Cencora's Gregg Gorniak on Using AI to Get Ahead of DSCSA Data Gaps

Ahead of his session at HDA's 2026 Traceability Seminar, Pharmaceutical Commerce spoke with Gregg Gorniak, vice president, manufacturer operations and data services, and secure supply chain lead at Cencora, on the specific ways AI and RFID are being deployed to strengthen supply chain visibility. Gorniak is set to speak on "Transforming DSCSA Compliance Into Strategic Growth and Innovation," a session exploring how the industry is moving past baseline compliance to use the law's requirements as a springboard for operational improvement. In this first installment of our conversation, Gorniak previews some of that ground.

He starts with data visibility, describing how Cencora is applying AI not to generate reports, but to interpret the flow of serial number data moving in from manufacturers and out to customers. A central use case he notes is predictive alerts that flag incoming shipments lacking the EPCIS data required for receipt under DSCSA, giving Cencora's team a 12 to 24 hour warning window to resolve gaps with trading partners before a truck arrives at the dock, rather than scrambling once it's already there.

On RFID, Gorniak recalls an early pilot Cencora ran with Michigan State University's Axia Institute in 2022 and 2023, which tested RFID as a complement to 2D barcodes rather than a replacement, achieving read rates of 98% to 99% even through liquids and blister-pack metal that had hampered earlier iterations of the technology. He details how Cencora is now extending those findings into logistics use cases within its own distribution network, with an eye toward sharing results with upstream and downstream trading partners.

Gorniak's answers point to a broader theme: turning compliance infrastructure into a source of operational efficiency and competitive advantage.