# Jan Griffiths

Jan Griffiths is a supply chain commentator, podcast co-host and event moderator. Drawing on a career in purchasing and automotive that Griffiths says spanned more than 35 years and included the C-suite, they speak about procurement, manufacturing, AI and the changes facing the automotive industry.

- Profile: https://b2binfluencer.marketing/creators/jan-griffiths/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jangriffiths
- LinkedIn followers: 11,595
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNnD7NV6q9vHp3VpuWfHIzw
- Topics: artificial-intelligence, leadership, supply-chain, workforce-development, procurement, manufacturing
- Based on 14 dated posts, latest 2026-10-04

## Summary

Jan Griffiths is most useful as a credible host and commentator for procurement, manufacturing and automotive change discussions.

- Best for: A procurement or supply chain software vendor running executive roundtables, panels, podcasts or event tracks.
- Not for: A consumer brand or mass awareness campaign seeking high reach and measurable signups.
- Check first: Confirm current commercial terms, audience data and any work beyond the podcast.

### Takeaways

- Automotive is still running a playbook written in 1911.
- AI takes the transactions; people keep the judgment calls.
- Event rooms should make executives work, not listen.

## Main ideas

- **Automotive is still running a playbook written in 1911**: Jan Griffiths argues that the industry is operating on assumptions set long ago, and that current pressure is exposing the cracks rather than creating them. They cite software-defined vehicles, tariffs and Chinese OEMs launching in 18 to 24 months. The argument is aimed at leaders who keep running the inherited model, not at the technology itself.
- **AI takes the transactions; people keep the judgment calls**: At Catalyst | Detroit, Jan Griffiths framed the future of procurement as a division of labour, not a tooling question: AI handles transactions, while people own the judgment calls. The focus is on where judgment sits once routine work is automated—a question of roles and decision rights, not which platform a team buys.
- **The operating system and decision speed decide what AI delivers**: Jan Griffiths argues that AI's impact on manufacturing depends on how an organisation makes decisions and how quickly it acts, not on the technology itself. The same logic underpins their critique of leaders following a legacy playbook: the constraint is the operating model.
- **Event rooms should make executives work, not listen**: Jan Griffiths treats format as part of the argument. The approach is participative: small groups tackle real problems, roundtables invite debate, live polls bring in the room's views, and each attendee takes a commitment back to the office. They present chairing and moderating as roles that get work done in the room.
- **The people entering supply chain are watching, and the industry should listen**: On the Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast, Jan Griffiths expected to discuss what students were learning and instead got a read on the industry. The post highlights data problems, silos, and the difference between work that matters and a task on a list; context from a leader, it says, is what separates the two.

## Work to read

- [Podcast conversation with supply chain students Mia Bustamante and Daniel Kuzniar](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jangriffiths_mia-bustamante-and-daniel-kuzniar-are-supply-activity-7506846092697903104-E1Bc)
- [Chairing and moderating at Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jangriffiths_reautousa-automotiveleaders-activity-7510669895135621120-P_A8)
- [Opening Catalyst | Detroit for the Art of Procurement](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jangriffiths_i-opened-catalyst-detroit-with-eminem-activity-7511412847910793216-AEFq)

## Brand relationships

- **Art of Procurement** (disclosed_partnership)
- **Reuters Events** (disclosed_partnership)
- **QAD** (mention)

## Partnerships

The three posts publish no sponsorship policy, rate card, media kit or inquiry route, and disclose no paid relationship. They show the kind of work a partner would be associated with: Griffiths chaired the supply chain and manufacturing track at Reuters Events: Automotive USA on 27 October 2026 and moderated a panel on competing while building the portfolio. They also emceed the Catalyst | Detroit event for the Art of Procurement team, where procurement executives worked in small mastermind groups, roundtables and commitment sessions, and co-host the Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast. These appearances are not offers. Ask for partnership terms, who funds the appearances and how to request one.

## Alternatives

- Ozgur Tohumcu: When the vendor wants a platform-side executive voice rather than an independent chair: someone who can argue that data infrastructure, not the AI model, limits supply chain progress, and make quantified transformation claims to automotive and manufacturing leaders. Jan Griffiths's posts show that argument being made to customers and partners across automotive, manufacturing, energy, and aerospace, including figures of 10–15% cost reduction and 20–30% forecast accuracy improvement, and a direct read on compute and GPU constraints holding start-ups back. A campaign about AI and supply chain transformation where the sponsor's own platform is the story would land closer to this person than to Griffiths.
- Lisa Harvey Roach, MM, PMP, DTM: When the need shifts from procurement technology to the people who will run the function: attracting, training, and retaining skilled manufacturing talent, cross-generational work, and leading through uncertainty. Jan Griffiths's posts cover the Connect 360 talent, technology, and transformation event at The Henry Ford, the statistic that one in five Michigan jobs is tied to the auto industry, and a leadership lesson on managing fear before acting. A vendor focused on the workforce side of an AI-enabled procurement function, rather than the software, could find a closer fit here.
- Phil Slack: When the need is to industrialise a supply chain in a specific capital-intensive sector and the buyer wants someone who has convened partners and moderated technical sessions. Jan Griffiths's posts say they moderated a route-to-industrialisation discussion at Reuters Events Offshore and Floating Wind 2023 and hosted a SusWIND event with programme partners including SSE, Shell, bp, Vestas, TotalEnergies, EDF, and Scottish Power Renewables. Topics include long-term pipeline visibility, contract design driving sub-optimal behaviour through the value chain, and policy levers for adopting recycling technologies. A campaign on supply chain resilience and industrial scale-up in wind or composites is a closer fit than an AI-in-procurement roundtable.

---
AI-assisted summary of public posts. Audience demographics are not available. Engagement appears only where we checked recent posts. Method: https://b2binfluencer.marketing/methodology/