Bristlecone, the leading provider of AI-powered application transformation services for the connected supply chain, today announced a new partnership with Cognitive Automation company Aera Technology. The strategic engagement brings together Aera’s Cognitive Operating System™ and Bristlecone’s expertise in digital supply chain, sourcing and procurement, and business process transformation to help enterprises accelerate their journey toward a highly intelligent, self-driving, self-optimizing supply chain.

“In a time of unrelenting disruption and rising customer expectations, the cognitive supply chain has gone from elusive holy grail to competitive necessity – and AI and automation are now making it possible,” said Nirav Patel, President and CEO, Bristlecone. “We are excited to work with Aera, the clear global leader in Cognitive Automation, and combine our strengths to bring transformational solutions to market.”

Aera’s Cognitive Operating System is a cloud-based, always-on digital platform that digitizes, augments and automates decision-making in real-time. It applies data crawling, machine learning and industry-specific models to make recommendations, predict outcomes and act autonomously to execute complex strategic and operational decisions – from demand forecasting and order management to inventory optimization and logistics.

Through this partnership, businesses can tap into a comprehensive portfolio of technologies and services from Bristlecone and Aera. This includes next-gen platforms for the connected supply chain, AI, analytics and Cognitive Automation systems as well as process consulting, technology implementation, project management and change management services. The companies will also co-develop new solutions on the Aera Cognitive Operating System.

“As a leading supply chain consultancy and systems integrator, Bristlecone has a long history of working with industry-leading, innovative platforms,” said Fred Laluyaux, CEO of Aera Technology. “We are excited to collaborate with them to accelerate business agility and deliver exceptional user experiences.”