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DHL’s Logistics Trend Radar 8.0 identifies Agentic AI as one of the most impactful emerging trends, enabling systems to plan, decide, and act on their own
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Report adds four new trends — Agentic AI, AI Commerce, Compute Economy, and Humanoids — to its decade-long logistics outlook
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Despite growing automation, DHL says logistics will remain a people-driven industry, with technology reshaping skills and roles rather than replacing workers
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Sustainability trends like decarbonization, sustainable fuels, and vehicle electrification remain core priorities in the report
Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving beyond its role as a digital assistant and beginning to take direct action across supply chains, according to the newly released DHL Logistics Trend Radar 8.0. The eighth edition of DHL’s biennial research report finds that advances in AI, robotics, and automation are reshaping not just logistics operations, but the workforce behind them.
“Supply chains are changing faster than ever as AI and workforce trends increasingly influence one another,” said Katja Busch, Chief Commercial Officer DHL and Head of DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation. She added that organizations that understand these shifts early will be best positioned to turn them into practical advantages for their business and their people.
From assistance to autonomy
Among the report’s most significant findings is the emergence of Agentic AI — systems that can autonomously plan, decide, and act toward defined goals, rather than simply responding to prompts or analyzing data. Paired with AI Analytics, which helps organizations spot patterns, anticipate disruptions, and recommend actions at speed and scale, these developments are enabling increasingly adaptive supply chains capable of tasks like anticipating inventory shortages, rerouting shipments around disruptions, and adjusting transport capacity in real time.
The Radar also introduces three additional new trends: AI Commerce, covering how consumers and businesses discover and purchase products; Compute Economy, reflecting the growing strategic importance of computing infrastructure and data center logistics; and Humanoids, an emerging longer-term trend that could reshape AI-enabled automation in physical environments such as warehouses.
“Until now, AI has helped people perform tasks more efficiently. The next chapter is about action,” said Klaus Dohrmann, Vice President of Innovation and Trend Research, DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation, describing an era of autonomous and physical AI capable of navigating complex environments with minimal human intervention.
Still a people business
Despite the shift toward autonomous systems, DHL’s report stresses that logistics will remain fundamentally people-driven. It highlights technologies such as wearable sensors, remote operations, collaborative robotics, and AI-powered workplace assistants that aim to make work safer, more productive, and more engaging by reducing repetitive tasks and supporting daily decision-making — freeing employees to focus on problem-solving, customer service, and operational oversight.
Employee Belonging and the Augmented Workplace emerge as key trends as staff increasingly work alongside AI assistants and collaborative robots, reshaping roles across frontline operations, technical professions, and knowledge-based functions. Thomas Ogilvie, Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director at DHL Group, said people remain the driving force behind every successful supply chain, and that the future of logistics will be defined not by humans versus AI, but by how well organizations combine human expertise with increasingly capable technology.
Governance and sustainability remain priorities
As AI systems take on greater autonomous responsibility, the report flags AI Ethics and Cybersecurity 2.0 as critical trends for balancing innovation with governance, resilience, and security — particularly as intelligent systems become embedded in demand forecasting, inventory planning, and transport decision-making.
Sustainability also remains a long-term priority, with the report pointing to Decarbonization, Sustainable Fuels, Circularity, Heavy Vehicle Electrification, and Light Vehicle Electrification as trends driving continued deployment of electric delivery fleets, expansion of alternative fuels, and supply chain redesign for reuse and resource efficiency.
The Logistics Trend Radar is developed by DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation in collaboration with business, technology, and academic thought leaders, tracking the trends expected to shape logistics, supply chains, and global trade over the next decade.
