Shell partners with Accenture and Ripjar on supply chain AI

With new cyberthreats to supply chains popping up at an alarming speed (one need only look at the likes of the attack on the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain identified by IBM), businesses are increasingly putting AI to work in the risk assessment space.

Securing the supply chain

One such example is Royal Dutch Shell, which is partnering with consultants Accenture and its strategic ally Ripjar.

The UK-based Ripjar offers a platform which utilises AI to detect criminal threats including money laundering, terrorism and crime networks. Its Labyrinth offering analyses across the data sources fed into it and uses AI to then automatically identify risk, with specific solutions for different industries including finance and defence.

Partnering with the energy giant, the latter company is to employ Ripjar’s solutions within its global supply chain - with possible benefits including an 80% reduction in data reporting errors versus existing legacy systems.

“Global energy companies like Shell can better provide the products and services that are essential to our society with the help of a business ecosystem,” said Jeremy Annis, CEO of Ripjar. “Ripjar’s technology, enhanced by AI, can help reduce the number of steps it takes to conduct due diligence and detect risks through continuous real-time monitoring of the supply chain.”

AI for risk management

The tool will run on Shell’s own Microsoft Azure cloud-based infrastructure, with Accenture's role including tailoring Ripjar’s solutions, ensuring the product is scalable and ensuring employees worldwide are able to utilise the software as they interact with third party vendors.

“In a proactive move to tackle the growing challenges associated with criminal activity, security and fraud in today’s global business landscape, Shell is reinforcing its risk management capabilities across the supply chain,” said Adam Markson, a managing director and lead for Risk and Compliance at Accenture. 

“Together, we are taking a time-consuming, manual process and applying state-of-the-art automation with more insights into data to not only improve accuracy, but also give management complete audit capabilities and accountability over the entire screening process. Indeed, Accenture was selected for its deep industry expertise and track record of implementing the next generation of compliance capabilities and enabling transformational change.”