FourKites, a leader in supply chain orchestration, has announced Intelligent Control Tower, a next-generation AI-powered solution. Powered by AI agents, the Intelligent Control Tower (ICT) is aptly named. In the same way, as air traffic controllers predict and guide aeroplanes to land safely, the FourKites ICT is able to take autonomous action across complex supply chain networks, surfacing insights and ensuring that everything operates smoothly.
The Intelligent Control Tower is powered by three components that enable the new FourKites solution to deliver a supply chain orchestration experience that is exceptional.
- The world’s most comprehensive network of real-time supply chain data, which tracks over 3.2 million shipments daily, reaches 200+ countries and territories across road, rail, ocean and air, and includes over 1.1 million carriers and 98% of the world’s ocean traffic.
- Continuously updated digital twins that bring deep visibility into real-world operations, spanning shipments, orders, inventory and assets to create context.
- A new digital workforce, consisting of a system of AI agents, that can take autonomous action on routine tasks and decisions. From track-and-trace to supplier management, appointment scheduling, order management and more.
FourKites expects some of the agents to be generally available in February, with more available later. FourKites expects to announce the release timescales soon.
Mathew Elenjickal, Founder and CEO of FourKites, commented, “Real-time transportation visibility has become table stakes, and companies are striving to derive greater value from supply chain data. But operationalizing this data requires a paradigm shift. Today, we’re taking the next step in FourKites’ evolution by moving the industry from seeing data to automating actions — the FourKites Intelligent Control Tower combines real-time visibility with existing supply chain systems, surfaces actionable insights, and drives advanced automation through a digital workforce.”
Intelligent Control Tower packages
The Intelligent Control Tower will initially consist of eight packages that control different aspects of supply chain management. Each package delivers capabilities that streamline the supply chain processes from source vendors through to the customer. FourKites will continue to add new packages as time passes.
- Supplier Connect AI streamlines inbound supply collaboration
- PO Connect AI optimizes purchase order performance
- Inbound Scheduler AI automates the inbound scheduling experience
- Yard Connect AI transforms yard logistics operations
- Customer Connect AI prevents OTIF fines and delights customers
- Outbound Scheduler AI delivers a seamless pickup experience
- Cross Dock Optimizer AI enhances cross-dock performance
- Customer Appointment AI automates customer appointment scheduling
Packages in detail
Enterprise Times asked Himanshu Mehrotra, Vice President, Product Management at FourKites, to explain what the packages do. He answered, “The packages combine multiple aspects of the FourKites platform, including AI agents, and were designed to help with some of the most common supply chain challenges. For example, Supplier Connect AI combines real-time shipment data with order patterns, supplier behavior, and production schedules, to identify risks weeks before traditional systems.
“Almost 70%-80% of companies lack a single source of truth for the visibility data they get from suppliers. Many still rely on inefficient manual processes like emails or phone calls to solve supply chain issues, which leads to customers building up far too much inventory, among other problems.
“Supplier Connect resolves this by connecting suppliers, customers, shippers, carriers, 3PLs and more with the largest global network of supply chain data, which FourKites has built up over the last decade. FourKites’ AI Agents take over the routine tasks of supplier communication and understand order patterns, supplier behaviour, and production schedules. As a result, it identifies business risks weeks before a traditional system could do the same.”
Priya Rajagopalan, FourKites President of Product, Technology and Operations explained other benefits. She added, “We have pioneered a unified system of agents tailor-made for supply chain workflows, eliminating the need for companies to manage multiple solutions and vendor relationships while taking advantage of the value that AI-powered agents provide.
“We are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with multi-agent AI systems, turning abstract research concepts into practical solutions for the world’s most complex supply chains, all while maintaining the security and governance of enterprise supply chain data. We’re proud to continue our tradition of innovation, working closely with customers to solve their most pressing supply chain challenges.”
How the Intelligent Control Tower will make a difference
FourKites believes that the Intelligent Control Tower will assist supply chain professionals across a range of functions including procurement, inventory, supplier management, customer service and facilities. Once available the use cases include:
- Prevent supply chain disruptions through predictive AI and automated intervention
- Enable true supply chain orchestration through coordinated agent actions
- Eliminate manual workflows across departments through intelligent automation
- Drive continuous improvement through system-wide learning and optimization
The challenge faced by many businesses is that they have too much data. But they do not have the right tools to deliver insights and next best actions from it. FourKites has seen strong interest in the Intelligent Control Tower within industries such as food and beverage where the timeliness of the supply chain is critical. A few days, or even hours delay can lead to spoiling and wastage. In addition, consumer good manufacturers see penalties for the late delivery to major retailers.
Pilots demonstrate benefits
I asked Mehrotra what benefits he expects from the Intelligent Control Tower. He replied, “Based on the pilots we’ve done, we’re anticipating 70-80% less time spent on manual tasks within weeks of implementation. But what really matters is that shippers will catch problems days or weeks earlier. Which means fewer emergency shipments, fewer stockouts, and happier customers.”
Mehrotra also revealed the feedback from early adopters. He said, “One retail customer is now more capable of avoiding surprise stockouts or expedites, which saves significant costs, reduces safety stock. And improves the delivery and fill-rate performance of outbound customer orders. FourKites helps them do this by extending their inbound inventory tracking window to 8 weeks, helping them catch exceptions much sooner.
“Similarly, a major electronics distributor was able to reduce their inventory by 1% due to improved visibility to supplier-controlled orders destined for their facilities. This may not sound like much, but this customer typically holds a large amount of high-value inventory due to the unpredictability of customer orders — a 1% reduction represents a significant sum of money.
“Additionally, a multinational CPG customer was concerned about protecting their goods from theft in transit. FourKites’ AI agents are trained to detect and alert freight owners when goods are taken off a prescribed route and into dangerous areas. This helps shippers identify risks and take preventive measures.”
Pricing and the Future
The press release had no details around pricing. I asked Mehrotra to indicate how the new packages will be priced. He replied, “Our AI agents can benefit businesses of all sizes. So we’re working on developing a commercial strategy that allows companies to access powerful automation at scale — pricing will be dynamic and based on the various packages that solve specific challenges. With the goal of providing an outsized return on investment and making the solutions accessible to mid-market and large enterprises.”
Are Fourkites are taking an outcome based or value based pricing strategy. It would be a brave move if they are. Over time, they need to ensure they keep delivering value. Which often diminishes as other automation and technology improves the supply chain. It will be interesting to see what price model they use, it will not be an easy decision. However, with the business benefits identified from the pilots there is clearly value for organisations to take advantage of with this new solution.
I also asked Mehrota what is next for the Intelligent Control Tower. He replied, “We are starting with the most common and impactful use cases and will continue to add more as we identify new workflows and needs that can be added to our library. As adoption grows, the AI powering these capabilities will become even more accurate and capable. We’ll also continue to add capabilities like advanced analytics, computer vision, and more.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
FourKites is well known for delivering real-time visibility of supply chain transportation information. It has now moved beyond that to orchestrate that supply chain. It is a logical step, in order to orchestrate the supply chain effectively one must have complete visibility.
With the Intelligent Control Tower, Fourkites will deliver a solution that will offers a complete supply chain solution. It will now not only provide insight about delivery schedules, stock outs, inventory levels and costs. It can now offer measures that optimise actions to improve business profitability.
Alongside other solutions such as YardWorks, which optimizes facility operations through automated gate processes, real-time equipment tracking and fully automated appointment scheduling. Organisations will be able to better manage their supply chain, reduce cost and risks
Charles Brennan, Senior Analyst at Nucleus Research, commented, “Too many organizations are stuck in the early stages of control tower maturity, using disconnected systems that can’t link planning to execution or help users take meaningful action. Supply chain leaders are increasingly looking for ways to move beyond identifying risks to coordinating responses across departments. This reflects a broader shift in the market from reporting-focused tools toward execution-oriented solutions.”
