FedEx plans AI models to predict supply chain vulnerabilities due to trade, other disruptions

Amid changing global trade order and supply chain vulnerabilities, global logistics major, FedEx, is developing a data-led Artificial Intelligence (AI) model to predict disruptions and prevent local issues from developing into systemic failures. Backed with massive data repository to the tune of two Petabytes of data it generates every day, FedEx plans to develop the prediction model for its customers.

“Identifying vulnerabilities and addressing them before they become disruptions is probably the most crucial element of supply chain resilience. Over the long term, we will power solutions allowing FedEx and our customers to anticipate disruptions and prevent localised issues from becoming systemic failures,” said Rajesh Subramanian, CEO, FedEx.

“AI is a force multiplier for shaping the modern supply chains in a more connected, complex and opportunity rich world. We have always been a data-driven company. We have nearly 700 airplanes, 2,00,000 motorised vehicles and more than 500000 team members. We handle two trillion dollars in goods annually, and move more than 17 million packages daily across 220 countries and territories, and generate two peta bytes of data every day,” said Rajesh Subramanian, CEO, FedEx.

In his address at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Subramanian said the company realised the value of its data, and supply chain intelligence early and organised and engineered its data ahead of the AI revolution. “And when you power the industrial economy and generate two Petabytes of data , the potential to harness that intelligence with AI to create smarter and more resilient supply chain is immense,” he said.

AI-led resilience modelling next big move for Fedex

Subramanian said AI capability will be one of the key pivots for the company for the next fifty years. “This is a capability only a few organisations can match. For the last 50 years, FedEx moved the most reliable network for moving the industrial goods,” he added.  

“Over the next fifty years, our differentiation will come from orchestrating the intelligence that governs modern commerce. That is our future. And to get there, we are using AI to transform our real-time network data into actionable insights that enable prediction, and optimisation across the entire supply chain. This is intelligence on what is going to happen next. More importantly, we are scaling these capabilities responsibly, ensuring strong data governance, and data security,” he added.

Patterns and rules of global trade are changing: Subramanian

Subramanian pointed to the changing global trade order. “World is undergoing fundamental shift. The patterns and rules of commerce are changing. The impact of the pandemic and shift in trade policies are driving us to the new period of re-globalisation,” he said.

“Global supply chains are moving from one equilibrium state to another and FedEx is right in the middle of this transition. In my 35 years at FedEx monitoring global trade, I have never seen change of this scale. We also never had a powerful technological force reflecting change,” he added.