How Vincero Used AI to Rebuild Their Planning Process

When Aaron Hallerman took over demand planning at Vincero in early 2024, he inherited a problem most fast-growing DTC brands eventually face: a spreadsheet system managing 600+ SKUs that had become too complex to maintain and too rigid to evolve.

The monthly planning process consumed a full day plus daily maintenance. Scenario planning was effectively impossible. Marketing couldn't get answers fast enough to capitalize on trends. And all the knowledge lived in one person's head.

Within nine months of implementing AI-powered planning with Atomic Supply, Vincero cut their planning time from a full day monthly to 30 minutes weekly, brought marketing directly into inventory decisions, and eliminated the bottleneck that was constraining their growth.

But here's what makes their story worth studying: they didn't just flip a switch and hope for the best. 

They ran their old spreadsheet system and the new AI system side-by-side for six months, through their peak season, until they had enough evidence to trust the new approach with million-dollar inventory decisions.

I sat down with Aaron (now CMO at Vincero), Sean Agatep (COO at Vincero), and Neal Suidan (CEO of Atomic Supply) to understand exactly how they pulled this off. 

What specific decisions they made. What challenges nearly derailed them. And the tactical approach that let them rebuild their planning process without blowing up their business.

This is that story.

What's Inside

• The Spreadsheet System That Couldn't Scale

• Why They Chose AI Over Rebuilding In-House

• Implementation: From Data to Working System in Two Weeks

• De-Risking the Transition: Running Both Systems for Six Months

• ROI: The Before and After

• Should You Use AI for Supply Chain Planning?

• What You Can Learn from Vincero

• 3 Things That Will Change How You Think About Planning

• The Bottom Line