1. The urgency to innovate. Why does the logistics-port sector need to innovate now? Is it a matter of competitiveness, survival, or future leadership?
It's not a matter of competitiveness. It's about survival and future relevance. The logistics-port sector has been operating for years with dangerous inertia: fragmented processes, dependency on Excel and email, and legacy systems that don't scale. In a context of geopolitical volatility, cost pressure, and customers comparing their logistics experience to Amazon… that's unsustainable.
The change happening now isn't driven by internal will, it's driven by customers demanding real-time visibility, shrinking margins, and ever-growing operational complexity.
The bottom line: those who don't adapt won't disappear overnight, but they will become irrelevant.
2. The technologies that matter. Of all the technologies entering the sector, which do you think will have the greatest real impact over the next 3 years?
If I had to choose one: AI applied to operational processes (not "demo AI"). But properly understood, it is not ChatGPT for writing text. It's AI that executes work: pricing, documentation, incident management, operational decisions.
What will make the difference in 3 years: agentic AI (end-to-end automation of complex processes); well-governed data architectures (so that AI can actually function); and real integration between systems (modern integration platforms).
The key isn't the technology itself, that's just an enabler. It's your ability to connect data + process + decision.
3. What companies look for in startups. From your experience, what do companies in the sector really look for when collaborating with startups?
What we say we're looking for: innovation. What we're actually looking for: tangible operational impact. Efficiency.
We want startups that truly understand the logistics process, that solve a specific problem (not a generic one), and that fit within our ecosystem; not ones that break it.
What tends to disappoint? "Brilliant" solutions that are disconnected from reality, a lack of understanding of legacy systems and integration, and the inability to move from pilot to full operation.
4. Factors for long-term collaboration. What works best for building lasting relationships between startups and large corporations?
What works: a clear, shared problem from the outset; a real business sponsor (not just innovation or IT); an economic model defined from day one; and viable technical integration capabilities.
One key point: lasting relationships aren't built on "exploring together". They're built on making money or achieving efficiency together.
5. The real enemy of innovation. What is the greatest real obstacle to innovation in logistics: technology, regulation, a conservative mindset, or something nobody is naming yet?
Innovation dies when it lacks the necessary support from senior leadership or when it's not part of their agenda. It dies when it's only viewed from an incremental perspective; because you can improve your existing services, but in logistics, unless the asset is yours (the ship, the plane, the truck), your service is replicable. As agentic AI advances, the ability to create a new service at very low cost converges, and therefore innovation in new products and services, especially disruptive innovation, becomes even more relevant. For this to happen, the organizational mindset must adapt to different working methodologies and management metrics.
6. From pilot to real business. What does it take for an innovation to stop being an "interesting pilot" and become a full-scale implementation?
A pilot dies for three reasons: no owner, no budget, or no integration into the business. So to scale, you need: a clear business case (measurable ROI or efficiency gains); ownership in the business (not in IT); integration into core systems (not parallel solutions); and an operational change (people actually working differently).
7. Describing your open innovation model. How does your collaboration and open innovation model work?
Our open innovation runs through our Demand Management model. It's part of the same process of exploring solutions to business problems:
8. Advice for the next generation. What advice would you give to entrepreneurs and professionals who want to build a career in logistics innovation?
Don't fall in love with the technology. Fall in love with real problems.
In logistics, understanding an operational flow is worth more than knowing how to code; knowing how to integrate systems is worth more than building a new one; and executing well is worth more than having a brilliant idea.
The differentiator isn't knowing more. It's making things happen in imperfect, uncertain, and ambiguous environments.
9. If you had to sum up the future of logistics-port innovation in one word or a short phrase, what would it be?
"From managing transport to orchestrating real-time decisions, reducing business risk."