C.H. Robinson launches Agentic Supply Chain, ushering in a new era of AI-driven logistics intelligence

Earlier this month, Eden Prairie, Minn.-based global third-party logistics (3PL) services provider and freight forwarder C.H. Robinson said it has taken another step in its leverage and deployment of AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology, with the rollout of its Agentic Supply Chain, which it defines as an intelligent ecosystem that cautiously thinks, learns, adapts, and acts.

CHR added that its Agentic Supply Chain spans beyond automation, calling it the most advanced form of AI in logistics, in that it understands context, makes decisions in real time, and self-optimizes global supply chains at scale.

And it explained that the Agentic Supply Chain is the result of the meshing of “advanced AI technology, the largest logistics dataset in the world, and the expertise of the industry’s best logisticians – working in sync with its Lean operating model,” also saying that, “this disciplined approach, known as Lean AI, drives smarter, faster and continuously improving supply chains. With over 37 million shipments annually—more than 100,000 per day – C.H. Robinson operates at a scale that uniquely positions it to train AI on real-world complexity and deploy agents that make more intelligent decisions.”

In a separate AI-related announcement made in September, CHR introduced an AI-driven service, entitled the Always-on Logistics Planner, which it described as a premium service experience powered by a growing digital workforce of AI agents, adding that it is designed to deliver continuous execution quality across the shipment lifecycle. It also explained that the Always-on Logistics Planner works as a coordinated service model, bringing together dozens of AI agents that are embedded into customer operations, with the agents automating routine tasks, surfacing strategic insights, and enabling seamless global coordination across all modes and regions. Coupled with its new Agentic Supply Chain, the company said that this provides a logistics platform with deeper intelligence and broader impact—from planning to procurement and also delivery and replenishment.

“For more than 120 years, this company has shaped the logistics industry. Today we’re doing it again,” said Dave Bozeman, Chief Executive Officer. “Instead of chasing disruption, we’re engineering it and engineering it from within. When I joined C.H. Robinson, I made it clear that our future would be defined by customer obsession, operational strength and innovation. Our Lean AI, now directly powering the Agentic Supply Chain, is a bold step forward in serving our customers smarter, faster and better.”

CHR Chief Technology Officer Mike Neill provided LM with an overview of the company’s Agentic Supply Chain in a Q&A below.

LM: What drove the need for C.H. Robinson to develop its Agentic Supply Chain ecosystem?

Neill: When we’re talking to customers and we see people trying to wrap their arms around AI at their company, it almost always comes back to the same dilemma: They intensely want to take advantage of AI, but they don’t know how to get real ROI out of it. They’re just not sure whether it’s worth it to start their own AI lab or build their own AI expertise or how long it might take to see any impact.

Here’s the thing: everybody has a supply chain. And everybody has real challenges in their supply chain right now: tariff costs they never budgeted for, trying to diversify their sourcing, maybe shifting more of their production to Mexico, uncertain demand for their products. Odds are they’re trying to operate their much more complex supply chain with limited staff. With an Agentic Supply Chain, you can get the benefits of Lean AI and a smarter, faster, better supply chain at once.

Because we use all our own tech, we’re highly motivated to build the best. As we perfect it, we extend it to our customers.

LM: How long was it in the works?

Neill: The short answer is: since we started using AI more than a decade ago. As the power of AI has evolved, we’ve just stayed ahead of the power curve.

The massive breakthrough was agentic AI. All of a sudden, AI was capable of solving problems autonomously without specific instructions, and we could build our own logistics-specific models and use AI to perform business tasks that had defied automation for literally decades.

In 2023, we built our first AI agent using our Lean AI methodology. As our fleet of agents has grown, they’ve taken on more complex reasoning and decision-making. The Agentic Supply Chain is an evolution from there: a bigger ecosystem tying agents, systems, data and people together.

LM: What are the main benefits of it for your shipper customers?

Neill: Faster speed-to-market is one of the most tangible benefits. We can deliver an AI-determined price quote in 32 seconds. An order that used to take up to four hours can be handled by an AI agent in 90 seconds. When the steps for shipment planning and booking are reduced from hours to seconds, it has a cascading effect. The faster we can process your order, the faster we can get you the ideal carrier, the faster we can get you the ideal pick-up and delivery appointments. Speed matters in logistics more than people realize. An Agentic Supply Chain makes our customers more competitive in their market. It accelerates how fast their product gets to a retail shelf, to the automotive assembly line or to the restaurant where their beverage is served.

An Agentic Supply Chain also optimizes costs in a smarter way. It starts with the advantages of our data in our dynamic pricing. When you manage 37 million shipments a year—100,000 a day—that makes our AI really powerful. We combine that with real-time market factors to get our customers the most competitive rates. Speed plays a role here, too. Only so many carriers operate in a given lane on a given day. The faster we secure you a carrier, the less likely you’ll need to pay a premium for someone to drive out of their way. But it’s bigger than that. Dynamically optimizing shipments for the right mode, right route, right carrier on the right day can in itself reduce shipping costs by as much as 30%.

Our Managed Solutions customers that rely on us to orchestrate an entire global supply chain for them are especially appreciative of the premium service that comes with an Agentic Supply Chain. Our Always-On Logistics Planner serves them at all hours of the day and night with great precision and reliability.

LM: What are the next steps, or future plans, for this?

Neill: We’re constantly building new Lean AI capabilities for our customers and enhancing the current ones. Broadly speaking, Agentic Supply Chains will be increasingly proactive and predictive.

LM: What are the main competitive benefits or advantages for C.H. Robinson?

Neill: Having the largest dataset in the industry uniquely positions us to train AI on real-world complexity and deploy agents that make more intelligent decisions. It gives our AI unmatched predictive power and operational precision.”

Even more important of a competitive advantage is Lean AI. We run our company using the principles of Lean continuous improvement. Lean AI is our unique approach to AI innovation. By combining the discipline of our new Lean operating model with the power of artificial intelligence, Lean AI ensures that we’re putting our resources toward real-world business challenges. We’re not subject to shiny-object syndrome or building things because they sound cool or look slick.

That’s how we became a 120-year-old company able to disrupt itself. You know things have changed at your company when JP Morgan, Wells Fargo and other investment banks are calling you an AI play and “an AI stock to watch.” C.H. Robinson is being recognized not just for being an AI leader in logistics but for being one of the few companies in any industry to be achieving tangible, real-world results with AI.

One of my favorite investment bank reports is the one that called C.H. Robinson “AI substance in a landscape littered with façades.” That meant a lot to me, because it acknowledged our whole approach to AI and what it means for our customers, our carriers and our employees.