Freight AI Isn’t Replacing Brokers — Here’s the ROI
Freight AI is getting sold like a job killer. Will Bewley says the real ROI is much simpler: give brokers, dispatchers and ops teams time back. In this FreightWaves Today interview, the WoFlow co-founder breaks down where AI is actually working inside freight workflows, why we’re still early, and how carriers and 3PLs can use […] The post Freight AI Isn’t Replacing Brokers — Here’s the ROI…
Will Bewley, co-founder and CEO of Woflow, has argued that artificial intelligence (AI) is not replacing freight broker jobs, but rather redirecting them to focus on more valuable tasks. In a recent appearance on FreightWaves Today, Bewley debunked the notion that AI is job killing, instead emphasizing its potential to provide time-saving benefits for brokers, dispatchers, and operations teams.
According to Bewley, if a dispatcher previously spent 15 minutes completing a load build in a transportation management system (TMS), automation of that task does not eliminate the position, but rather returns that time to the employee's day. This time can then be spent on other activities such as building new connections, pursuing business growth, or managing carrier relationships.
Brokerages consistently express a desire for more time for customer service and carrier relationship management, rather than reduced manual work.
Bewley's company, Woflow, has been deploying machine learning across supply chain enterprises for approximately 10 years, with a recent focus on freight and logistics customers. The company's approach to automation targets is non-templated, as they observe operations staff in action before recommending specific automation opportunities. This hands-on approach ensures that they target the 20% of a workflow that diverges from the written standard operating procedure (SOP), which represents 80% of the business value.
Bewley acknowledges that AI in freight is still in the early stages, and productivity gains have not yet been widely observed in GDP. He also expects that full end-to-end job replacement remains years away. To illustrate his point, Bewley draws a parallel to the software engineering industry, noting that despite AI advancements in coding, the number of software engineering job postings has grown.
This growth occurs because the productivity multiplier makes it economically viable for companies to hire engineers, even in industries that previously did not employ them.
Written by urgent.news from FreightWaves's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
