Human-centric tech integral for industry’s AI adoption: Raft CEO
"AI exists to free up time for forwarders and customs brokers to focus on the human elements of their work."
(From left) Freek de Witte, Air Cargo Belgium, James Coombes, Raft, Michelle Lawrence, Airline Services International, Stéphane Noll, CHAMP Cargosystems, Sara Van Gelder, Nallian and Simson Demmer, cargo.one.
The successful adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technology will rely on developing solutions that enable forwarders and customs brokers to prioritise human connections, according to James Coombes, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Raft.
Speaking at The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) Executive Summit, Coombes stressed that freight forwarding is ultimately a relationships business, highlighting that AI exists to free up time for forwarders and customs brokers to focus on the human elements of their work.
“While it’s true that AI holds tremendous potential, trust and human relationships are fundamental elements in logistics, and these emotional aspects are an area where AI has its limitations,” says Coombes. “The connections we build with our service providers, customers, and partners are invaluable and irreplaceable. Our approach is to use AI to automate the more routine, lower-value tasks, allowing freight forwarders and customs brokers to concentrate on nurturing and enhancing these crucial relationships.”
Coombes added that a human-centric approach ensures that the expertise of forwarders and customs brokers is complemented by the AI solutions they are using. "This enables critical thinking, creativity, and new levels of customer service take priority. With this understanding, freight forwarders and customs brokers can take small steps to implement AI to address their operational pain points, recognise the immense value of this, and slowly build and scale their use of modern technology from there."
The importance of developing safe, human-centric and trustworthy AI was recognised and endorsed by the Bletchley Declaration, signed by multiple countries at the U.K.’s AI Safety Summit last week.
