Yesterday: DSV\u2019s evolving relationship with CargoWise, the impact of its new pricing model, and the regulatory and operational challenges it faces<\/a><\/p>\nFor more than two decades,\u00a0CargoWise\u00a0has been the place where freight forwarders record and manage their operations.\u00a0WiseTech\u00a0Global now wants it to become the software that increasingly\u00a0does the work itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CEO Zubin Appoo told\u00a0The Loadstar\u00a0the company was increasingly moving away from describing\u00a0CargoWise\u00a0simply as a \u201csystem of record\u201d,\u00a0as artificial intelligence and automated workflows begin taking over tasks previously performed by\u00a0forwarding\u00a0staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past six months or so, we have been talking much more about CargoWise Next being a system of execution or a system of intelligence,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If software can decide what needs to happen next in a shipment, and then execute that decision, the valuable part of the technology could shift from the system in which transactions are recorded, to the layer making those decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
WiseTech\u2019s\u00a0answer appears to be to put that layer inside\u00a0CargoWise\u00a0itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Appoo said this would combine data held by customers, industry datasets WiseTech had accumulated and refined over more than 30 years, AI agents, and automated workflows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a system\u00a0that\u00a0our customers run their businesses on day in, day out,\u201d he added.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some of what that means operationally is beginning to\u00a0emerge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
WiseTech had four agentic AI capabilities available when it introduced CargoWise Value Packs, has since added another two, with two further capabilities described by Mr Appoo as \u201cimminent\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One is SARA, its Smart Auto Request Agent, designed to take over the often\u00a0labour-intensive\u00a0exchange of information between forwarders and their customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It can examine\u00a0an email\u00a0and\u00a0accompanying\u00a0documents,\u00a0identify\u00a0missing or illegible information, request\u00a0additional\u00a0documents or clarification from the importer or\u00a0exporter,\u00a0and return the completed information to the operator.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe smart auto request agent takes humans out of that process entirely,\u201d said\u00a0Mr\u00a0Appoo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That will be followed by an auto job creation agent. Once the necessary information has been gathered, it can automatically register the job in CargoWise Next, ingest electronic documents and commercial invoice lines, and initiate other processes, including AI-assisted classification and compliance checks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time an operator\u00a0gets involved, much of the administrative work\u00a0will\u00a0already\u00a0have been\u00a0completed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
WiseTech\u00a0is\u00a0targeting\u00a0up to 50%\u00a0labour\u00a0cost savings for logistics service providers through AI, automation, and its other capabilities \u2013 although Mr Appoo declined to reveal how much of that saving customers could achieve today.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have made solid progress on that since we\u2019ve built our agents,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whether forwarders ultimately cut staff, redeploy them, or use the productivity gains to process more freight was for individual customers to decide, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And\u00a0WiseTech\u00a0also intends to capture some of the economic value created.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As part of its explanation of how\u00a0CargoWise\u00a0could achieve forecast revenue growth of 12%-20% in FY27,\u00a0Mr\u00a0Appoo pointed to increasing efficiency savings delivered through AI and other features and, specifically,\u00a0\u201cmonetising agentic AI capability\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
That helps explain the strategic importance of\u00a0CargoWise\u2019s\u00a0shift from seat-based licensing towards its Value Pack model, under which pricing is increasingly linked to transactions and the value\u00a0WiseTech\u00a0says its technology delivers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But there are limits to how autonomous\u00a0WiseTech\u00a0believes freight operations can become, particularly where regulatory risk is involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked who would carry the liability if a CargoWise AI agent made an incorrect operational or compliance decision, Mr Appoo was clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is ultimately the forwarder or the broker,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That is why\u00a0WiseTech\u00a0describes its classification product as an AI \u201cassistant\u201d,\u00a0he explained. The intention is for AI to perform much of the legwork, while an experienced operator reviews the audit trail and\u00a0ultimately approves\u00a0or corrects its decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The heavily regulated nature of\u00a0logistics\u00a0also means\u00a0WiseTech\u00a0is being cautious about releasing agents simply to increase their number, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0not just about saying to the market\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0now got 18 agents or 29 agents.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0meaningless if the agents\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0actually do\u00a0their job very well.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The emergence of increasingly capable AI software has also prompted questions over whether the barriers to building alternatives to established TMS platforms, such as CargoWise, are beginning to fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Appoo\u00a0disagrees.\u00a0He said\u00a0CargoWise\u2019s\u00a0biggest competitor\u00a0remained\u00a0the in-house legacy systems\u00a0operated\u00a0by some of the world\u2019s largest forwarders, rather than a new generation of AI-native challengers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t subscribe to the view that AI is a threat to us. I say AI is an accelerant to us, because it\u2019s not like you can vibe code CargoWise.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He argued that the platform\u2019s competitive advantage went considerably beyond its software code, pointing to integrations with some 400 airlines, 160 shipping lines, and Class I North American railroads and customs authorities around the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not\u00a0source\u00a0code.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0sort of commercial\u00a0relationships, deep domain\u00a0expertise, and none of that can be replicated by AI.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But\u00a0WiseTech\u00a0itself is also becoming\u00a0considerably more\u00a0than\u00a0simply\u00a0CargoWise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The $2.1bn acquisition of e2open last year expanded the company\u2019s reach beyond its traditional forwarder customers into manufacturers, retailers, importers, exporters, and beneficial cargo owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
WiseTech\u2019s FY26 results describe an ambition to build a \u201cmission-critical operating system\u201d spanning five markets: logistics and transport, through CargoWise; connected supply chain orchestration, through e2open; trade finance and banking; customs and government; and verified identity, trust and data, through VerifyWise. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Appoo rejected the suggestion that expanding into the shipper market could ultimately put WiseTech in competition with the forwarders on which CargoWise was built, insisting the strategy was not intended to bypass them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not because there\u2019s any view about disintermediating freight forwarders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He argued that, while around half of ocean freight went through forwarders, the remainder included large manufacturers dealing directly with shipping lines \u2013 a market CargoWise had not traditionally captured.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cE2open is a market or a TAM expansion for us, but it doesn\u2019t change our very deep and very loyal, I think, focus on logistics service providers.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
And acquisitions will remain part of that expansion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
WiseTech acquired supply chain risk and compliance intelligence provider FRDM.ai in July for up to $24.3m, with its technology being used as a building block for VerifyWise.\u00a0The product maps and verifies multi-tier supply chains against increasingly demanding requirements, covering areas including modern slavery, forced labour, sanctions, and other compliance obligations. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Appoo said there was plenty of work still to\u00a0do integrating\u00a0e2open, a process\u00a0WiseTech\u00a0expects to span several years, but ruled out any move away from acquisitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cM&A has, for many years, been part of our strategy and we\u2019ll continue to use M&A where there\u2019s an opportunity for us to expand our reach in the supply chain and deliver more value to our customers.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
The result is a\u00a0WiseTech\u00a0proposition that is\u00a0no longer simply\u00a0a TMS.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Its stated ambition is now to become the\u00a0\u201coperating system for global trade and logistics\u201d, connecting not only forwarders but carriers, shippers, manufacturers, banks, and governments.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
And if AI does shift the value in forwarding software away from recording transactions and towards deciding and executing what happens next, Mr Appoo appears determined that CargoWise should own that layer too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we are doing is essentially making\u00a0CargoWise\u00a0into an AI system of execution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, is AI killing the TMS \u2013 or is the TMS simply becoming the AI?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part one of this interview: DSV weighs early CargoWise move as WiseTech tackles pricing and ACCC scrutiny<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AI-generated By Alex Lennane 4 September 2026 In the second of a two-part interview with WiseTech CEO Zubin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[7118,256,254,255,64,63,449722,449723,105,93672,145820],"class_list":["post-880316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-agentic-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cargowise","tag-e2open","tag-technology","tag-tms","tag-wisetech-global"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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