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Posted by David Sexton
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28 Aug, 2026
GLOBAL supply chains are undergoing a fundamental redesign as the pace of change accelerates, WiseTech chief executive Zubin Appoo says.
Speaking at the 2026 Australia & New Zealand Shipping & Logistics Conference in Sydney, Mr Appoo spoke of “exponential tech advancements” in a world that was ever more connected and digital.
But it was a world that was increasingly volatile.
“Today disruption is constant and stability is the occasional, pleasant surprise,” he said.
“The good news is all these factors create enormous opportunity for our industry. AI is a key enabler, but it cannot operate in a vacuum. I am not just talking about automating existing processes… I am talking about a fundamental redesign of how the industry actually operates.”
He noted many core industry processes had been around for decades or even centuries that had “evolved in a world of paper documents”.
“The bill of lading document is older than almost anything else in modern business. It has been around for 700 years.
“The idea of customs declarations are ancient too, they were collected at city gates thousands of years ago. That is either an extraordinary example of enduring innovation, or a fairly confronting example of how slowly our industry changes.”
He noted also the need for government and freight forwarders to work together and that workflows were “only as good as the data”.
Adopting industry wide digital standards was also “critical for accelerating digitisation of processes”.
He said they were working closely with International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) on digital standards.
“This is not just about technology, AI also needs something that is very hard to replicate. [That is] Domain experience, domain expertise and human judgement,” he said.
“Global trade is increasingly complex and anyone who says otherwise has never worked in the industry or has somehow avoided customs for their entire career.”
