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means you ’ re constantly learning and gaining valuable experience .”
With the Covid-19 pandemic on the horizon , 2020 was a notoriously challenging time for all businesses , let alone start-ups , but Clemente is optimistic about difficulty . “ Tough times are all Zeus has ever known , and there are always going to be problems or disruptions in any industry ,” he states . “ Although we haven ’ t been directly impacted by recent global challenges , we saw customers face supplier shortages and explore alternative ways to access trucks , with Zeus being one of the methods .
“ Companies have had to change the way they think and operate , but disruption drives innovation , which is embedded in our mission as a young startup trying to penetrate a large legacy industry . The pandemic particularly brought the importance of supply chain to the forefront , for instance , as it highlighted issues with manual and traditional processes . We ’ ve since seen a renewed focus on supply chain resiliency through digitization and innovation as companies come to view freight as a resource rather than a commodity .”
Digitizing delivery
Turning to operations , Jai is keen to tell us about Zeus ’ latest developments . “ We ’ ve officially launched our second product , Freight Command , which is born out of Freight Connect . We realized that our large manufacturing customers , particularly public companies , will always have a certain risk profile and must consider how much volume to give a single supplier . Manufacturers typically wouldn ’ t allocate more than 50 percent to a single customer ; for those suppliers using Freight Connect , the manufacturer benefits from the platform ’ s digital solutions , but must revert to legacy ways of working for the remaining percentage of allocated business .
“ Freight Command solves this problem by offering customers our internal tools to manage supply and demand from their customers and orders ,” he explains . “ It empowers customers to manage their whole network of freight , as opposed to just the volume they allocate to Zeus . As a software as a service ( SaaS ) and enterprise product , Freight Command enables companies to digitize and automate their supply chain from order through to invoice .”
Clemente , on the other hand , tells us about the company ’ s venture into AI : “ We ’ re at the beginning of our journey with AI and we ’ re soon to launch an exciting initiative , Zeus AI , which currently has five different use cases : slot management , consolidation , extra charge validation , live network management , and load assignment . We are enhancing our established capabilities in Freight Command with AI technology . To fully appreciate the capabilities of Zeus AI , we must first understand the relationship between AI and supply chain management .
“ AI is almost useless without data ; companies must first digitize the supply chain to ensure clean data is stored in a single place , which can be done using Freight Command . Only then can you leverage the benefits of AI to gather the required data points in real time and suggest informed decisions within seconds versus hours .
“ That ’ s really the beauty of Zeus AI – speed , efficiency , and accuracy of information that enables data-driven decisions . The platform sits on top of Freight Command , but it isn ’ t a one-size-fits-all solution , meaning companies can train the AI model based on individual priorities like cost or environmental impact . Fundamentally , AI will make supply chains more efficient , sustainable , accurate , and cost-effective . We ’ ve already received great feedback that the system is unparalleled in the industry , but we ’ re continuously working to improve the technology .”
Thinking outside the box
As our conversation ends , Jai and Clemente share what ’ s next for Zeus . “ We ’ re currently launching in India , where we ’ ve already closed our first few customers , and we ’ re also exploring expansion in the US and Middle Eastern
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