C.H. Robinson CEO says AI will drive freight brokerage consolidation
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The words "AI Artificial Intelligence" are seen in this illustration created on May 4, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
By Abhinav Parmar and Apratim Sarkar
Feb 23 (Reuters) - Global logistics provider C.H. Robinson's CEO Dave Bozeman dismissed a recent selloff tied to AI-led disruption in the freight industry, and said the race to adopt the technology would spur consolidation instead.
C.H. Robinson's shares posted their biggest single-day drop in roughly two years on February 12 amid a broader selloff in transportation and logistics stocks, driven by headlines about new AI-enabled freight platforms that investors fear could disrupt traditional brokerage models.
The stock has recovered some ground since the 14.5% slump earlier this month. It was down 6.1% at $178.44 in afternoon trading on Monday.
The selloff was triggered by AI-technology company Algorhythm Holdings' comments that its SemiCab platform is helping customers scale freight volumes by 300% to 400% without adding operational headcount.
In an interview with Reuters, Bozeman called the selloff in C.H. Robinson's stock a "short-term reaction", adding that the company's scale and vast proprietary data set give it an advantage that is difficult and costly for rivals to replicate.
"We're going to go into agentic artificial intelligence that's going to make us faster and even better," Bozeman added.
He expects more industry consolidation as smaller companies face challenges competing in an AI-driven market that requires large-scale data and deep domain expertise - advantages that are difficult to build quickly even with fresh capital.
C.H. Robinson last month reported fourth-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates, helped in part by AI-driven efficiencies that streamlined operations and reduced manual processes across its routine functions.
(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
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