C. H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference 2026 summary

Company overview and market position

• Operates as a major logistics platform, connecting shippers and carriers in a complex, fragmented market, handling 37 million shipments annually and maintaining relationships with 75,000 customers and 450,000 carriers.

• Focuses on simplifying logistics complexity through technology, a lean operating model, and experienced logisticians, branding its approach as Lean AI.

Technology and Lean AI strategy

• Combines a lean operating model with advanced AI, including generative and agentic AI, to create a competitive moat that is difficult to replicate.

• Achieved 40% productivity gains across the enterprise since the end of 2022, with AI driving both efficiency and revenue growth.

• AI enables price and cost optimization, leveraging a unique, granular data set for revenue management and procurement.

• The business model is designed for scalability, minimizing marginal costs as volume increases, similar to an Amazon-like platform.

AI investment and infrastructure

• Sits at the application layer, using commodity LLMs selected for optimal price-performance, with investments focused on driving operating leverage and gross margin.

• AI investments are contained within existing spending levels, with in-house technology development providing a cost advantage over third-party solutions.

• Token usage increased 85x over the past year, while costs rose only 1.5x, demonstrating significant efficiency gains.