The Lloyd’s List Podcast: Shining a light on digital disruption
Beacon, the Jeff Bezos-backed digital freight disruptor, has all the hallmarks of another AI-fuelled flight of fancy, promising to revolutionise the analogue inefficiencies of our archaic maritime logistics sector. But as Beacon’s chief executive officer Fraser Robinson reveals in this week’s podcast, he’s not here to foretell the death of freight forwarding — far from it — he thinks the sector has a bright future. There will, however, be collateral damage along the way
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THE maritime logistics space is not short of digital disruptors.
The breathless enthusiasm of the roll-necked silicon valley set threatening to re-invent the analogue antiquated freight space is a familiar story.
Adapt or die they cry, as the incumbents roll a weary eye and carry on the groundswell of homegrown tech and platforms development.
That’s not to say that the would-be disruptors are peddling a myth, but it’s fair to say that many of those going after this opportunity have fundamentally misunderstood the sector and what it means to be a freight forwarder.
Who’d have thought it — it turns out that reinventing globalised trade might require more than a new website.
So to be fair to our podcast guest this week, it’s worth pointing out that despite some somewhat sneery responses from the industry, he has never foretold the death of freight forwarding — far from it. He thinks freight forwarding has a bright future, but he also thinks there will be collateral damage along the way.
As we note in our introduction to this week’s edition, this is going to be the last Lloyd’s List Podcast for a few weeks as we take a well-earned summer break. We will be back rested and refreshed next month with the usual line-up of expert guests offering an insider’s take the stories shaping shipping.
In the meantime, we would welcome your input on this podcast — let us know what you think and any ideas you have about topics and guests you want us to cover. We always welcome feedback. Review us wherever you subscribe, find our editor and regular podcast host Richard Meade on Twitter via @Lloydslisted, on LinkedIn or just email him direct on Richard.meade@informa.com.