55% of Supply Chain Leaders Believe Agentic AI to Affect Entry-Level Hiring
Agentic capabilities are set to drastically impact supply chain hiring, according to new research.
Fifty-five percent of supply chain leaders expect agentic AI to reduce the need for entry-level employees, while 51% believe it will lead to overall workforce reductions, according to a Gartner survey.
The survey also found higher agreement (86%) on adopting agentic AI and on the need for shifts in developing future talent pipelines, providing the industry with insights into how supply chain organizations can build skills and use talent.
“Changes in ways of working driven by advancements in AI and agentic AI” was even identified as the most influential factor impacting supply chain strategy over the next two years.
“The priority for chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) should be redesigning roles, skills and workforce processes, so people and machines can create value together,” said Marco Sandrone, vice president analyst in Gartner’s supply chain practice.
The survey interviewed 509 global supply chain leaders who participated between July and October 2025.
It primarily focused on respondents from top-performing organizations that excel in areas such as customer lead time, satisfaction, time to market, revenue growth and sustainability goals over the past year. It also included data from interviews with 15 supply chain leaders at companies that consistently rank in Gartner's Supply Chain Top 25.
Among this group, the adoption of AI was significantly higher than that of other respondents in production, logistics, procurement, warehouse management and planning, and they were also more likely to recognize that the traditional talent pyramid will change.
With the potential decline in entry-level positions, these leaders are focusing on reinventing talent strategies instead of cutting staff. Key areas highlighted by the survey data to concentrate on include upskilling talent for the AI era, leveraging AI-enabled tools to support workforce planning and candidate engagement, and increasing automation and advanced technologies to enhance efficiency and reduce reliance on manual labor.
“As organizations identify new ways of working through the use of AI, they will also have an advantage in identifying and attracting the kinds of talent that will sustain these new working models, including successfully reskilling current staff to take on new, higher-value roles,” added Sandrone.
