It’s official: AI has taken over the conversation. It’s in my LinkedIn feed, in the headlines, in nearly every meeting I sit in and, yes, it may have had a small hand in helping me get my thoughts organized for this blog.
Honestly? I’m glad it’s getting this much attention.
I’ve been in this industry for more than 30 years, and if there’s one constant, it’s that technology never stops reshaping how we do our jobs. Some tools we couldn’t adopt fast enough. Some we’re still working on (paperless office, anyone?). And some were greeted with the most famous phrase in any workplace: “That’s not how we do it here.”
I’m a proud Gen X girl, so I’ve lived through it all. Typewriters. Correction tape. The fax machine that jammed at the worst possible moment. Mixtapes on a Walkman. The screech of dial-up internet while you waited (and waited) to get online. We adapted to every one of those. So why does AI feel like a whole different animal?
Why this time feels different
It’s the pace. Most of the changes I’ve seen over my career rolled out over years. You had time to watch, learn and catch up. AI is moving so fast that what was impressive six months ago already feels old. I’ll admit it: some days I feel like I’m already a step behind.
But feeling behind isn’t a reason to sit it out. If anything, it’s a reason to lean in.
Curiosity over fear
At OL USA, our view is simple: AI isn’t something to fear. It’s something to explore.
Anyone who works in logistics knows how much of the day goes to work that’s important but repetitive. Pulling together reports. Digging through data to spot what’s changing. Drafting the same type of email for the tenth time this week. Researching a new contact before a first call. Organizing notes before a big meeting.
These are exactly the places where AI can lend a hand. Used well, it can help businesses like ours:
- Sort through large amounts of information quickly
- Spot patterns and trends that are easy to miss in the day-to-day
- Take some of the manual, repetitive work off people’s plates
- Make reporting cleaner and more useful
- Learn more about customers and partners before the first conversation
- Walk into meetings better prepared
- Communicate more clearly, whether it’s an email, a proposal or a presentation
And maybe the biggest benefit of all: it gives time back. Time is the one resource none of us can make more of, and anything that returns some of it deserves a serious look.
What AI can’t do
Here’s where I want to be very clear. As powerful as these tools are, there’s one thing they will never replace.
People.
AI doesn’t have two decades of hard-won experience. It doesn’t know the late-night phone call that saves a shipment, or which contact at which port will actually pick up and help.
AI hasn’t spent years earning a customer’s trust, showing up when things got hard and keeping promises when it would have been easier not to.
AI can’t make a judgment call on instinct. It can’t take ownership when something goes wrong. It can’t bring real creativity to a tough problem, show genuine empathy to a frustrated customer or walk into a room and turn a stranger into a partner.
And it can’t build a culture. Culture comes from people: how they treat each other, how they show up for customers and how they pull together when the pressure is on. No software can do that.
It’s not people versus technology
That’s why I don’t see this as a choice between people and AI. I see it as great people, equipped with better tools.
The winners in our industry won’t simply be the companies that buy the most technology. They’ll be the companies whose people know how to use it wisely, people who understand where AI adds value, where it falls short and where human judgment has to take the lead.
AI can draft the email. It takes a person to know whether it should be sent, how it will land with that particular customer and what needs to be said on a phone call instead.
For our customers and partners, that’s the promise: we’ll keep embracing tools that make us faster and sharper, but you’ll always have experienced people on the other end of the line.
A challenge for all of us
So here’s my encouragement to everyone in this industry: be curious.
Experiment with it. Take some time to learn what it can and can’t do. Ask questions, and share what you discover with your colleagues. Pick one task you do over and over and see if AI can help you do it faster or better.
Then take the time you get back and put it toward the work only you can do: building relationships, solving problems, applying your expertise and making the judgment calls your customers count on.
Technology should help us be more human, not less.
October: a reminder of what matters most
October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We see pink ribbons everywhere this time of year, but each one represents someone real: a mother, a sister, a friend, a coworker, a family changed by this disease.
So in the middle of the deadlines, the inboxes, the meetings and the shipments that all seem to need us right now, please make time for the people in your life. And make time for yourself.
Book that appointment you’ve been putting off. Nudge someone you love to do the same. Stand with those who are fighting, celebrate those who have won their fight and honor those we’ve lost.
Because however advanced technology gets, people will always be the heart of what we do.
Coming next month…
Speaking of people, I’ve been reflecting a lot on women in leadership: the progress we’ve made, the work still ahead and the lessons I’ve picked up along the way, from my first days in this industry three decades ago to the CEO seat I sit in today.
I have a few thoughts to share on that.
Stay tuned for November.
– Carrie Murphy King, CEO
