Last week, Gartner released its annual ranking of the 25 most outstanding global supply chains. In 2026, France’s Schneider Electric took first place—for the fourth consecutive year. NVIDIA came in second, and Walmart climbed more than ten rankings and comes in third place. As for Sweden, we can celebrate a fifth-place finish by the Swedish-British company AstraZeneca.
The annual ranking highlights companies that Gartner considers to be leaders in supply chain management.
“This year, leading companies are setting themselves apart by building autonomous work processes, investing in network-centric strategies, and orchestrating end-to-end supply chains within increasingly complex ecosystems,” says Laura Rainier, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner Supply Chain. She also notes that leading supply chains are adopting AI not merely to automate tasks, but to fundamentally transform how work is performed between humans and machines.
Gartner cites Schneider Electric’s top ranking as being driven by the company’s focus on integrating autonomous processes and comprehensive orchestration of its supply chain, while also increasing its use of both generative and agent-based AI to support its decision-making. Schneider Electric SA is a French global electronics conglomerate headquartered in Paris with operations in over 100 countries. The company was founded in 1836 by Adolphe and Eugène Schneider.
Three trends define leaders
Gartner identified three trends that characterize many of the 25 leading companies on the list: AI-driven supply chains, autonomous workflows, and end-to-end orchestration. Gartner notes that the top 25 companies are increasingly organizing work around collaboration between staff and AI systems and are investing in training programs that prepare and teach employees to manage and improve intelligent, autonomous systems. Gartner also notes that top performers are building more agile supply chain networks that can respond quickly to geopolitical uncertainty. The 25 highest-ranked supply chains are also characterized by planning and decision-making in close collaboration with suppliers and partners, which provides greater insight into demand, supply, and capacity, while also supporting sustainability efforts and circularity.
Masters – those who perform best over time
As in previous years, Gartner presents its “Masters” category, which includes companies that have received the highest ratings in at least seven of the past ten years. Amazon, Apple, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever retained their positions as “Masters.”.
The Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 is an annual, global ranking by the research firm Gartner that lists the 25 companies worldwide considered to have the most outstanding and well-functioning supply chains. The ranking is based on financial data, sustainability data, and expert assessments by industry professionals.
