Freight forwarders optimistic about AI but poor data blocks adoption
According to the findings, 48% of respondents believe AI will reshape freight forwarding within three years.;
Will AI transform freight forwarding in the next 3 years? Source: The Freight Forwarders Data & AI Readiness Survey, August- September 2025
A survey conducted by Ontegos Cloud in August and September among more than 800 freight forwarding and logistics professionals found that while nearly half of respondents expect artificial intelligence (AI) to transform the industry in the next three years, most companies lack the data quality required to adopt these solutions effectively.
The study also revealed that professionals spend a significant portion of their time on manual tasks, raising questions about the sector’s readiness for automation.
According to the findings, 48% of respondents believe AI will reshape freight forwarding within three years. However, 39% remain unsure how AI will impact operations, while 14% are unconvinced it will bring meaningful change.
Data quality emerged as a major barrier. Only 23% of respondents reported that 75-100% of their company’s data is clean and reliable, while 38% said that just 50-75% of their data can be trusted. Nearly one-third admitted that less than half of their company’s data is dependable.
Oliver Gritz, Founder and Managing Director of Ontegos Cloud, said, “The optimism around AI is real. Almost half of freight professionals believe it will transform the industry within just three years. But what is missing is clarity on how this will actually happen. Too many assume today’s AI can turn messy, unstructured data into a masterpiece of accuracy, when in fact the opposite is true.”
The survey also highlighted the extent of manual processes in logistics. More than 70% of professionals said they spend at least a quarter of their working day on tasks such as chasing documents and emails. Of this group, 43% reported spending over 40% of their time on such activities, while only 7% managed to keep manual work under 10% of their workload.
“It is clear that logistics professionals spend far too much time on repetitive manual tasks. These inefficiencies are exactly what AI is meant to solve, yet the industry is not ready to let it. The reason is simple: the data foundations are not there,” Gritz added.
The report concluded that freight forwarders who invest in improving data reliability and reducing manual workloads will be better positioned to capture the benefits of AI in the coming years.