Digitising Indian air cargo and turning talk into action, with Joyce Tai of Freightos

At the ACFI Annual Conclave 2025 in New Delhi, Joyce Tai, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Partnerships at Freightos, shared her journey from becoming the company’s first Asian employee to spearheading digital transformation in India’s air cargo industry.

She recalls making “hundreds” of trips in search of freight forwarders who had the systems to connect digitally. Eight years on, she has witnessed the transformation in markets like China, where the fear of being left out drove forwarders to embrace digitisation, often inspired by platforms like Alibaba.com.

India, she says, faces similar challenges but also shows hunger for transparency and efficiency. With WebCargo Pay launched in partnership with Qatar Airways, forwarders without direct airline access can now search rates, see capacity, book instantly, and get real-time tracking—making both shippers and carriers happy.

Yet, Joyce warns of gaps that hurt India’s reputation: slow rate refreshes, missing tracking data, and limited airline capacity enabled for India. She sees huge potential in targeting importer markets—often overlooked but more lucrative—and urges airlines to take services to customers instead of waiting for them.

For Joyce, India is “front and centre” of Freightos’ global strategy, with its Chennai HQ leading Asia Pacific and Middle East operations. And her message to industry leaders is crystal clear: start doing it now.