Akash Khurana on IoT
From IoT in the Supply Chain Post-Pandemic | Wesco's Akash Khurana · · IoT For All
“As we think about IoT, it's all about getting better visibility from our assets, from our operations, and all the delivery processes that we have for our end customers. Bringing about the IoT stack is all about how well we can get our assets, individual assets that we have in our warehouses and our fulfillment centers, distribution centers, how do we get those individual assets connected? Get them sensorized, make sure that we have full visibility into the control systems.”
On , Akash Khurana, Executive Vice President and Chief Information & Digital Officer at WESCO INTL INC, spoke about IoT during IoT in the Supply Chain Post-Pandemic | Wesco's Akash Khurana on IoT For All.
About Akash Khurana
Akash Khurana, Executive Vice President and Chief Information & Digital Officer at Wesco International, appeared on the IoT For All Podcast in September 2024 to discuss the role of IoT in the post-pandemic supply chain. Khurana described Wesco as a Fortune 500 global distribution and logistics company that sells to approximately 90 percent of the largest companies on the Fortune 500 list, as well as to commercial and industrial businesses, contractors, and government agencies. He stated that IoT technology is used to gain visibility into assets, operations, and delivery processes, and that during the pandemic, when supply and demand were out of equilibrium, IoT helped provide visibility for operational teams to prioritize critical demand. He noted that as the pandemic has receded, demand has leveled off and supply has caught up, and that IoT technology plays a role in transitioning organizations back to normal operations. Khurana emphasized the importance of partnerships in IoT deployments, saying that Wesco works with supplier partners, technology providers, and deployment or change management partners to build, deploy, and adopt solutions. He stated that the company focuses on understanding customer challenges and opportunities before mapping out process changes and technology components, and that IoT is a critical part of that. Regarding artificial intelligence, Khurana said Wesco uses AI to drive actionable insights from data collected at the edge, including generative AI, large language models, deep learning, and machine learning, depending on the use case. He advised that there is no one-size-fits-all IoT stack and that organizations should focus on a flexible architecture and a team laser-focused on delivering value with speed.