I’m Knut Alicke. I help C-suite leaders understand — and improve — their global supply chains. Two decades as a McKinsey partner. A full academic career. A relentless belief that supply chain belongs at the table of the C-Suite.
Featured In & Affiliated With
Built on conversations with 26 C-level supply chain executives, From Source to Sold makes the definitive case for elevating supply chain leadership to the boardroom. Co-authored with Radu Palamariu, it is part leadership book, part field guide, and entirely indispensable for anyone who wants supply chain to be taken seriously at the top.
From boardroom strategy to shop-floor execution — these are the themes I research, write about, and advise on.
Navigating geopolitical shocks, nearshoring trends, and the lessons COVID really taught us about risk.
Separating hype from reality: how generative AI is reshaping planning, forecasting, and decision-making.
Why only 11% of Fortune 200 CEOs come from supply chain — and how to change that statistic for good.
Demand planning, IBP, inventory strategy, and scenario planning in an era of radical uncertainty.
End-to-end redesign of supply networks — from strategy through execution — for competitive advantage.
What a multi-agent S&OP simulation taught us about trust: it is not an input you install through workshops, but the equilibrium your incentives produce. Misaligned incentives cost €400k of EBITDA — while four of five scorecards still look green.
Read "Trust Was the Consequence" on Substack ↗Why five years of shocks have not made us resilient — grey rhinos versus black swans, and the three numbers that would tell you whether you are.
Read "The Rhino in the Room" on Substack ↗ Listen to the masterclass ↗A comparison of musical and logistical sequencing problems — from Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll" to a real container terminal set to music, and what both reveal about AI planning copilots.
Read "The Container That Learned to Swing" → Also on Substack ↗A personal experiment in AI-assisted supply chain planning — what I built, what surprised me, and what it means for the future of S&OP.
Read "How I Vibe Coded an S&OP App" → Also on Substack ↗ Source code on GitHub ↗Our survey of global supply chain leaders reveals how companies are responding to persistent disruption — and which resilience investments are actually paying off.
Read "Supply Chain Risk Survey 2024" on McKinsey →Why supply chains have been running on human memory for 30 years — and what changes now. The case for building an experiential ontology before your best planners retire.
Read "The Planner Was the System" → Also on Substack ↗Deep-dive supply chain masterclasses from the leading German-language supply chain podcast. With Boris Felgendreher & panel.
With Nico Nürbchen (SVP Global Supply Chain, Olympus) — grey rhinos versus black swans, why dual sourcing often isn't, tier-n transparency, and making the case for resilience in the language of revenue.
Listen to the episode → Read the essay ↗Segmentation in practice — using case studies from Zara, Gardena, and Volvo. Different approaches, common implementation mistakes, and how to navigate data, IT, and stakeholder challenges.
Listen on Spotify →History and significance of S&OP and IBP, why it's theoretically simple and practically hard, local incentive conflicts, and how to build a process that delivers a single agreed plan.
Listen on Spotify →Why inventory management should be treated as an analytical discipline. From safety stock fundamentals to advanced multi-echelon strategies — the toolkit that separates good from great.
Listen on Spotify →Long-form video conversations on generative AI, vibe coding, and what actually changes in supply chain practice.
A webinar with Nicolas Vandeput and Alain Matar — can you actually build a working APS with an AI coding agent? What we each built, where the agents genuinely accelerate the work, and where they don't.
Watch on YouTube ↗
The Supply Chain Show, episode 91 — what vibe coding means for supply chain professionals, and how subject-matter experts can build their own planning applications without waiting for IT.
Watch on YouTube ↗
A long-form conversation with Joannes Vermorel on where generative AI genuinely changes supply chain work — and where the hype outruns the reality.
Watch on YouTube ↗I bring evidence-based insight — not generic frameworks — to the stage and the boardroom. From international conferences to executive off-sites, I help leadership teams think more clearly about their supply chain challenges.
"Knut Alicke trained as a mechanical engineer. Then he got curious about why things don't arrive on time."
That curiosity became a PhD in Logistics and a post-doctoral Habilitation in Supply Chain Management — the highest academic qualification in the German university system, resulting in a published Springer monograph on cross-company logistics networks.
He then built his industry career from the ground up: starting at ICON-SCM in Karlsruhe — a software startup building planning systems for Hewlett-Packard and other consumer electronics companies — before joining McKinsey & Company in 2004, where he rose to Partner and led the European Supply Chain practice for two decades.
Today, as Senior Advisor and Partner Emeritus at McKinsey, he works with C-suite leaders and innovative startups on the hardest supply chain challenges: resilience, digitalisation, the realistic potential of Gen AI, and how to build supply chains that are genuinely competitive. Alongside his advisory work, he holds teaching posts at London Business School, the University of Cologne, and SKEMA Business School.
He also acts as a Business Angel, backing early-stage companies where supply chain innovation meets real-world impact.
He is the co-author of From Source to Sold — built on interviews with 26 C-level executives — and home to the data point that stopped the industry in its tracks: only 11% of Fortune 200 CEOs have a supply chain background. He has been ranked the #2 global supply chain influencer (2024) and #6 global procurement creator (2025).
The questions I get asked most often — answered directly.
Knut Alicke is a globally recognised supply chain expert, McKinsey Partner Emeritus, and Professor at London Business School and the University of Cologne. He led McKinsey's European Supply Chain practice for 20 years and holds a PhD in Logistics and a Habilitation in Supply Chain Management. He is ranked #2 Global Supply Chain Influencer (2024).
It's Knut's personal brand tagline — and it captures something real. He doesn't just diagnose supply chain problems; he helps organisations and their leaders work through complexity with clarity, empathy, and structure. It reflects a deeply human-centred approach to a highly technical discipline.
Co-authored with Radu Palamariu (2022), the book is built on interviews with 26 C-level supply chain executives. Its central finding — that only 11% of Fortune 200 CEOs have a supply chain background — has become one of the most cited data points in the industry. It makes the case for supply chain as a boardroom discipline.
Supply chain resilience, generative AI in supply chain, S&OP and Integrated Business Planning, supply chain leadership, and end-to-end supply chain transformation. He is available for keynote speaking, executive education programmes, and strategic advisory engagements globally.
Whether you're planning a keynote, exploring an advisory engagement, or just want to discuss an idea — I'd be glad to hear from you. I respond personally to every serious enquiry.
