At Georgia Tech-Savannah, a recent Learners and Leaders seminar brought together over 100 professionals to explore how Generative AI is changing the landscape of supply chain and logistics. Led by Chris Gaffney of the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute, the session offered practical insights on prompting, AI policy, and applied use cases. As part of Georgia Tech’s College of Lifetime Learning, the Savannah campus continues to deliver relevant, workforce-focused education that helps leaders turn AI curiosity into capability.
The question raises a sense of caution and thrill for most of us: how is Artificial Intelligence (AI) changing your workplace, and how can you harness this potential? Nowhere is this more real than in the field of logistics and supply chain management. At Georgia Tech’s Savannah campus, a component of the College of Lifetime Learning, the September 4 seminar “Unlocking GenAI in the Supply Chain: From Curiosity to Capability” brought together industry leaders and other community members to address these issues.
“Saving 10 hours a week with GenAI tools and techniques? That attracts leaders in this field,” said Chris Gaffney, Managing Director of the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute (SCL) and presenter of the seminar. “But they also seek deeper expertise that addresses what leaders need to know now about AI, including prompting as a strategic skill, AI policy implications for both students and companies, and real examples of how GenAI can move the needle on decision speed and quality.”
Gaffney is also the Edenfield Executive-in-Residence and a Professor of the Practice in Georgia Tech’s H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
The free seminar was part of a regular “Learners and Leaders” series, which usually meets before work over breakfast. The interactive session began by defining confusing terms in AI and the significance of its rapid development, then focused on use cases and strategies. It presented emerging trends and a new Advanced Analytics Learning Ladder, an actionable guide to training teams in AI.
Georgia Tech-Savannah, an educational outreach arm of Georgia Tech to the Coastal Empire of Georgia and beyond provides a range of learning experiences, including education for veterans, K12 STEAM enrichment and outreach, leadership training, OSHA training, and more.
It is also home to the region's Enterprise Innovation Institute's office for the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), and Georgia Tech’s regional presence for Apex Accelerator.
In a recent applied research partnership, the Georgia Ports Authority along with Georgia Tech experts from the GT Supply Chain and Logistics Institute (led by Gaffney) showed through research that routing Asia cargo through the Port of Savannah delivers lower costs, greater reliability, and comparable transit times versus West Coast ports.
This Learners and Leaders seminar series responds to regional needs and offers practical strategies and solutions to workplace or educational challenges. This includes the supply and logistics sector, predominant in the Savannah region, but also extends to other topics like K-12 education, safety and health, workforce demands, etc. Among more than 110 attendees in September (face-to-face and online) were representatives of the largest regional companies, the Georgia Ports Authority, local universities, and local economic development authorities.
Georgia Tech-Savannah plays a vital role in the College of Lifetime Learning efforts to address the needs of learners in timely and meaningful ways that help the workforce remain agile, capable, and engaged.