At a glance
1. DHL Global Forwarding teams
2. Edwin Pinto leadership
3. Regional logistics workforce
1. DHL expands agentic AI use
2. Automates complex documentation workflows
3. Improves customer process accuracy
1. Active deployments now
2. Ongoing scaling efforts
3. Post‑budget AI initiatives
1. Singapore logistics ecosystem
2. India freight operations
3. ASEAN regional markets
1. Reduce manual processing errors
2. Support scalable regional growth
3. Align with Singapore AI agenda
1. Deploying live AI systems
2. Automating thousand-line invoices
3. Hiring technology-skilled workers
DHL moves agentic AI into live operations to cut documentation errors
DHL Global Forwarding has begun scaling agentic AI across its documentation and customer processes as the logistics provider pushes for higher accuracy and efficiency amid rising trade volumes. The company said its current implementations are already processing complex import documents containing up to 1,000 line items, reducing manual intervention and the operational risks tied to human error.
“We are already looking at AI to improve our documentation and our customers’ processes. These are two use cases that are live now for us,” Edwin Pinto, Managing Director for India at DHL Global Forwarding, told BackgroundBriefing.news.
AI shifts from experimentation to operational productivity
Pinto said the company is moving beyond pilot experiments as global forwarding operations face more pressure to accelerate shipment clearance and reduce compliance mistakes. “On the contrary, we are not looking at AI in the future. We are seeing a lot of use cases now.”
The company’s primary focus is automating high-volume, multi‑line invoices—common in sectors such as manufacturing, automotive and electronics—where manual processing historically caused delays and documentation inconsistencies. DHL said agentic AI enables higher throughput and more consistent quality checks, supporting its broader goal of sustainable, technology-enabled growth.
Talent shift as DHL ramps up AI adoption
To support this rollout, DHL is shifting its workforce strategy. Pinto noted that the company is expanding beyond traditional logistics roles. “We are not only hiring people for logistics skills. We are going to be hiring people for other technology skills because the world is changing,” he said.
The emphasis on AI adoption comes as Singapore sets a national agenda for deeper, country-wide AI utilisation, following the prime minister’s announcement of a national AI council. DHL said alignment with such policy direction strengthens its long-term technology investments in the region.
Pinto added that AI-driven efficiencies feed directly into the company’s competitiveness: “When we are effective, we are driving customer satisfaction. Driving customer satisfaction leads to growth and that is why AI is here to stay.”
More stories: DHL invests US$15m in Singapore pharma hub to bolster supply chains
Transcript of the interview:
I think the message that I tried to put out there is while DHL is so focused on growth, it comes with a big sense of responsibility overall. We want to make sure that our growth is in line with our sustainability goals.
We want to make sure that for our people, we want to bring in meaningful work. We are embracing AI to bring meaningful work to our people so that we can take away repetitive tasks.
We are bringing AI in the area of improving customer experience. We are bringing AI in the way of improving our productivity.
All of this, when it comes along with the growth of the business that we are planning, will make us a much more efficient and sustainable organization. That is what we are trying to drive and that is the message overall that I tried to give at this conference.
Now obviously you are in global forwarding. You are not a technology company at heart. So what unique resources are you mobilizing internally in order to be on this growth path?
Well, we are doing a lot of training. We are going to bring in different hires going forward.
We are not only hiring people for logistics skills. We are going to be hiring people for other technology skills because the world is changing.
We will adapt to the changing environment. At the same time, we want to make sure that our goal will always be to be the logistics provider for the world.
That is why all of these aspects in this changing world are very important in general. That is the message that we gave at this conference.
Now, just yesterday, the Singapore government announced a national AI council helmed by none other than the prime minister himself. This was part of the budget announcement. Clearly putting AI very much on the agenda for Singapore as a country. Because there is a lot of concern that there is a bit of tinkering around the edges with AI and experimentation without ingrained use or enough planning, how are you going to measure the success of your AI initiatives at DHL so that you do not just end at a tinkering experimental stage?
On the contrary, I would say that we are not looking at AI in the future. We are seeing a lot of use cases now.
We are already looking at AI to improve our documentation and our customers’ processes. These are two use cases that are live now for us, but I would imagine that there is a whole lot more coming.
There will be opportunities to use technology in almost every aspect of our business and we are looking forward to using that. Imagine you are one of our customers who is importing parts into India and, in a single invoice, there are a thousand line items.
In the past, we were doing all this manually. When you do things manually, you are depending on people and individual expertise, which can result in errors because of manual interventions.
We are trying to bring agentic AI into this situation. We will be more efficient of course, but we will also be more effective.
When we are effective, we are driving customer satisfaction. Driving customer satisfaction leads to growth and that is why AI is here to stay.
I have reformatted the interview with Edwin Pinto from DHL Global Forwarding to highlight how the company is moving beyond the “experimental stage” of AI. Since the discussion emphasizes the shift toward hiring for technology skills and implementing “agentic AI” for complex documentation, would you like me to create a tailored report on DHL’s AI-driven growth strategy or perhaps an infographic outlining their live AI use cases in Southeast Asia?