the mundane to liberate the magnificent, finish the race together, and build the company you want to be in five years, not the one you are today.

When Carlos Ruiz joined Church & Dwight as Chief Supply Chain Officer, he realized the company's biggest asset – rigid, built-to-last manufacturing lines – was actually holding it back. His solution: stop building equipment for 15-year depreciation schedules and start building for speed and flexibility. But the real challenge isn't the technology or capital approval – it’s convincing people to let go of what worked yesterday. This week on the podcast, Carlos tells Zero100's Jenna Fink (Senior Director, Research & Advisory) how he’s tackling change management, navigating board expectations, and leading Church & Dwight's evolution from Lean foundations to end-to-end operational excellence.

Backflips and kung fu routines make great viral videos, but what's the actual business case for humanoid robots? Zero100’s Lauren Acoba (VP, Head of Research & Advisory), Kevin O'Marah (Chief Research Officer), and Jenna Fink (Senior Director, Research & Advisory) cut through the hype to explain why we predict a 1000% jump in real humanoid workflows this year. Turns out, the biggest advantage isn’t the robot itself – it’s that humanoids can drop into existing workflows without expensive facility redesigns, cutting integration costs by 80%. The team explores lessons from BMW’s approach in Spartanburg, why China's robotics lead matters, what makes a use case worth pursuing, and how to tell when a demo is operationally credible or just impressive theater.