Three years ago, the world hit pause, and global supply chains hit panic mode. For companies like Colgate-Palmolive, this meant scrambling to keep goods moving while the world stood still. Enter Luciano Sieber, Colgate-Palmolive’s Chief Supply Chain Officer, who led a full-blown “logistics blitz” to keep things flowing. It worked. Too well, in fact.
Suddenly, Sieber wasn’t short on information—he was drowning in it. The pandemic unlocked a flood of supply chain data, but turning it into actionable insight? That’s where things stalled. Fast forward to 2024, and the toothpaste titan may have just found its secret weapon: AI-powered logistics, courtesy of Uber Freight.
Yes, that Uber.
Uber’s long-haul logistics arm isn’t just matching shippers with truckers anymore. It’s now in the AI game—deep in it. Their latest flex? A supply chain-specific large language model called Insights AI. It’s like ChatGPT, but for freight, and it’s helping companies like Colgate-Palmolive make sense of millions of shipping events. Want to know which carriers are underperforming? Which routes are overpriced? Which CVS shipments mysteriously vanished in Q3? Insights AI knows—and it can tell you in seconds.
And this isn’t vaporware. Insights AI was quietly launched in 2023, tested with blue-chip partners, and is now going global. It’s part of a broader Uber Freight AI rollout, which includes 30+ AI agents trained to handle critical logistics workflows. This isn’t just about dashboards and predictions. It’s about real-time interventions, alerts, and strategy—automated.
Of course, Uber isn’t the only player betting on AI to tame supply chain chaos. Flexport’s in the mix. So are a slew of logistics-tech startups. But Uber Freight’s edge is its data moat: $20B in annual freight movements, tight industry relationships, and years of machine learning under the hood.
For Sieber, it’s about getting answers fast. No more waiting two weeks for a PowerPoint deck from analysts. Ask a question, get a data-backed answer, instantly. That shift is making supply chain teams more efficient—and more proactive.
And who’s the happiest stakeholder? According to Sieber, it’s Colgate-Palmolive’s CFO: “He loves to see logistics costs coming down.” Of course he does. AI that trims budgets? That’s a CFO’s dream.
As Uber Freight founder Lior Ron puts it, “Supply chain is a data-first problem—and we’ve been building toward this AI moment for years.” Looks like that moment has arrived.
