CH Robinson has expanded its Lean AI capabilities into global freight forwarding, introducing AI agents that perform tasks across ocean shipping, air freight and customs brokerage. The new technology brings automation to complex logistics processes, with some individual shipping tasks requiring more than a dozen AI agents working together.
The expansion is designed to improve speed, accuracy and flexibility across customers’ supply chains while maintaining human oversight and personal attention. The AI agents are being deployed to accelerate freight quotations, manage ocean booking requests and support the documentation and compliance processes involved in international shipments.
For ocean and air cargo pricing, AI has already generated more than 80,000 quotations for over 3,600 customers. Processes that previously took a day for air freight and two to three days for ocean shipments can now be completed in two to three minutes.
The company’s AI agents also manage thousands of ocean booking requests received each week. In customs brokerage, they assist with handling the extensive documentation required for shipments to clear US Customs, including processes affected by changing trade agreements, tariffs and compliance requirements.
Mike Short, President of Global Forwarding, said the application of Lean AI to global forwarding is helping customers access information sooner, improve data consistency and make supply chain processes more predictable. Faster quotations and bookings also enable customers to secure suitable carriers, sailing schedules and flights, particularly when shipments involve time-sensitive products such as medicines, perishable goods and automotive components.
Extending AI into freight forwarding required multiple agents and subagents to replicate the detailed work involved in pricing ocean shipments. These systems interpret customer requirements, gather information from external parties, assess origin and destination variables and determine routing options.
For example, pricing a shipment from Shanghai requires identifying the correct port, accounting for different transport distances and tolls, and assessing charges across 43 terminals. AI agents monitor terminal websites and email notifications for changing fees, reducing the need for employees in different time zones to contact terminals individually.
Where customers do not specify ports, AI agents can recommend suitable routes based on shipment origins, destinations and sailing frequency. They can also assess inland transport options involving trucks, rail or barges and select consolidation centres where required.
The quotation technology was first introduced in 2025 for less-than-container-load ocean freight for customers in the US and Canada. It now supports full-container ocean freight and air cargo, serving customers across Mexico, Europe, Latin America and Oceania. Pilots are underway in China, with deployment planned for Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and Africa in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Ocean booking agents were launched in China in August, with expansion across Asia planned for the fourth quarter of 2026 and global deployment expected in the first quarter of 2027. The agents incorporate customer-specific preferences, requirements and shipment procedures into booking requests.
Mike Neill, Chief Technology Officer, said agentic AI represents a significant advance over earlier digital booking initiatives, which achieved approximately 5% automation of ocean and air booking requests over about a decade. AI systems supporting the Customs team handle more than four dozen document types received from shippers, carriers and government agencies. They classify incoming documents, link them to individual shipments, extract relevant information, identify missing paperwork and initiate requests for outstanding documents. Automated invoices and information packets are also generated. The process has reduced time spent by 23%, allowing customs brokers to concentrate on validation and compliance.
Arun Rajan, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, said the company’s proprietary AI agents operate across 100 trillion data points and use a customer-specific context layer. CH Robinson Robinson continues to develop its technology through a team of 450 in-house software engineers and data scientists, extending its AI capabilities across trucking, fourth-party logistics and global forwarding.
CH Robinson is a global provider of Lean AI supply chain solutions. Serving 75,000 customers and 450,000 carriers, the company manages 37 million shipments annually, representing $23 billion in freight. Its services include truckload, less-than-truckload, ocean and air freight. By combining human expertise with AI capabilities, CH Robinson works to make supply chains faster, more efficient and sustainable. The company also supports community causes through employee-focused contributions.
