ProMat 2025 Keynote Azeem Azhar Bridges the Gap
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform the supply chain, making Azeem Azhar an ideal keynote for ProMat 2025. A leading thinker at the intersection of technology, society, and business, Azhar will deliver a keynote titled “The AI Opportunity for Supply Chains” at 9 AM on March 18.
Highlights from Azhar’s diverse career include launching the Guardian’s first website in 1995, investing in more than 30 start-ups, hosting the Exponential View podcast (which more than 2 million people have listened to) and serving as a Board Member for the Ada Lovelace Institute.
Azhar is also an author and avid reader. In the preface to his book, Exponential Age: How Accelerating Technology is Transforming Business, Politics and Society, Azhar estimated that he had read more than 20 million words in five years – all in an effort to explore the societal ripple effects of exponential technological change.
One of the major findings from his research is that there is a dangerous chasm between “technologists (whether software engineers, product developers, or Silicon Valley executives)––and everyone else.” With a degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from Oxford University and a career rooted in technology, Azhar positions himself as a bridge builder between these worlds. “I wouldn’t want a world where it’s only the bosses of the largest firms in any industry who are the input into the regulatory framework,” he told Bloomberg TV. “That’s something to be avoided.”
Another one of his insights is that “re-localization” will define this era of innovation. In an interview with TechCrunch, he explained how wind power, solar energy, and grid-scale batteries can help reduce reliance on a sprawling supply chain. “All of those things can be done without shipping hundreds of millions of barrels of oil halfway across the globe,” he said.
Azeem’s scholarship also underpins the centrality of energy infrastructure in the global AI race. Last month, he penned a guest essay for the New York Times stating that the United States’ lack of investment in its power grid and its complex regulation could make it difficult for it to keep pace with China.
To learn more about both the challenges and the opportunities of the AI era, join us at ProMat 2025 to hear from Azeem Azhar. You can also attend compelling keynotes from football great Deion Sanders and data expert Paul Zikopoulos.
Register for free to attend ProMat 2025, March 17-20, at the Chicago McCormick Place.
