Electronics Sourcing North America is just two issues away from supply chain data gold in the form of the extensive, annual Top 50 Report. Everyone is asking me what the results will be but I refuse to comment.
More broadly, I have spent the last two months sifting through generic market data from all corners of the globe so I have a rough idea of what to expect. However, rather than speculate on the Report, I choose to await its arrival. What I will do is explore one key process impacting electronics supply in 2025 which will certainly inform the subsequent Report.
In my humble opinion, the biggest single impact is AI, for good or bad. As a user of AI for product design, code development, research and more, I know first hand that we are embarking on an industrial revolution unlike anything encountered before.
What makes AI different from other forces is its scale and speed. If momentum is mass times velocity, AI is going to bulldoze its way through everything. Much of the electronics industry is betting its future growth on the hardware requirements of AI moving forward, both datacentre-based and at the edge. I know what this looks like as I spent chunks of 2024 visiting these datacentres in person and talking to the people that build and operate them.
Regarding the supply chain, it’s not just the components required to build these datacentres, AI will be impacting the way components are specified, marketed, sold, bought and managed. Once supply chain AI agents deploy, buckle in and prepare for the ride.