With AI more cost-effective to customize, organizations can benefit from working with professionals to identify relevant digital and AI use cases.
The conversation around digital automation in supply chain and logistics has been growing in maturity over the years, and 2026, that trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
By 2026, the question for most organizations is no longer whether to automate, but how to automate — and where does it deliver results. After years of experimentation, pilots, and point solutions, the market is shifting from hype to execution.
Companies seeing real value through automation start with enterprise goals such as service differentiation, resilience, margin protection, and working‑capital optimization. Digital and AI investments work well when aligned to those goals.
1. Making day to day operations run smoother
The most significant change in 2026 is a move from planning to execution. While organizations have long invested in tools for forecasting, routing, and scheduling, these systems mainly provide a broad overview during standard business hours. However, when unexpected events occurred — like staff absences, delayed shipments, or shifting customer demands — teams often found themselves reacting to crises rather than proactively managing operations.
So, companies are now using technology to help manage work as it happens, not just plan it in advance.
In practical terms, this means:
- Warehouses adjusting pick priorities when staffing changes
- Transportation teams rerouting freight when inbound loads slip
- Leaders seeing potential service issues earlier instead of after the fact
- Systems helping decide what needs attention now, not just reporting yesterday’s problems
AI plays a role, but usually in the background — surfacing exceptions, flagging risk, and helping teams focus rather than replacing people.
Desired outcome — Improved service reliability, fewer downstream exceptions, better labor utilization
Decision accelerators — Staffing adjustments, freight routing changes, issue prioritization
Initiative owners — Operations leaders, transportation managers, warehouse supervisors
2. Improving demand, inventory, and network decisions
The second major area of adoption is still planning — but with a very different mindset than in the past.
Instead of building perfect, long range forecasts, companies are using AI to respond faster when reality changes.
In 2026, organizations are applying technology to:
- Spot short term demand shifts sooner
- Move inventory between locations before problems grow
- Test “what if” scenarios around suppliers, regions, or transportation costs
- Balance service levels against working capital more frequently
Systems aren’t smarter than people but they can analyze more scenarios, more quickly, than a team ever could manually.
This helps leadership answer practical questions like:
- Should we reposition inventory now or wait?
- Can we maintain service without carrying extra stock?
- What’s the cost if this disruption lasts two weeks instead of two days?
Desired outcome — Reduced working capital tied in inventory, faster response to demand changes
Decision accelerators — When to reposition inventory; service‑vs‑stock tradeoffs
Initiative owners — Supply chain planning leadership
3. Targeted automation where labor is tight
While automation remains a major focus in 2026, its application has become much more targeted and pragmatic. Rather than pursuing fully automated operations, most organizations are zeroing in on the areas where labor shortages, overtime, or inefficiencies are most acute.
When labor is tight, it’s critical to identify which parts of the business are most affected and to determine what data is available — or needs to be captured — to enable automation in those departments or tasks.
Key areas where automation is making a tangible impact include:
- Routing and lane optimization to reduce empty miles
- Smarter slotting and task sequencing, allowing teams to accomplish more with the same workforce or leveraging AI to set staffing based on daily availability
- Computer vision tools that help reduce congestion and waiting times
Ultimately, the goal for most leaders isn’t to replace people, but to empower their teams to meet service targets without risking burnout.
Desired outcome — Labor productivity in constrained areas, lower overtime, lower congestion
Decision accelerators — Where to automate, what data to instrument
Initiative owners — Operations leadership and digital continuous improvement teams jointly
How CLA can help supply chain, distribution, and logistics with digital trends
As AI adoption accelerates, there are plenty of off-the-shelf solutions promising quick wins. However, it’s essential to pause and consider how these systems integrate with one another.
With AI now more accessible and cost-effective to customize, organizations can benefit from working with professionals to:
- Assess their current state,
- Identify the most relevant digital and AI use cases, and
- Decide whether to buy ready-made products or develop their own models.
Building your own AI can offer greater control over updates and changes, helping your solutions to evolve alongside your business needs.
If digital transformation and AI adoption is a goal for your organization in 2026 and you’re interested in learning how, reach out to CLA digital.