Artificial Intelligence in Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has evolved from a niche concern into a strategic imperative as firms confront intensifying environmental regulations, heightened social expectations, and the need for resilient, cost-efficient operations. This chapter offers a synthesis of how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping SSCM by transforming data-rich yet opaque supply networks into transparent, self-optimizing ecosystems. After grounding the discussion in triple bottom line theory and established SSCM frameworks, we survey state-of-the-art AI techniques including machine learning for demand and risk forecasting, deep learning-driven computer vision for quality assurance, reinforcement learning for dynamic inventory and routing, natural language processing for supplier due-diligence automation, and robotics for low-waste, energy-aware warehouse operations. Building on this technical overview, we introduce an integration architecture that fuses AI with Internet-of-Things sensing, blockchain-secured traceability, and Industry 4.0 digital-twin platforms, enabling real-time, end-to-end sustainability optimization. Comparative case analyses across manufacturing, logistics, and retail illustrate up to double-digit reductions in carbon emissions, material waste, and lead-time variability when AI is embedded within supply chain decision loops. The chapter also provides a critical appraisal of unresolved challenges data governance, algorithmic bias, worker-centric ethics, integration costs, and escalating cybersecurity threats and proposes a responsible-AI framework that aligns technical metrics with societal goals. We conclude by mapping future research frontiers: multi-objective generative design of supply chain networks, AI mechanisms for quantifying social sustainability impacts, and human AI collaboration models that preserve managerial judgment while leveraging computational scale. Collectively, the analysis demonstrates that, when deployed within robust ethical and governance guardrails, AI can move SSCM beyond incremental efficiency gains toward transformative, regenerative supply networks capable of meeting 21st-century sustainability ambitions.