Founder | Leader | Software Engineer | Problem Solver

I have spent my career doing more with less while building and leading high-performance, winning teams. I discovered that operating tactically is necessary, strategically is superior, and philosophically is life-changing. I turn learning into action and I am always learning. I believe in extreme respect and gratitude. I am passionate about family, friends, sharing knowledge, and getting things done.

Nick Wagner

50 years ago, my grandmother passed away while on her way to March for Life. I greatly appreciate this heartfelt tribute! #ProLife

Leader | Catholic Speaker | Software Engineer | Problem Solver

Tribute to Joanne Wagner by Mary Drumm

An excellent piece by Dr. Lewarne.

Honestly, I'm not worried about the challenges of AI. Every disruptive technology brings new challenges.

I'm much more worried about the ignorance and irrational fear surrounding AI. That's the kind of stuff that quickly turns good intentions into bad policies.

Professor of Economics and Finance Franciscan University of Steubenville

Much of the current AI job panic rests on a category mistake. Policymakers are treating task-based exposure estimates as forecasts of unemployment—when history and economics suggest something very different. My piece in today’s Wall Street Journal (Jan. 28, 2026) explains why AI is more likely to reorganize work and raise productivity than eliminate occupations, and why Washington’s response risks missing the real adjustment challenge. 

https://lnkd.in/efi_aUPE

"The people most likely to leave are often the people you most want to keep … because they have the best outside options."

Let that sink in, people!

Stanford Professor | LinkedIn Top Voice In Remote Work | Co-Founder wfhresearch.com | Speaker on work from home

Short-run vs. long-run trade-off: a 5-day return-to-office (RTO) mandate can be a “free” way to reduce headcount in the short term—quits don’t require severance. But the long-run costs can be substantial. The people most likely to leave are often the people you most want to keep: top sales reps, AI talent, and strong product managers—because they have the best outside options. That talent drain can show up later as slower growth.

Markets typically reward credible long-run growth more than short-run cost cutting. So it’s not surprising that aggressive 5-day RTO pushes are often followed by weaker stock performance (as the Pittsburgh study finds). That said, for firms deep in the red, it can be an emergency measure.

My guess: we’ll see more of this as the economy slows and AI increases pressure on corporate headcount. The key is being clear-eyed about the trade-off—cheap headcount reduction today, potential growth hit tomorrow.

I never knew my grandmother, but I'll never forget her legacy, her impact, and her witness to the truth. And I'll never forget the love, strength, and impact of my grandfather. 

For me, they will always be the standard for what pro life means. They didn't just say it. They lived it.

CEO and Founder at Mass Impact | Imago Dei Video Productions

It was 50 years ago yesterday evening, in 1976. Michael and Joanne Wagner boarded a bus heading for the March for Life in D.C. Everything about them proclaimed God's gift of life. Joanne was carrying baby number 13. Somewhere around midnight, while on the bus... head resting on her husband's shoulder, at the very young age of 39, God called her home. She died silently in her sleep. Many years later, some who were on the bus that night reported the little boy kicking in her womb.

READ THE FULL STORY:

Open article: THE MICHAEL & JOANNE WAGNER STORY | AMAZING LEGACY OF LIFE by gregorianrant.substack.com

THE MICHAEL & JOANNE WAGNER STORY | AMAZING LEGACY OF LIFE

I’m a global entrepreneur who has spearheaded numerous ventures. I serve as President/CEO of The Atlas Network, LLC, a global supply chain enterprise offering comprehensive end-to-end services, including Consulting, Product Development, Factory Selection, Mass Production Oversight/Management, Quality Control, Documentation, Logistics, Shipping, and Storage.

I’m the Founder and CEO of The Global Crosswalk, LLC, a SaaS solutions platform that streamlines project lifecycles for the supply chain industry. I’m also the founder and co-host of the “Supply & Demand Show,” on YouTube. And the author of the best-selling book "Supply Chain Ups and Downs".

I make deals across diverse sectors - Technology, Retail, Entertainment, Real Estate, Spirits, Packaging, Sports Equipment, Medical, Import/Export, and Banking. I’ve held notable positions at NASD/FINRA (National Association of Securities Dealers), Accenture, SEC, Friedman Billings Ramsey, and 24/7 Media.

I hold a BA in Finance, International Business, and Marketing from Washington University in St. Louis, an MBA in Business Law and Finance from American University, and an Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy certification from MIT.  I’m a continuous learner pursuing equilibrium in thought, culture, business practices, and amongst people.

Kerim Kfuri

Your supply chain team doesn't need new tools.
They need fewer priorities and clearer ownership:

Right now, most teams are drowning in capability.

AI planning tools...
Automation platforms...
Dashboards layered on dashboards...

On paper, the tech stack looks impressive.
In practice?

The same issues keep showing up.

Not because the tools are bad- but because everything is “important” and no one truly owns the outcome.

I’ve seen teams with world-class software struggle because:

Five initiatives are competing for attention-

No one knows which metric actually matters this quarter
Ownership is shared, which usually means it’s unclear
Tools get implemented, but never fully embedded
Process bottlenecks are ignored

So leaders do what feels logical.

They add another tool.
Another workflow.
Another layer of automation.

But complexity doesn’t fix confusion.
It amplifies it.

The teams that get real value from AI and automation do something much simpler first:

They confirm what actually matters right now and kill or pause everything else.

They clean up processes before compounding them with tech.

They assign one clear owner per outcome (not per task.)

Only then do the tools start working the way they were promised.
Because technology doesn’t create clarity.

Clarity tells technology where to focus.

If your team is overwhelmed, the answer usually isn’t more software.
It’s fewer priorities.

Clearer ownership.

And the discipline to say “not yet” to everything else.

That’s how good tools turn into real leverage.

💬 Where does your team lose clarity today - priorities or ownership?

♻️ Save this as a reminder to fix what's broken first
➡️ Follow Kerim Kfuri for philosophy & leadership insights

Global Supply Chain Expert | Public Speaker | Author of Supply Chain Ups and Downs | CEO, The Atlas Network | Follow for daily philosophy & leadership insights

The fastest way to kill transparency isn’t bad systems.
It’s how leaders react to bad news:

Most teams don’t stop being honest overnight.
They learn when honesty becomes unsafe.

Someone raises a risk early and gets dismissed.

A mistake gets surfaced and turns into a public interrogation.

Bad news is met with frustration, sarcasm or visible anger.

Nothing dramatic happens.
But something changes.
Next time, the issue gets softened.

Then delayed.
Then quietly worked around.

Eventually, leaders stop hearing problems early -not because teams are incompetent, but because they’re protecting themselves.

Truth doesn’t disappear because people don’t care.
It disappears when honesty starts to feel like punishment.

I’ve seen organizations with great tools, great dashboards, and great talent
operate completely blind because the culture taught people one thing:

“Bring solutions. Don’t bring problems.”

But complex systems don’t work that way.
Problems don’t vanish when they’re hidden.
They compound.

The strongest leaders I know don’t demand transparency.
They earn it.

By responding to bad news with curiosity instead of blame.

By separating accountability from emotional reactions.

By making it clear that surfacing reality early is valued not penalized.

Because the moment people believe telling the truth is risky, the system stops learning.

And once learning stops, failure is just a matter of timing.

💬 Has your team ever gone quiet? What caused it?

♻️Share this to inspire open communication

➡️Follow Kerim Kfuri for philosophy & leadership insights

The pressure isn't just intense anymore.

It's compounding.

Faster. Better. Cheaper.
And once you get there, the bar has already moved.

Technology accelerates.
Competition accelerates.
Global forces accelerate.

And somewhere along the way, leaders stopped asking "how do I keep up?"
Because the honest answer is: you can't.

Not fully. Not sustainably.

The leaders I've watched thrive in this environment aren't the ones who respond to every Slack message on vacation.

They're not the ones checking email at dinner "just in case."

They're the ones who've accepted something most leaders resist:

You cannot control the acceleration.
You can only control your boundaries within it.

Disconnecting isn't avoidance.
It's strategy.

Because a leader running on empty doesn't make better decisions.
They make faster, worse ones.

The compounding pressure will keep compounding.
That's the reality.

But the leaders who last aren't the ones who try to outrun it.

They're the ones who know when to step away from it.

Boundaries aren't weakness.

They're the only sustainable response to a world that will never stop asking for more.

💬 How do you protect your boundaries when the pressure keeps compounding?

♻️ Repost to remind leaders that rest is strategy

➡️ Follow Kerim Kfuri for philosophy & leadership insights

The most underrated competitive advantage in operations:
It’s not speed...

It’s not technology.
It’s not even cost.

It’s clarity.

I’ve seen teams with fewer tools outperform teams with massive budgets simply because everyone understood reality.

They knew:

-What actually mattered this week
-Where decisions lived
-What tradeoffs were being made
-And who owned what when things changed

No scrambling.
No guessing.
No constant escalation.

Clarity does something most leaders underestimate.

It reduces noise.
It lowers stress.
It speeds up decision-making without rushing it.

When clarity is high:

-Teams don’t panic when something breaks
-Problems surface earlier
-Decisions stick

And execution feels… lighter

When clarity is missing:

-Everything feels urgent
-Meetings multiply
-People hedge instead of decide
-And speed actually slows down

The strongest operations I’ve worked with weren’t the most aggressive.
They were the most aligned.

Clarity didn’t just make them faster.
It made them calmer.

And calm, in complex systems, is a massive advantage.

💬 Where does your operation lose clarity most often?

♻️  Share this to promote operational clarity
➡️Follow Kerim Kfuri for philosophy & leadership insights

The biggest supply chain mistake I see leaders make?

They copy & paste a strategy that worked for someone else.

Agile.
Lean.
Fast.
Green.
All great models.
Demand-driven.

All wrong if they’re misaligned with your actual business goal.

There is no “best” supply chain strategy.

There is only the right strategy for what you’re trying to optimize.

Some businesses need flexibility.
Some need cost stability.
Some need speed.
Some need resilience.
Some need consistency at scale.

Problems start when:

A cost-focused business tries to move at startup speed
A fast-growth brand optimizes for efficiency too early
A demand-driven operation is run with rigid processes
Sustainability is treated as branding instead of design

That’s when leaders say things like:

“Why is this so hard?”
“Why do we keep missing targets?”
“Why does every change create new problems?”

The answer usually isn’t execution.
It’s strategy mismatch.

Strong supply chains aren’t built by doing more.

They’re built by choosing intentionally.
This cheatsheet isn’t about complexity.
It’s about alignment.

Because once the strategy is right, execution gets a lot easier.

💬 Which supply chain model best matches what your business?

♻️ Save this for your supply chain discussions
➡️ Follow Kerim Kfuri for philosophy & leadership insights

Your team challenges you? Good.

It doesn’t mean they’re being difficult.
It doesn’t mean they’re not aligned.

And it definitely doesn’t mean you’re losing control.

Most of the time, it means they care.
They care enough to question assumptions.

Enough to point out risks early.
Enough to push back when something doesn’t make sense.

That only happens when people believe two things:
Their voice matters
Telling the truth won’t cost them

When teams don't feel safe:
They stop challenging.
They start nodding.

And problems get quieter… right up until they’re expensive.

The strongest leaders I know don’t surround themselves with agreement.
They build teams that feel safe enough to say:

“I don’t think this will work.”
“We’re missing something.”
“There’s a better way.”

That friction isn’t dysfunction.
It’s engagement.

And it’s often the difference between catching issues early and reacting too late.

💬 Has someone challenged your thinking lately?

♻️ Repost to encourage constructive conversation

➡️ Follow Kerim Kfuri for philosophy & leadership insights

I asked a logistics partner where a shipment was. 
They said "let me check." 
That was the last time I used them:

I've seen this many times after years of watching ecommerce leaders get burned.

The partners who hesitate aren't being careful. 
They're being caught. 

They've built their operations on duct tape and good intentions and they're hoping you won't notice until it's too late to switch.

Real-time visibility isn't a "nice to have." 
It's how you know whether you're working with a partner or just a middleman with a tracking number. 

The difference shows up in your team's stress levels, your customer complaints, and eventually in your margins.

The leaders who scale without burning out their ops teams? 

They stopped accepting "I'll get back to you" as a normal part of doing business. 

They started treating clarity as a requirement, not a request.

Swipe through for the questions you should be asking and the standards you should STOP apologizing for.

♻️ Repost to help ecommerce teams get real answers

➡️ Follow Kerim Kfuri for philosophy & leadership insights

If your logistics partner can answer in 30s...

Most ecommerce founders don’t have supplier issues.
They have leverage issues:

The supplier won’t prioritize you.

Lead times keep slipping.
MOQs feel unreasonable.
Pricing keeps creeping up.

So founders do what feels logical:

Push harder
Threaten to move volume
Start shopping for replacements

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Suppliers don’t respond to pressure.
They respond to leverage.

And leverage rarely comes from yelling louder.
It comes from things most ecommerce brands overlook:

➡️ Optionality
You’re not their only option, but they’re not yours either

➡️Predictability 
You’re easy to plan for

➡️Volume clarity 
They know what’s coming, not just what you want

➡️Strategic importance 
You matter beyond this PO

When a brand has no leverage, every conversation feels adversarial.

When leverage is strong, problems get solved quietly.

I’ve seen founders switch factories three times chasing “better partners” only to recreate the same issues every time.

Because the problem wasn’t the supplier.

It was that the business had:
One source
One country
One production path
And no real alternatives

That’s not a supplier relationship.
That’s dependence.

The brands that win long-term don’t beg for better treatment.
They design leverage into the system:

Multiple qualified sources
Clear demand signals
Fair but firm partnerships
And the ability to walk away if needed

Once leverage exists, the dynamic changes.

Suddenly:
Calls get returned
Capacity opens up
Problems surface earlier

Not because the supplier changed.
Because the balance did.

💬 Where do you need more leverage: sourcing, production, or volume planning?

♻️ Save this to build leverage with your supplies

➡️ Follow Kerim Kfuri for philosophy & leadership insights

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