AI for logistics: automate the back office, not another demo
DelegaloAI is a Barcelona company that automates the back office of logistics, transport, freight forwarding and customs brokerage companies in Spain with artificial intelligence, on top of the ERP or TMS they already use: it reads orders, delivery notes, CMRs, invoices and emails, and turns them into data in their system. At a transport or logistics company the hours do not go into driving: they go into typing delivery notes, chasing unpaid invoices, answering "where is my shipment?" and moving data from an email to a spreadsheet and from the spreadsheet to the ERP. That is what we automate with artificial intelligence. Our automations run on the tools you already use, with your people approving what matters. We do it from Barcelona as an AI agency for companies, recognised by Forbes España and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.
Updated on by Elek Cunill
Every email, read and in the hands of whoever handles it
For freight forwarders, customs brokers and trade-fair logistics. Without your clients’ data leaving your company.
Freight forwarders
The price request arrives by email and someone redoes it by hand. With us the quote arrives ready to review, and the supplier invoice is checked against the rate.
- Missing details flagged before you ask for prices
- Offer drafted in your format; your team sends it
- Every invoice line matched against the agreed rate
Customs brokers
Hundreds of emails a day in one inbox the whole team watches. Every email is classified (import or export, what it asks for, which client) and assigned to whoever handles it.
- The shared inbox, split by file
- Invoices from hundreds of suppliers turned into data, from Excel, PDF or photo
- The declaration is prepared; your representative signs it
Trade fairs and events
Work lands all at once during build-up, and prospecting is done by hand between fairs. Exhibitors for the next show located, and the paperwork for every shipment, without typing.
- Exhibitors found and sorted before each fair
- Shipment documents turned into data
- On top of the tools you already use
A filter before the AI
Your clients’ names and details stay inside your company.
Your people decide: the AI reads, prepares and alerts; your team signs, sends and replies
85% of companies see no return on their AI investment.
It is not the model's fault. They build pilots that never get integrated with their systems, stay a pretty demo and die without touching a single process. We do the opposite: we come in through the part that hurts and does pay off, in production and tied to a number.
Source: MIT, State of AI in Business 2025 (300 deployments). Gartner expects 40% of agentic AI projects to be cancelled before 2027.
Where AI automations come into a logistics operation
Four logistics processes where AI automation pays for itself at a transport or logistics company. If you want the detail process by process, we break it down in the 7 logistics processes AI already automates, with what each one does, what it does not do and the sign that it is your turn.
Delivery notes, CMRs and invoices
The documents arrive by email or as a photo, and the AI reads them, pulls out the fields and files them in your system. The doubtful ones are set aside for human review. How it works with orders, delivery notes and CMRs (in Spanish).
From hours to minutesPayments
Tracking of outstanding invoices, automatic reminders to the customer, reconciliation of bank statements and an alert to the team when something goes past due.
Fewer days to get paidWhatsApp chatbot for customer service and shipment status
A chatbot for transport and logistics companies that answers repeat queries by WhatsApp or email at any hour, and escalates to a person with the context already sorted.
24/7, August includedLead generation
Extraction of target companies from trade fairs and public databases, enrichment down to the person who decides, and personalised outreach that lands straight in the CRM.
More meetings, same teamLogistics processes we automate with AI, one by one
Logistics process automation is not a single product: it is a specific process that eats up hours today and will not tomorrow. These are the six we come in through, with what the AI does in each one and what changes once it is running.
| Process | What the automation does | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery notes and CMRs | It reads the document as it arrives (PDF, phone photo or scan), extracts the plate number, packages, dates and signatures, and records it in the ERP or the TMS. Anything that does not add up is set aside for a person to look at. | From typing in every document to reviewing only the exceptions |
| PODs and proof of delivery | It picks up the proof of delivery, links it to the right shipment and customer and leaves it findable. When the customer asks for it, it goes out without anybody digging through a folder. | The POD stops being a manual search |
| Incidents and claims | It classifies the incoming email or message by incident type (delay, damage, shortage, wrong address), opens the case with the shipment data already loaded and notifies whoever needs to know. | Nothing sits unopened in an inbox |
| Transport invoicing | It cross-checks the services provided against the agreed rates, prepares the invoice and flags the differences before issuing. Then it chases payment with automatic reminders. | You invoice sooner and get paid sooner |
| Document control | It checks that each shipment carries the paperwork it is supposed to and warns about what is missing before the lorry leaves, not once it is already at the border. | The mistake shows up before it costs money |
| Courier and last mile | Courier process automation: booking pickups, delivery-window notices, answering "where is my parcel?" and handling redelivery attempts, without anybody answering the same message a hundred times a day. | Hundreds of daily notices without adding people |
You do not do all six at once. You start with the one that eats the most hours in your company, leave it running and measure it before opening the next one.
A real case in international logistics
Lead generation on autopilot for an international logistics operator in the events sector: bulk extraction of exhibiting companies from trade fairs, enrichment down to the person who decides, and personalised email outreach. It replaces a manual search that did not scale and leaves the pipeline building itself. In one out of every two companies we reached the first and last name of the person who signs off the purchase. In parallel, the automatic reading circuit for incoming paperwork, built on their own inbox.
Still running today, in production. Not a pilot that switched off when the meeting ended.
Why it actually reaches production with us
| With DelegaloAI | The pilot that goes nowhere | |
|---|---|---|
| Integration | Connected to your ERP, TMS, inbox, WhatsApp and bank | A standalone tool that talks to nothing |
| Where it comes in | The back office that hurts: paperwork, payments, lead generation | Marketing demos with the lowest return |
| Go-live | In production, running 24/7 | Switches off when the meeting ends |
| Maintenance | Someone who looks after it and measures it every month | Nobody: it becomes a toy with no owner |
Who stands behind that way of working and where we do it from is on the page of the AI agency in Barcelona. If what you are deciding is who to hire, the comparison of supplier profiles is in AI agency in Barcelona for logistics.
Who it is for
- Logistics operators and freight forwarders with paperwork in PDF and on paper.
- Customs brokers who prepare the customs declaration (DUA) by typing commercial invoices and packing lists.
- Transport companies typing delivery notes and CMRs by hand.
- Courier, parcel and last-mile companies, with hundreds of delivery notes and delivery notifications every day.
- Events and trade fair logistics, where lead generation is manual and does not scale.
- Warehousing and distribution with an admin team swamped at every month-end close.
- Any SME in the sector about to hire someone for repetitive tasks.
If you are a freight forwarder comparing providers, see the comparison of AI companies for freight forwarders in Spain (in Spanish). If rates are what eats most of your hours, see how to automate freight forwarding quotes with AI (in Spanish).
How we build logistics process automation
We start with a free 30-minute assessment of your real operation: where the work comes in, who touches it and where it gets stuck. Out of that comes one single process, the one eating the most hours, and we automate it on your current tools. We test it with your real data, leave it running and measure the hours recovered. Only then do we move on to the next one.
Related services: AI invoice OCR, sales and CRM automation · process automation and WhatsApp chatbot for transport and logistics companies. If your operation is more specific, we have a page of its own for trade fair and events logistics and for freight forwarders and customs agencies.
Frequently asked questions
Which processes can AI automate in a logistics company?
The ones that eat hours without adding judgement: reading and filing delivery notes, CMRs and supplier invoices, chasing payments and reminding late customers, answering shipment status queries over WhatsApp or email, moving data between the inbox, the spreadsheet and the ERP, and periodic reports. Operational decisions stay with your team: the AI prepares and executes the mechanical part.
Do we have to change our TMS or ERP to automate with AI?
No. We work on what you already have: your ERP, your TMS, your inbox, your WhatsApp Business account and your spreadsheets. The automation connects to those tools. Changing systems is exactly what makes an AI project stall for months and never reach production.
Why do most AI projects in logistics fail to deliver?
Because they are pilots that never get integrated. An MIT study of 300 deployments puts the share of companies seeing no return at 85%, and Gartner expects 40% of agentic AI projects to be cancelled before 2027. The pattern is always the same: a pretty demo that touches no real process. We come in through one specific bottleneck and leave it running in production, tied to a number.
How much does it cost to automate logistics processes with AI?
The first assessment is free: we look at your operation and tell you which process to automate first and what savings to expect, before you commit to anything. From there the quote is tailored to the scope, with the build for that specific case and a monthly fee if you want ongoing maintenance. All agreed in writing before we start.
How long does it take to have a logistics automation up and running?
The diagnostic takes 30 minutes. The first automated process, counting the connection to your ERP or TMS and the tests with real documents of yours, is measured in weeks, not quarters. We would rather deliver one working process early and extend it later than announce a complete platform for a year from now, which is exactly the pattern that gets these projects cancelled.
I run a distribution company and we still do a lot of things by hand. Can AI help me save on staff?
The more honest question is not how many people are surplus, but how many hours of the people you already have go into tasks that need no judgement. In a distribution company that is usually typing in paperwork, chasing payments and answering shipment status queries. Automate that and the team you already have absorbs more volume without hiring, which is what is really needed almost every time. If your case is that you need to hire someone for repetitive tasks, that is precisely the hire you can avoid.
Is this for a small transport company or only for large operators?
It is mostly for SMEs. The smaller the structure, the more those admin hours land on the same people who should be operating or selling. We start with a single process, the one that hurts most, and grow once that one is delivering.
From pilot to return
A 30-minute call to see, on your own company, which process can be taken out of the way and with what number attached. No commitment.
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