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.
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.
Key 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.
Check first: Confirm current commercial terms, audience data and any work beyond the podcast.
Main ideas
Automotive is still running a playbook written in 1911 · AI takes the transactions; people keep the judgment calls · The operating system and decision speed decide what AI delivers
Jan Griffiths is a supply chain commentator, podcast co-host and event moderator whose posts connect procurement and automotive experience with questions about how the industry should change.
In a post about a podcast conversation with two supply chain students, they highlight data problems, silos and the value of leaders giving teams context.
In posts about industry events, they describe automotive’s established practices as ill-suited to pressures such as software-defined vehicles and tariffs, and frame AI as a reason to rethink how decisions are made.
These examples show a focus on practical industry challenges and on getting people to debate and act, not just listen.
For campaign planning, ask whether they offer a signature book, show or business beyond the podcast work described here.
Griffiths brings together firsthand purchasing and automotive experience with formats that make discussion participatory.
At Catalyst | Detroit, the post describes executives working through real problems in small groups, debating at roundtables and leaving with commitments.
At Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026, they were scheduled to chair a supply chain manufacturing track and moderate an automotive panel.
The student-podcast post adds a recurring perspective: established leaders should listen to people entering the field.
Together, these examples suggest why readers interested in procurement, manufacturing and automotive change may follow them: the posts connect industry-level questions to how people make decisions and work together.
Jan Griffiths writes from inside the automotive and procurement world they now criticise.
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Across three posts, they argue that the industry's operating assumptions are inherited rather than chosen, and that changing them is a leadership and decision-flow problem before it is a technology problem. The argument appears in their critique of the legacy playbook, their proposed division of labour for AI in procurement, their focus on decision speed, event formats that make executives work rather than listen, and their willingness to take the entry-level view seriously.
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.
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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.
In a preview of Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026, Jan Griffiths writes that they spent over 35 years in the industry, reached the C-suite, and then walked away because they could not keep leading the way they were told to. Their critique comes from someone who held senior responsibility inside the system they now challenge.
Two posts from the same period move from diagnosing the old model to describing a working alternative, a pattern the rest of these ideas follow.
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.
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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 post describes procurement executives who own direct materials spend across automotive and manufacturing working through real problems in small mastermind groups, debating at roundtables and taking a commitment back to the office. It is a recap, not a transcript; ask for examples of the arguments made in those sessions.
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.
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The same logic underpins their critique of leaders following a legacy playbook: the constraint is the operating model.
Writing after Catalyst | Detroit, Jan Griffiths said: "How we answer AI in manufacturing will come down to our operating system and how fast we let decisions flow." The Reuters Events post applies the same lens to automotive, naming the playbook—not any single technology—as the problem.
The position appears across two events in the same month, on procurement and automotive manufacturing, making it more than a one-off conference line.
Event rooms should make executives work, not listen
Jan Griffiths treats format as part of the argument.
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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.
At Catalyst | Detroit, Jan Griffiths opened the event for the Art of Procurement team and set the format.
At Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026, they chair the Supply Chain Manufacturing track on Tuesday 27 October from 2:00pm to 5:00pm and moderate the panel "Win or Fall Behind: Competing While Building the Portfolio" on Wednesday 28 October at 10:00am, with a live poll giving the room a say.
The named panelists are Marques McCammon of Karma Automotive, Steven Warrick of Volkswagen and Ganesh V.
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.
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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.
The post says Wayne State University supply chain students Mia Bustamante and Daniel Kuzniar offer a sharper view than Jan Griffiths hears from many people with thirty years in the business, and credits co-host Tom Roberts. Ask for the students' own words; the post reports their observations secondhand.
Answers what Jan Griffiths looks for in the next generation of supply chain talent and why they treat the students' perspective as a signal for the industry.
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Griffiths describes a conversation on the Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast with two Wayne State University supply chain students.
The post focuses on what the students see: data problems, silos, and the difference between work that matters and a task on a list.
They write that the students' view is sharper than what they hear from some people with thirty years in the industry, and credit co-host Tom Roberts.
For brands planning a campaign
Useful for a campaign that needs a commentator on supply chain talent, entry-level perspectives, or how leaders pass context to teams. The post is a short summary, so request the full episode before building around the students' specific examples.
Answers where Jan Griffiths appears on stage and which automotive supply chain topics they are asked to lead, including software-defined vehicles, tariffs, and Chinese OEM timelines.
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Griffiths announces they will be in Detroit on October 27 and 28 for Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026.
They say they spent over 35 years in the industry, reached the C-suite, and left because they could not keep leading the way they were told to.
They will chair the Supply Chain Manufacturing track on Tuesday from 2:00pm to 5:00pm and moderate a panel on Wednesday at 10:00am titled 'Win or Fall Behind: Competing While Building the Portfolio' with Marques McCammon of Karma Automotive, Steven Warrick of Volkswagen, and Ganesh V.
Iyer of NIO USA.
The post includes a live poll for the room and a link to the event brochure.
For brands planning a campaign
Shows a specific, current automotive supply chain platform and a moderator role.
A brand evaluating Griffiths for event hosting or stage moderation can point to this track and panel.
The post also lists the co-panelists, helping campaign teams check audience alignment.
Answers what Jan Griffiths does at a procurement event beyond a keynote: they open the room, frame the AI-and-judgment question, and run a format that asks executives to work.
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Griffiths writes about opening Catalyst | Detroit with Eminem and speaking to procurement executives.
They say they spent most of their career in purchasing and that emceeing for the Art of Procurement team felt like coming home.
The format used small mastermind groups for real problems, roundtables for hard debates, and a commitment each leader took back to the office.
The post thanks Philip Ideson and the AOP team and lists many speakers and facilitators.
For brands planning a campaign
Relevant for procurement or manufacturing events that want a host who can mix emceeing with working sessions.
The post shows Griffiths comfortable with a room of direct materials executives and a format built around debate and commitments.
Ask for the session recording or agenda to confirm the specifics.
Procurement and automotive transformation beyond the legacy playbook
In a Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026 preview, Jan Griffiths says much of automotive is still running on a playbook written in 1911.
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They point to software-defined vehicles, tariffs and Chinese OEMs launching in 18 to 24 months as pressures exposing cracks in that model. Drawing on more than 35 years in the industry and a C-suite role, they say they walked away because they could not keep leading the way they were told.
For brands planning a campaign
Useful for brands seeking expert commentary that connects procurement and supply chain change to operating-model choices, not just technology adoption.
At Catalyst | Detroit, Jan Griffiths describes a room of procurement executives who own direct materials spend across automotive and manufacturing.
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The group explored what procurement looks like when AI handles transactions and people make the judgment calls. Attendees worked in small mastermind groups, debated at roundtables and made commitments to take back to the office.
For brands planning a campaign
A strong fit for AI-in-procurement content that moves beyond tool demos to decision rights, operating models and leader commitments.
Jan Griffiths’ posts show event emceeing, track chairing and panel moderation.
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At Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026, they chair the Supply Chain Manufacturing track and moderate a panel on competing while building the portfolio, with leaders from Karma Automotive, Volkswagen and NIO USA, using a live poll. At Catalyst | Detroit, they opened the event and set a participative format.
Chairing tracks, moderating panels with live polls, emceeing, and structuring mastermind or roundtable discussions.
For brands planning a campaign
Brands can consider Jan for moderated panels, conference emceeing or roundtables focused on audience participation and concrete takeaways.
On the Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast, Jan Griffiths interviewed Wayne State supply chain students Mia Bustamante and Daniel Kuzniar.
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They expected to hear what the students were learning but instead got a clear read on industry data problems and silos. They argue that a leader’s context separates meaningful work from a task list, and say talent entering supply chain is watching closely while the industry should listen just as closely.
For brands planning a campaign
Appropriate for employer-brand, workforce or early-career supply chain campaigns seeking a host who can draw candid observations from students and connect them to industry practice.
Direct materials and manufacturing procurement audience
Jan Griffiths’ material repeatedly addresses executives who own direct materials spend across automotive and manufacturing, as well as procurement leaders working on AI, supply chain manufacturing and portfolio competition.
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Their posts place them in rooms with senior procurement and manufacturing decision-makers, rather than a general supply chain audience.
For brands planning a campaign
Relevant for B2B brands targeting senior procurement and manufacturing decision-makers.
In one post, Jan Griffiths says the industry’s response to AI in manufacturing will come down to the operating system and how fast decisions flow.
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In another, they critique leaders following a legacy playbook and say they left the C-suite over it. Together, the posts frame change as an organizational and leadership problem, not just a technology problem.
For brands planning a campaign
Jan can offer commentary on leadership operating systems, decision velocity and the organizational side of procurement and manufacturing change.
Jan Griffiths's posts document working roles with two event organizations and a tag for one software company.
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They chaired a track and moderated a panel at Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026 in Detroit, and emceed Catalyst | Detroit for the Art of Procurement team. QAD appears only as a tag on their podcast post; ask about any connection.
Art of Procurement
Disclosed partnership
Griffiths says they emceed Catalyst | Detroit for the Art of Procurement team, thanking founder Philip Ideson and the wider AOP team for handing them the microphone.
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Ask whether the role was paid, sponsored or unpaid event hosting.
Griffiths chaired the Supply Chain Manufacturing track on 27 October and moderated the panel "Win or Fall Behind: Competing While Building the Portfolio" on 28 October at Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026 in Detroit.
Jan Griffiths writes about automotive and procurement leadership, often tied to events: previews of appearances and recaps of sessions.
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Start with the two event posts.
The Automotive USA preview argues that the industry is still running on a playbook written in 1911; the Catalyst | Detroit recap describes procurement when AI handles transactions and people make the judgment calls.
The podcast post offers an entry-level view of supply chain and what they argue the industry should take from it.
Follow their work if you track automotive manufacturing, procurement, supply chain or AI adoption in operations, or need a host or moderator who gets the room working rather than listening.
The three creators below cover overlapping ground from different positions: AI and data in supply chain operations, leadership development in manufacturing, and industrial supply chain scale-up in wind energy.
Ozgur Tohumcu writes for automotive and manufacturing leaders about what changes when AI and data move into supply chain operations.
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They draw on executive conversations in Japan and at VivaTech and cite adoption figures for optimised supply chains.
Ozgur Tohumcu writes from inside a technology provider, describing how customers and partners use data, compute and AI, and the constraints they face. Jan Griffiths draws on a career in purchasing and the C-suite to explore leadership behaviour, decision speed and how to run a conference room.
Lisa Harvey Roach also addresses manufacturing and automotive audiences on how people and organisations adapt to change.
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They report from industry events such as Connect 360 at The Henry Ford on talent, technology and transformation.
Lisa Harvey Roach focuses on motivation and personal leadership—fear, courage and cross-generational teams—using reflective questions to engage readers. Jan Griffiths critiques the industry's inherited operating model and decision flow, and argues for AI, new procurement roles and event formats that make executives work.
Phil Slack also reports from industrial conferences in a key-takeaways format, covering supply chain scale-up, industrialisation and the long-term collaboration needed across a value chain and lifecycle.
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Phil Slack covers wind energy and composites manufacturing from within an industrial research organisation, with technical and policy-oriented takeaways on contracts, recycling methods and research agendas. Jan Griffiths works in automotive and procurement, focusing on leadership and decision-making rather than manufacturing process detail.
Jan Griffiths reaches an audience on LinkedIn with content about automotive supply chains, procurement and manufacturing change.
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Their posts include event-based commentary: a podcast conversation with supply chain students at Wayne State University, a Reuters Events automotive conference where they chaired a supply chain manufacturing track, and a Catalyst Detroit procurement event about AI and manufacturing.
The LinkedIn account had 11,595 followers when observed on October 7, 2026.
The content points to interest in procurement and supply chain leadership, but professional audience fit is unverified.
Ask for audience survey results or another documented source on followers’ employers, occupations and seniority, plus recent results for comparable commentary topics, depth and formats.
LinkedIn followers
11,595
LinkedIn profile follower count for the account these posts come from · 2026-10-07
The three posts publish no sponsorship policy, rate card, media kit or inquiry route, and disclose no paid relationship.
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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.
Brief: a procurement technology vendor wants a credible host and commentator for a North American executive roundtable series on AI in direct materials procurement, aimed at senior procurement and manufacturing leaders, with budget for a chaired track, a moderated panel, a written recap, and a podcast segment.
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This fits Jan Griffiths’s documented work closely.
They chaired the Supply Chain Manufacturing track at Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026 and moderated "Win or Fall Behind: Competing While Building the Portfolio" with the CEOs of Karma Automotive and NIO USA and a Volkswagen product management vice president, using a live poll to involve the room.
At Catalyst | Detroit, they opened the event for the Art of Procurement team and framed the day around what procurement looks like when AI handles transactions and people own the judgment calls.
The event included small mastermind groups, roundtable debates, and a commitment each leader took back to the office.
They also co-host the Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast, extending the format beyond the room.
The editorial spine is already clear in their own words: pressures from software-defined vehicles, tariffs, and Chinese OEMs launching in 18 to 24 months are exposing cracks in a playbook written in 1911; the industry’s response to AI in manufacturing will come down to the operating system and how fast decisions flow.
A vendor selling procurement or supply chain software can connect to that argument without asking them to pitch a product.
More than 35 years in the industry and a former C-suite purchasing role give their commentary standing with the executives in the room.
When to choose a specialist
For a consumer brand or a B2B software company chasing mass awareness, the need is a high-reach paid creator post that drives measurable signups within 30 days.
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Jan Griffiths’s audience is professional and niche rather than mass: their LinkedIn account showed 11,595 followers when observed on 7 October 2026.
The posts are event announcements and recaps, plus a podcast summary; they do not document short-form promotion, link performance, or past paid promotion results.
They also provide no engagement metrics, audience survey results, or employer, occupation, and seniority data, so a planner cannot project how many followers are buyers or what a post might convert to.
The posts give no sponsorship policy, rate card, media kit, or inquiry route, and disclose no paid relationship.
Ask for current commercial terms and audience data before booking or forecasting results.
For a campaign requiring deep technical engineering content, ask for a podcast audio file, event recording, or transcript to verify what was said in the sessions.
A worked campaign example
For a campaign that needs a roundtable series rather than a sponsorship slot, use this approach.
Angle: "Judgment stays with people." Position the vendor as the company that automates procurement transactions so senior buyers can spend their time on decisions, and let Jan Griffiths carry that argument through a chaired session, a live-poll panel, and a recap.
Shape of the engagement: First, they chair a half-day supply chain and manufacturing track at a Detroit-area automotive or manufacturing event, following the Reuters Events track.
Second, they moderate a panel of three executives with a live poll, in the style of the "Win or Fall Behind" session with leaders from Karma Automotive, Volkswagen, and NIO USA, so the audience shapes the discussion.
Third, the day closes with small mastermind groups and a written commitment each attendee takes back to the office, mirroring the Catalyst | Detroit format.
Fourth, they record a follow-up episode of the Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast with two of the panelists, reaching people who were not in the room and building on the podcast work already described with Wayne State supply chain students Mia Bustamante and Daniel Kuzniar.
Why this angle: their posts already address the legacy playbook under pressure from software-defined vehicles, tariffs, and fast Chinese OEM timelines; AI taking transactions while people keep judgment; and decision flow as an operating-system problem.
A vendor message about decision speed and judgment fits that argument instead of interrupting it.
The posts describe an audience of executives who own direct materials spend across automotive and manufacturing—the buyer a procurement software vendor wants.
Before booking, ask for the current media kit or sponsor terms, audience information such as registration lists or survey data showing titles and employers, and a recording or transcript from a comparable session to verify the working style. Agree on measurement up front: registrations, poll participation, commitment cards returned, recap engagement, and podcast listens, rather than impressions alone.
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.
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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.
Jan Griffiths's posts are company-positioning content from a cloud provider, centered on one company's customers, capacity investment, and regional teams.
They do not say that they chaired a track, hosted a live-poll panel, or recorded a procurement-community podcast.
For a campaign that needs a neutral host to hold a peer procurement audience to a commitment, ask for evidence of that facilitation experience.
The posts are set in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Paris rather than a North American executive room, making this a weaker fit for that audience.
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.
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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.
Jan Griffiths's posts offer motivational leadership commentary and event takeaways, but no procurement decision content, AI-in-direct-materials material, or evidence of hosting or moderating executive procurement sessions. For a campaign promising a chaired track and moderated executive panel, ask for evidence of facilitation with a senior procurement audience.
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.
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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.
The sector is offshore wind and composites rather than automotive procurement, and the posts date from 2023 and 2024.
They do not mention AI, procurement software, or North America.
The moderation experience may transfer, but the audience and subject matter are a poor fit; ask for evidence of more recent work with the target sector and audience.
This profile draws on three complete LinkedIn posts from Jan Griffiths: a recap of an Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast episode with two Wayne State University supply chain students, a preview of Reuters Events: Automotive USA 2026 in Detroit on 27-28 October 2026, and a recap of opening Catalyst | Detroit for the Art of Procurement.
A follower count of 11,595 was observed on 7 October 2026.
All three posts are event previews or recaps, so the podcast episode, conference sessions and panel discussion they describe were not reviewed; anything attributed to a guest is reported as the post presents it.
Jan Griffiths's posts do not include episode audio, an event recording or a transcript.
No media kit, rate card, engagement metrics or audience demographics are published in the posts here, so reach, conversion and bookable commercial formats are not assessed here.
The similar-creator comparisons draw on two posts each from Ozgur Tohumcu, Lisa Harvey Roach and Phil Slack, published between October 2023 and October 2026.
