Uber’s logistics division, Uber Freight, is one of the companies pushing the market the fastest. It’s looking to actively thread artificial intelligence into the company’s operations. Uber Freight has really grown up since it started in 2017. It has moved from an old-school brokerage business model to a highly advanced service provider for all companies that move product globally. Uber Freight recently released AI-powered features to help its customers improve their supply chains. That’s attracted a wide range of Fortune 500 companies to rethink and refine their logistics.
Ron, with significant influence over logistics giant Uber’s freight division, has played a major role in helping lead the company’s aggressive AI strategy. He spent almost a decade between 2007 and 2016 at Google Maps, where he got firsthand and massively valuable experience working with machine learning solutions. There, he developed his expertise in this game-changing technology. Ron’s academic background is rooted in artificial intelligence, having focused on neural networks during his undergraduate and master’s studies.
Early Challenges and Breakthroughs
That was the first step on Uber Freight’s path to AI, where it originally set out to build a “co-pilot for logistics.” These early efforts encountered significant challenges. The system often generated hallucinations and provided correct outputs just 60%-70% of the time. Through all of these challenges, the team focused on their mission and worked to make their technology better.
Years of development have gone into Uber Freight’s new Insights AI, and with a 98% accuracy rate, it’s proven to be remarkably effective. Ron highlighted the evolution of their AI capabilities during this period: “We’ve been building towards this moment, I think, since I started Uber Freight.” This new system provides customers with a user-friendly interface similar to popular large language model (LLM) platforms, clearly showcasing the sources of the data it utilizes.
“We know the facilities, we know the lanes, we know the prices,” Ron stated, emphasizing the depth of knowledge that underpins their AI solutions. It’s this level of understanding that gives Uber Freight the ability to answer difficult, multifaceted questions from clients.
Advanced Generative AI Capabilities
As we started to see the more powerful generative AI capabilities about two years ago, Uber Freight UI/UX designer, Paul McCarty. This is a smart tactic to push itself to be as efficient and effective in its services as possible. Ron underlined the complexity of the queries their AI can handle: “The queries can be far more complex than simple ones, and the model always keeps up.”
Because of this innovation, Uber Freight is excited to announce the official launch of a new suite of AI-powered features. These TMS tools are purpose-built for global shippers. This program gives customers the opportunity to explore and utilize their supply chain data in new and exciting ways. These new features produce insights that fuel real-world, bottom-line results. They double dip, helping their blue-chip customers while assisting the other 10,000 or so shippers that team up with them.
Sieber, a representative from Colgate-Palmolive, expressed enthusiasm for these developments, stating that he “loves to see logistics costs coming down.” The chief financial officer at Colgate-Palmolive couldn’t be more excited about the positive effect that Uber Freight’s solutions have made. They have increased the efficiency of logistics management.
Aiming for Efficiency and Profitability
Uber Freight’s mission is to leverage AI technology to improve operational efficiency. It’s just as much about finding ways to most profitably deliver for its clients. Adding these sophisticated new AI capabilities empowers shippers to work more efficiently and save time and money on costly logistics.
Sieber articulated the importance of this technology for professionals in the industry: “What do you want to know? How that makes me more efficient, and how do I become a better professional and deliver more by having access and using those new technologies?” This perspective reflects a growing recognition among industry leaders that embracing AI can lead to transformative changes in logistics management.
Uber Freight has begun to release its AI powered capabilities. Through these innovations, it seeks to change the logistics industry by offering more efficient and flexible solutions that can better align with shifting market needs. With a commitment to data-driven strategies, Uber Freight strengthens its presence as a foremost leader in the logistics sector.