The first generation of digital freight forwarders once appeared to be converging on a single idea: combine software with logistics execution, automate the workflows, and gradually become the operating system for global trade.
Increasingly, however, the sector’s players are heading in very different directions.
For the UK’s Beacon, the answer was to step away from freight forwarding altogether. CEO Fraser Robinson recently told The Loadstar the company had concluded that “freight forwarders… have a business model problem”, arguing that operators could never become truly neutral technology platforms because customers ultimately choose forwarders based on rates and service.
“A forwarder can never be neutral,” he said. “To become the operating brain… you must be neutral.”
Beacon has since repositioned itself as what Mr Robinson describes as a “100%-tech platform”, focused on aggregating fragmented supply chain data into what it calls an AI-driven “context layer”. The company argues that visibility itself is no longer the product, and that the real value lies in helping customers make decisions, automate workflows and reduce costs.
Zencargo, however, sees the future very differently.
Rather than viewing forwarding and software as conflicting models, the company argues that operational execution is precisely what makes the technology valuable.
“We don’t see this divide between… software and freight operations and execution,” said Zencargo CEO Richard Fattal. “We think they’re symbiotic.”
In fact, he argues the opposite of Beacon’s position: that companies which actually move freight are better placed to build effective technology because they experience the operational problems first-hand.
“You can build much better software if you actually have to do the freight forwarding,” he said.
FreightSuite tends to agree. The start-up, which is trying to build an AI-native alternative to CargoWise, launched its own small freight forwarding operation partly as a live testing environment for the platform, allowing engineers and operators to work side-by-side while refining workflows and automation tools.
The disagreement highlights a growing split inside the digital forwarding sector, as companies that once appeared to share a common vision increasingly diverge over what the business should ultimately become.
For Zencargo, the model has evolved away from simply digitising freight bookings toward broader supply chain orchestration. Mr Fattal described the company as an “AI-powered digital freight forwarder and supply chain partner”, arguing that the real opportunity lies in becoming deeply embedded in customer workflows.
That includes integrating with ERP systems, automating procurement and shipment workflows, managing exceptions and helping customers make decisions around inventory, production delays and transport capacity.
“What we’ve been doing is thinking about… what is the typical workflow that a business has from the moment that they place an order with a factory,” he said.
The company also pushes back on the idea that customers are unwilling to build long-term relationships with forwarders. Beacon had argued that because shippers frequently switch providers, forwarders struggle to become deeply integrated platforms. Zencargo disagrees.
“If anything, one of the reasons it’s been harder for new freight forwarders to get into the market is because customers are sticky,” said Mr Fattal.
The debate increasingly centres on AI, and where its value will actually emerge.
Like Beacon, Zencargo argues that the future advantage lies not simply in adding AI tools, but in controlling the underlying data and operational workflows. Mr Fattal believes freight forwarding remains “very much at the beginning” of the AI transition, with the biggest gains likely to come from automating exception management rather than routine processes.
“The last 20%… create a huge amount of the time sink of the work,” he said, referring to delays, customs problems, missing paperwork and operational escalations that still require human intervention.
He argued that AI systems will increasingly learn from those operational exceptions over time, creating an advantage for companies that both own the workflow and manage the freight itself.
Both companies, despite their different conclusions, are effectively arguing that the strategic battleground in freight forwarding is shifting away from simple shipment visibility and toward ownership of the data, workflows and decision-making layers around the supply chain.
Where they disagree is whether a freight forwarder can ultimately own that layer – or whether true platforms must sit above execution altogether.
The answer may define what the next generation of digital forwarding businesses eventually become.