Logistics bought the tools and skipped the operating model

Only 13% of the largest logistics operators are getting a financial return from AI.

New BCG research on 30 of the largest logistics operators in the world found that 97% rank AI as a strategic priority, 70% have a strategy and 67% have a dedicated budget, but only 13% say it is delivering a measurable financial return.

Why? People are buying AI tools that they like but that do not become part of a system. Asked to name their most impactful AI solution, 80% of respondents pointed at a single standalone tool. So if the AI is automating one step of a process but not the next one, nothing really improved in the end to end experience or outcomes, it has just moved the bottleneck somewhere else.

In my experience people continue to be the key factor, and BCG's own ratio for where the effort goes on an AI programme backs me up: 10% algorithms, 20% technology and data, 70% people, process and organisational change. The challenge now is that with AI being the buzz word, that is where budgets are going, but the 70% is the part making it work and possibly now missing out on the funding, or enough of it.

Two things to hold while you read it

This is only a small survey, 30 respondents, and BCG sells consulting into this market. Having said that, it is not a standalone finding. McKinsey found the share of companies reporting any EBIT impact from AI holding flat at 37%, across 1,719 respondents in 97 nations, and Infosys found fewer than a quarter of pilots reaching their intended ROI, across more than 1,000 US executives.

The action I would take

Before you buy another tool, or recommend one in your projects to clients, count how many of the ones you already own actually talk to each other. BCG's own line for it is the right one: 10 connected use cases beat 50 isolated ones.