We’re only beginning to understand the real potential of artificial intelligence in global logistics, with meaningful progress in automated freight management, more accurate customs classification, dynamic routing and logistics optimization at a scale that wasn’t possible before. But AI has clear limits: specialist physical tasks requiring fine motor skills, context or real-time improvisation. While AI can support compliance workflows, it can’t handle complex legal judgments or nuanced decision-making.
This industry is built on millions of repeatable, transactional processes — bookings, documentation, scheduling, exception handling — ripe for reengineering through agentic and generative AI, representing the greatest near-term opportunity. AI’s value will come not from replacing people, but from removing friction so human operators can focus on the decisions that truly move shipments forward.
When it comes to visibility systems, while they tell you what is happening, advanced technologies extract the “so what” — enabling predictive capabilities, real-time decision-making and prescriptive actions. Technology also allows deeper system integration, where visibility feeds into core infrastructure to improve coordination and unlock optimization across the network. In such a complex landscape, real value lies in the ability to turn data into action fast enough to drive resilience and efficiency.
Finally, the cooling of venture capital investment marks a healthy and overdue reset for logistics tech, after it chased rapid scale and aggressive growth models often at the expense of long-term sustainability. With more selective funding, resilience, profitability and differentiated value take the spotlight.
This is a sign maturity, not retreat. Logistics is entering its next evolutionary phase, where, more than vision, companies must demonstrate viability. Investors now prioritize targeted innovation over broad disruption, with greater demand for solutions delivering measurable outcomes.
This shift will sharpen the industry’s focus on technologies with practical benefits, rather than speculative hype. It’s a recalibration favoring product-driven excellence, operational rigor and true technical differentiation. Ultimately, the companies that survive this phase will be stronger, more focused and better equipped to build lasting value.