The pod may have been a little off-schedule over the last month but that’s for good reason because I’m trying out a new editorial approach to the show and its taken more legwork to get to a point where I feel comfortable hitting publish.
In May, I scheduled interviews with 8 different companies building AI solutions in logistics. The plan is upload each of those ~30 minute conversations that focus specifically on their product, who it’s for and what to expect. Basically an approach of “here’s everything I would ask if I was trying to understand and eventually/maybe purchase this software.” We also had some written submissions that I included in a written guide along with companies making moves but I personally didn’t interview them for this topic .
Because I want CargoRex to be a brand that is successful independent of me being the “voice” of it, I still, and likely will always want to give my opinion and that home is naturally here. However I think the process needs to be refined where interviews go on one channel and editorial evolves in more narrative/topic based shows that include those interviews where it makes the most sense. I’ll still share those interviews here but I think it’s important that I drop an episode like this ahead of that to set the tone of how I’m thinking about X topic in logistics.
During this new interview process and after learning the real work going into these different AI solutions, I put together a working theory on how the humanoids are already here.
How?
My theory is most of the public is waiting for the big ~societal crash into AI agents taking over everything~ that’s turned into fear mongering. Companies simply over-hired, were run inefficiently, and the free money dried up. Businesses had to grow up, cut costs, and get lean. They blame “AI” but in reality, these companies just had bad processes and failed attempts to adopt AI solutions gave them a chance to blame a boogeyman.
When you move past the noise and dig a little deeper you can see logistics is doing what it always does: improving that source to porch journey second by second. These solutions aren’t promising the world on a silver platter, but they are committed to creating solutions for specific use cases that requires a human’s expertise that is powered by information + insight to be creative with their problem solving.
You can listen to the full interviews over on the CargoRex YouTube channel (links below) along with our in-depth Cargorex.io guide with all the companies interviewed, quoted, and featured.
I’m really proud to hit publish on this new editorial direction and I hope you’ll find value in it.
In this episode:
- How autonomous trucks are filling routes drivers don’t want, not replacing drivers
- The 3-hour report that now takes 15 seconds, and what analysts do with that time
- Why AI is the new boogeyman when bad data and worse processes are the real problem
- The trust layer: audit logs, human-in-the-loop phases with defined endpoints, and why demos aren’t deployments
- What nobody talks about: AI burnout, and what happens when every minute of your day becomes the hard stuff
- Build vs. buy: $1.2 million in savings came from solving the right problems, not building everything from scratch
- Token management as an operational cost, and the Uber cautionary tale
Watch this episode on YouTube
Find the full AI Use Cases in Logistics Guide over on the CargoRex website
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Full Interviews available on the new CargoRex YouTube Channel:
1. Sarit Tamir — Founder & CEO, Seeteria "What Happens on Your Floor Between the Scans"
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IiHVk8eOw0w
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarittamir/
- Site: https://seeteria.com
2. Michelle McBride — Head of Product, Envoy AI "The Orchestration Layer Brokerages Have Been Missing"
- Watch: https://youtu.be/YGe5EZLoDYE
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleposadas/
- Site: https://tryenvoy.ai
3. Tapan Chaudhari — Founder & CEO, Hey Bubba "Voice AI That Books Freight for Truckers 24/7"
- Watch: https://youtu.be/XeBVteEJDlw
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ctapan/
- Site: https://bubba.ai
4. Shawn McCarrick — CEO, Sifted "Why Big Savings Mean You Already Spent the Money"
- Watch: https://youtu.be/ZH6-40Bxstg
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-mccarrick-04719765/
- Site: https://sifted.com
5. Jett Chitanand — President, EPG Americas "AI That Cuts 13 Minutes Off Every Warehouse Delivery"
- Watch: https://youtu.be/_Q8aM16gn24
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jett-chitanand/
- Site: https://epg.com
6. Tom Curee — President, Qued "The One Thing You Actually Control on a Shipment"
- Watch: https://youtu.be/ymtR9BRvxek
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomcuree/
- Site: https://qued.com
7. Tete Xiao — VP of Engineering and AI, Bot Auto "Driverless Trucks Are Already Hauling Freight in Texas"
- Watch: https://youtu.be/yWXQq_Fa9c0
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tete-xiao-ba2103120/
- Site: https://bot.auto
8. Nick Boston — VP of Sales, GoodShip "The Report That Took 3 Hours Now Takes 15 Seconds"
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/grzIjsDC1rs
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickboston/
- Site: https://goodship.io
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