The Margin Gap Is Growing:
How AI-Driven Planning Is Pulling Manufacturers and Distributors Ahead, and What Executives Need to Do Now

An Invite-Only Briefing on how Forward-Looking Leaders can gain a Measurable Edge with AI

Wednesday, 17th June 2026

6:00 PM Onwards

Novotel Pune Nagar Road

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Invite-only · Limited seats · Senior leaders only

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Key Discussion Points

What We'll Explore Together

Four strategic conversations for executives who understand that margin performance and working capital are increasingly determined by the quality of planning decisions, and who are ready to act on what AI is making possible right now.

01 The Margin Gap Is Real - And It's Widening

What's Separating High-Performing Manufacturers and Distributors from the Rest The gap between organisations that plan well and those that don't has always existed. AI is making it significantly larger, significantly faster. We'll show exactly where margin is being lost in traditional planning setups - and what the leaders pulling ahead are doing differently.

02 Why AI-Driven Planning Moves the P&L

From Better Decisions to Better Margins - The Mechanism Executives Need to Understand This isn't about automation for its own sake. AI-driven planning means fewer stockouts, less excess inventory, and working capital that stops being locked in the wrong places. We'll show the direct line from smarter planning decisions to bottom-line impact - in terms every executive can act on.

03 What the Results Actually Look Like

Working Capital Freed. Margins Protected. Competitive Position Strengthened. Concrete outcomes from manufacturers and distributors who made the shift - the scale of impact, the speed of results, and what it meant for the business at the board level. Since its inception, Horizon Solutions has managed over $3.5 billion in inventory across organisations that have moved to a decision execution model.

04 The Executive's Path Forward

How to Move Fast, Without the Typical Cost and Disruption The question for most executives isn't whether to act - it's how to get results without triggering another costly, multi-year overhaul. We'll walk through what a pragmatic, high-impact path forward looks like - and what separates organisations that move quickly from those that stay stuck.

Why Attend

What You'll Take Away from This Evening

Understand why the margin performance gap between leading manufacturers and distributors and their competitors is growing - and why AI-driven planning is the mechanism behind it.

See how organisations are freeing up significant working capital and eliminating costly stockouts without replacing their existing systems or embarking on expensive transformations. Gain a clear-eyed view of where your organisation sits on the planning maturity curve - and what the highest-leverage next step looks like from a P&L perspective.

Leave with a concrete understanding of the Decision Execution Platform model: what it is, why it's being adopted by forward-looking companies across Benelux, Australia, and South Africa - and why the executives who act now will be the ones leading their markets in three years.

Walk away with the strategic framing to build the internal case for change - and the confidence that the path forward is faster and less disruptive than you think.

Meet The Speakers

Chinmay has spent over a decade building and implementing innovative supply chain planning solutions across E2open, o9 Solutions, and Logility for manufacturers and distributors. He has been in planning roles at Philips himself, so he knows the planners’ struggles from firsthand experience.

He founded Horizon Solutions to solve what he saw firsthand: planning tools that were too complex, too siloed, or too slow for the teams actually using them.

Since its first year, Horizon Solutions has managed over $3.5 billion in inventory, helping organizations improve forecast accuracy, reduce stockouts, and free up working capital.

Chinmay Narwane

CEO & Co-Founder

Ben has spent his career at the interface of supply chain operations and commercial reality - working closely with manufacturers and distributors to build the business case for change and translate planning complexity into outcomes that matter to senior leadership.

He co-founded Horizon Solutions after seeing firsthand how much value organizations leave on the table - not for lack of data or technology, but because planning tools were never designed to surface the right decision at the right moment for the right person.

At Horizon, Ben leads customer engagement and go-to-market, working directly with operations and supply chain leaders to ensure the platform delivers measurable impact from day one.

Ben Van Delm

Co-Founder

Agenda

Wednesday, 17th June 2026 | Pune | 6:00 PM Onwards

06:00 - 06:30

Arrival & Welcome Reception

Drinks, introductions, and peer networking with senior leaders from manufacturing and distributiong

06:30 - 06:40

Opening Remarks

Setting the strategic context: why the margin conversation in manufacturing and distribution runs through planning - and why AI is changing the stakes

06:40 - 07:00

Keynote: The Margin Gap

How AI-Driven Planning Is Delivering Real Bottom-Line Results - And What's at Stake for Executives Who Wait: A concise, evidence-based case for why the highest-return move many manufacturers and distributors can make right now is a fundamentally different approach to planning decisions - and what that looks like in practice.

07:00 - 07:45

Closed-Door Executive Roundtable

Featured

A candid, peer-level conversation among senior leaders on the margin pressures, competitive dynamics, and planning challenges shaping their businesses - and what separates the organisations moving forward from those still stuck. No vendors. No pitches. Honest conversation among peers.

07:45 - 08:00

Key Takeaways & Close

The evening's sharpest insights distilled - and a clear, practical view of what the path forward looks like for organisations ready to act.

08:00 PM onwards

Networking Dinner

The conversation continues - informally, honestly, and among peers working through the same strategic questions.

Join us for an insightful evening of meaningful conversations, peer networking, and actionable insights that will help bridge the gap between digital investments and real demand planning impact.

We look forward to your presence.