Human Oversight Remains Essential, as AI Expands in Pharma Manufacturing and Distribution

Joe Hudicka, an entrepreneur and supply chain expert, highlights what is described as a “silent shift” underway in global supply chains—one that often goes unnoticed until it becomes disruptive. The central warning to pharma executives is that supply chain risk rarely announces itself loudly. Instead, it emerges through subtle performance changes that signal competitors are adapting faster.

Key early indicators include lengthening lead times, declining reliability from previously consistent suppliers, canceled transportation pickups, and sudden price increases. These issues are not random; they reflect a competitive environment in which other companies are detecting signals sooner and adjusting their strategies more quickly. When competitors move first, they secure capacity, relationships, and flexibility—leaving slower organizations struggling to catch up.

A major contributor to vulnerability, according to the discussion, is organizational siloing. Many companies rely on long-standing processes—such as fixed annual RFP cycles and static contracts—because “that’s how it’s always been done.” While these approaches may feel stable, they reduce visibility and responsiveness in an increasingly dynamic global supply environment. When companies operate in isolation, they lose the ability to see what is changing beyond their immediate networks.

Hudicka emphasizes that the most important signals are often external, not internal. Pharma leaders should pay close attention to what customers, logistics partners, and suppliers are experiencing. If those partners are finding alternative ways to operate, or achieving better outcomes with competitors, it may indicate a broader shift already in motion.

Ultimately, the message is one of proactive awareness. Companies that remain inward-focused risk being outpaced by competitors who are better at sensing and responding to change. By broadening their field of vision, breaking down silos, and listening closely to signals across their ecosystem, pharma executives can position themselves to adapt earlier—preserving resilience and avoiding the consequences of being last to react.

Hudicka also comments on practical steps can supply chain leaders take to build trust in AI-driven ecosystems without compromising security or competitive advantage; practical steps supply chain leaders can take to build trust in AI-driven ecosystems; and much more.

A transcript of his conversation with PC can be found below.

PC: In the context of pharmaceutical distribution and manufacturing, where do you see the most critical points where human oversight must remain central?

Hudicka: First and foremost, we've got a concept in pharma technology of IV&V, independent verification and validation. We've got to do our IQs and OQs, and we've got to document and so that would have to happen whether AI was involved or not. The thing is, we might need to spend a little bit more time showcasing and communicating, making that a little bit more transparent to the larger audience in the company.

Where normally that's just an IT thing—IT tells PMO that the box is checked and it passed, or the box is not checked, it failed—here, maybe there needs to be a little bit more celebration, a little bit more communication about looking at how much more data we're processing into information, which is now informing decision points. That acceleration is happening by AI.

AI is assisting us, but the decision point is the human. That's the person, and so it's an assistant and nothing more. That's fundamentally where big tech is—again, through marketing—taking everybody off the rails. What happens in big tech generally is we have to pick, we have to pick a lane, so I'm Microsoft, you're Apple, I'm Teams, you're Slack. It's always about those silos, and the problem in business is ecosystem.