How FedEx is using AI to navigate automotive supply chain disruption
FedEx’s Rakesh Puri explains how AI, predictive data and global logistics networks are helping automotive companies respond to disruption, tariffs and changing supply chains.
PARTNER CONTENT
This article was produced by Automotive Logistics in partnership with FedEx.
Automotive supply chains have experienced an extraordinary period of disruption, from geopolitical tensions and tariffs to changing sourcing strategies and increasingly complex international trade.
Speaking on the Automotive Logistics and Supply Chain Red Sofa at ALSC Global 2026, Rakesh Puri, vice-president of marketing, global verticals at FedEx, explains how the logistics provider is using its global network, data and artificial intelligence to help automotive customers respond.
For Puri, simply knowing where a shipment is located is no longer enough. “Tracking shipments is kind of table stakes,” he says. Automotive manufacturers increasingly want logistics providers to understand what a disruption means for their operations – and intervene before it stops production.
AI is becoming central to that capability. Puri discusses how FedEx is using data, predictive tools and dynamic network modelling to understand changes in global supply chains and determine how freight capacity should be deployed.
He also explains how digital twins can help FedEx model its network and respond more quickly as sourcing locations and trade flows change.
The conversation explores the automotive industry's continuing drive to reduce inventory and costs while simultaneously making supply chains more resilient. Diversification is playing an important role, requiring logistics providers to follow automotive suppliers into new production locations and ensure transport capacity is available.
Puri also draws parallels between automotive, aerospace and healthcare logistics, including the need for precise visibility when moving high-value semiconductors, batteries and other critical components.
Looking ahead, he identifies new vehicle and technology launches, supply chain diversification and the growing complexity of international trade and tariffs as some of the biggest forces shaping automotive logistics over the next three to five years.
Watch the full Red Sofa interview with Rakesh Puri from ALSC Global 2026.
