On this bonus episode of the podcast, we are talking AI in the warehouse with Ravi Maganti from Manhattan Associates. This conversation was originally broadcast live at Momentum 2024 where AI was certainly a large topic of conversation with Manhattan announcing their generative AI approach to the warehouse called Manhattan Assist. One of the top questions I get from people both in the industry and outside the industry is “how is AI coming into the warehouse?” so I was very excited to have this conversation and get the answer.

What is Generative AI?

With AI or artificial intelligence becoming so prevalent in our world, not just a specific industry, there is a lot of talk about what AI can do and what AI even is. There are multiple different types of AI and applications that Ravi gives us definitions of and examples of in the conversation, however, we are focused on generative AI in this use case. The easiest way to think of generative AI is ChatGPT, which is a generative AI platform and what Ravi compares to “the mobile phone revolution” with its prevalence in today’s society. The true definition is where multiple sets of existing data are taken and can then be used to generate new content whether it is text, images, video or other examples. This is very similar to what you might see from a chat interface where you ask a question and the generative AI platform will return information to you based on what you have asked.

How Generative AI is Coming Into the Warehouse

Now, how is generative AI coming into the warehouse itself? With Manhattan’s recent launch of Manhattan Assist, which has been in development for over a decade and was teased last year at Momentum, generative AI has now found a home in the warehouse. Through their first launch of Assist to their Manhattan Active users they are giving access to Assist on every part of the Active platform allowing users to dig into configurations on any screen. This takes away multiple different points at which interaction would be needed from a support level. Now that configurations can be dissected to the level the user needs right in an easy-to-access chat system they can get on with their work and not run into potential roadblocks. One of the benefits of Manhattan Active is being able to have access to new features every 90 days without any updates or implementations. With so many features coming on line at a frequent pace, a user can now easily understand them and how to put them into place for themselves with Manhattan Assist. Starting at this higher level and foundational system configuration level is a big win for those operating on Manhattan Active and will be a big foundation for what’s to come from Manhattan Assist.

Key Takeaways

• Generative AI is what most think of when they think of AI (like ChatGPT) and Ravi explains how Manhattan has developed their large language models (LLMs) over time to deliver Manhattan Assist.
• Manhattan Assist is Manhattan Active’s newest feature that brings Generative AI into the warehouse and helps to breakdown configurations on any aspect of the platform in easy to digest ways.
• Manhattan Assist is just the start of what Generative AI can do in the warehouse and the continued learning and evolution of the platform will increase the ability of the user to be better informed and make better decisions.