On November 19, APICS (American Production and Inventory Control Society, now known as ASCM, Association for Supply Chain Management) hosted a representative from Anheuser-Busch InBev who specializes in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning innovation. The representative, Adam Spunberg, works out of the Newark office and is the global director of tech exploration. In his position Spunberg monitors and oversees innovation in the supply chain area of the company. Additionally, he focuses on bringing the company together through new technology and using AI to do something spectacular that couldn't be done before. Through his experience, he has learned that innovation is a mixture of having great ideas and then generating support for those great ideas. Anheuser-Busch InBev has four main checkpoints for filtering these innovative ideas: idea prioritization, quality check, zone demand and direct sponsorship.

Figuring out which products are in stock and which stock is likely to run low is a never-ending battle, as shoppers spend an estimated 40 billion hours picking things off shelves. It's also error-prone -- employees regularly misplace an estimated one in 10 items, contributing to global retail revenue losses exceeding $1 trillion. But drones hold the answer to the inventory tracking problem, if you ask serial entrepreneur Richard Schwartz. So strong is he in this conviction that he cofounded Pensa Systems, which develops inventory systems equipped with computer vision algorithms that "understand" what's on store shelves. The Austin startup today announced the close of a $10 million follow-on seed funding round that brings its total raised to $17.2 million, and according to investor and Pensa advisory board member James McCann, the future is looking bright.