The potential of AI in logistics technology is real. But so is the skepticism.

Moddule's head of sales and co-founder Ben Jones sat down with Doug Koon, a Connecticut-based strategic advisor with more than 16 years of logistics experience spanning OOCL, Kuehne+Nagel, Flexport, and UWL. They discuss how to cut through the hype, build trust, and make AI transformation stick. Here are the five top takeaways.

1. The scar tissue of logistics technology

The logistics industry's skepticism toward new software isn't surprising or unfounded. As Koon explains:

"There's some war wounds and scar tissue from trying to implement technology solutions in the past that are typical, very expensive, heavy lift to implement. And at the end of the day, you're probably getting like 25 to 30 per cent of what it was you thought you would get."

In other words: operators have been burned before. The gap between promise and delivery has shaped how they evaluate new solutions. Credible vendors start by acknowledging this reality.

2. The "outsider" problem causing tech vendors to lose credibility

Logistics operators hear the same pitch from tech providers. Jones identifies the pattern:

"They tend to hear this notion of: 'We're technology. We know you're not doing this right. You don't even know the problem you have yet, but we've got the solution to it.'"

The result? Immediate skepticism. The operator's response is instinctive, Jones says.

"You don't understand how we operate. You don't understand us in this industry. You're an outsider as a tech provider."

Operators know their business. When a vendor claims to know better without sitting in their seat, credibility evaporates instantly.

See more: Unify Your Logistics Data Without Replacing Your TMS

3. Trust as the lifeblood of supply chain decisions

When asked what truly drives decision-making in logistics, Koon doesn't mention features or ROI models. He points to something far more fundamental:

"When you deal with someone's supply chain, it's the lifeblood of that business. If you're Nike or Walmart, if stuff isn't where it needs to be, you will go out of business. So in order for me to pick you as a partner, I have to trust you. And a machine is not yet really good at building trust."

This is precisely why supply chain technology built by industry veterans carries a different weight. Trust is built through demonstrated understanding, not promised features.

4. The future of strategic logistics teams

The real opportunity emerges when automation removes routine work. Looking a few years forward, Koon predicts about 90 to 95 per cent of desk-level routine task will be automated.

But automation isn't about headcount reduction. As Koon describes it:

"When you open that time up, you start to see more sophisticated work being focused on. It's almost like you have these nimble teams of ninjas who can focus in on the right things and the real needle-moving things versus day after day doing very similar tasks repeatedly."

Your operations team should be analyzing carrier performance, optimizing routes, negotiating rates, and solving the problems that actually move the business forward. Automation doesn't replace teams. It amplifies what they can accomplish.

Read more: Five Logistics Data Disasters Killing Your Automation Dreams

5. The ROI of many 10-second tasks

Most operators focus on big automation wins and overlook the compounding effect of small inefficiencies. Koon breaks it down:

"Start at the nuts and bolts of the business, which is getting stuff from supply to demand. There might even be low hanging fruit — a 10-second task that somebody does 100 times a day and they never stop to think about, ‘how do I do this differently or not do it at all’ because well, it just takes 10 seconds. But no, it takes 10 seconds times 100 times 5 times 50. So it takes a lot more than that."

One person's "quick task" becomes 50+ hours annually per person. Multiply that across a team and you're talking about thousands of hours per year of pure overhead.

This is where real ROI lives: in the compounding effect of eliminating small repetitive friction points. It's the difference between incremental improvement and transformational efficiency.

Watch the full interview

The full conversation between Ben Jones and Doug Koon covers these topics and more.

Ready to put these ideas into practice? Moddule helps logistics teams cut through the noise, automate the routine, and focus on the work that actually moves the business forward. Book a demo to see the platform in action.