Gartner: 55% of supply chain leaders expect agentic AI to reduce entry-level hiring needs

More than half (55%) of supply chain leaders expect that advancements in agentic AI will reduce the need to hire for entry-level positions, while 51% believe the technology will drive a shift to overall workforce reductions, according to Gartner, Inc.

Gartner surveyed 509 supply chain leaders globally across industries from July to October 2025. While the view of agentic AI’s ultimate impact on headcount plans remains split, there is wider agreement among respondents (86%) that adoption of agentic AI will require new processes for developing future talent pipelines, signaling a need to rethink how supply chain organizations build skills and utilize talent.

Human-machine collaboration strategies

Gartner’s survey analysis identified respondents from high-performing organizations that exceeded expectations in areas such as customer lead time, satisfaction, time to market, revenue growth and sustainability goals over the past year.

Changes in ways of working driven by advancements in AI and agentic AI were cited by survey respondents as the single most influential driver redefining supply chain strategy over the next two years.

Gartner analysts also interviewed 15 supply chain leaders from companies with a consistent presence in the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25, uncovering the strategies and practices driving their success.

“The highest performing supply chain organizations are using AI to reinvent how work gets done and how talent is developed,” said Marco Sandrone, VP Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice. “They are not treating AI as a blunt instrument for headcount reduction. The priority for chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) should be redesigning roles, skills and workforce processes, so people and machines can create value together.”

These high-performing respondents’ adoption of agentic AI was significantly higher than that of other respondents across procurement, production, logistics, warehouse management and planning.

As a result, Gartner said that the high-performing respondents were more likely to recognize that the traditional talent pyramid will change. While this may reduce the need for traditional entry-level roles, these leaders are prioritizing talent strategy reinvention, rather than headcount reduction.

Over the next two years, Gartner said that these high-performing leaders plan to prioritize the following talent strategies:

• Upskill talent for the AI era
• Use AI-enabled tools to optimize workforce planning and candidate engagement
• Increase automation and advanced technologies to improve efficiency and reduce reliance on manual labor

“Entry-level roles as understood today may fade in importance, but supply chains will still need emerging talent that is highly adaptive and innovative,” Sandrone said. “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.”

Gartner analysts will discuss this survey at Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo 2026, May 4-6, in Orlando.