The Impending Disruption That Will Transform IT and the Workforce: “Service-as-Software”

Enterprise IT is on the cusp of a transformation the likes of which we haven’t seen since the transition to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). In fact, I’d argue this transition — to what is increasingly being dubbed “Service-as-Software” — has more profound implications for industries and workforces than anything that’s come before. Service-as-Software is ushering in the era of the digital workforce —in the supply chain industry in particular, it’s already begun.

SaaS revolutionized business operations by moving IT from on-premises solutions to cloud-based platforms, in the process democratizing access to sophisticated tools while minimizing infrastructure costs and maintenance. Still, SaaS requires active human engagement. People have to enter data, analyze outputs and proactively execute tasks.

Service-as-Software flips the script. Rather than providing users with software tools that help them work, Service-as-Software leverages highly advanced AI agents to perform complex, industry-specific workflows with zero human intervention. The software literally provides the service.

The benefits will be enormous — as will be the need to manage this massive change with our human workers.

What Are Digital Workers?

My company FourKites recently announced the availability of Tracy and Sam, two new digital workers purpose-built to autonomously manage complex supply chain workflows. Tracy is an expert in “track-and-trace,” monitoring and documenting the movement and status of orders and shipments throughout their journeys, from origin to final destination. Sam is an expert in supplier collaboration, automating documentation, updating records, identifying anomalies, and managing supplier communication.

We estimate digital workers like Tracy and Sam — who work 24×7, collaborate with each other, and learn and improve over time — can help supply chain teams manage up to 40% more shipments and reduce manual coordination work up to 80%.

Fundamentally, Tracy and Sam are highly advanced AI agents. We gave them human names to draw a sharp distinction from their primitive chatbot forebears. Unlike chatbots or generic AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini, digital workers are purpose-built for specific use cases and bring deep domain expertise and contextual understanding to complex tasks and workflows that only humans could manage before, such as:

• Exception investigation and resolution: When the unexpected happens, digital workers can immediately collaborate with carriers, suppliers, and customers to understand exceptions and take action.
• Risk mitigation with partners: automatically identify risks across your orders and transportation, and have digital workers coordinate with carriers, suppliers, and customers to resolve them before they become disruptions.
• Centralizing data without IT integrations: Digital workers don’t need standardized documents and information. They adapt to your partners’ communications, automating collaboration without disrupting existing processes.
• Leveraging extra capacity: Digital workers can automatically collect data from partners and outside sources, helping teams expand their abilities in auditing, note-taking, reporting, and more.
• Self-learning and continual improvement: Digital workers continuously learn from the decisions they make and the outcomes they observe. Over time this self-learning capability enhances their effectiveness, leading to better business outcomes.

Navigating Workforce Implications

The introduction of digital workers inevitably raises questions about the impact on human workers. I think it is increasingly clear that digital workers will reduce the need for manual labor in certain areas. As a result, companies may backfill fewer positions following natural attrition, or alter their future hiring plans. But even as digital workers take on more, they can’t do everything and they can’t replace the nuances of human institutional knowledge and judgment. They therefore create opportunities for reskilling and upskilling employees and training them to manage high-impact exceptions and escalations.

My advice to companies to fully capitalize on the digital workforce opportunity is to:

• Prioritize Automation Opportunities: Create a comprehensive list of automation use cases and prioritize them based on effort versus impact. (We’ve collaborated with customers on this process and have identified dozens of automation opportunities for typical supply chain processes.)
• Choose the Right Vendor: Opt for vendors offering integrated systems of agents rather than fragmented point solutions. A unified approach ensures better collaboration between agents and reduces data silos.
• Redesign Workforce Models: As routine tasks are automated, organizations must rethink workforce roles to focus on strategic activities and exception handling.
• Embrace Change Management: Successfully integrating digital workers requires cultural shifts within organizations. Employees must be encouraged to adopt AI tools rather than fear job displacement.

AI-driven transformation is coming and digital workers will be pervasive. The supply chain operators that understand this and are getting on board now are setting themselves up to be tomorrow’s supply chain leaders.

Matt Elenjickal is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of FourKites. He founded FourKites in 2014 after recognizing pain points in the logistics industry and designing elegant and effective systems to address them. Prior to founding FourKites, Matt spent 7 years in the enterprise software space working for market leaders such as Oracle Corp and i2 Technologies/JDA Software Group. Matt has led high-impact teams that implemented logistics strategies and systems at P&G, Nestle, Kraft, Anheuser-Busch Inbev, Tyco, Argos and Nokia across North America, Western Europe and Latin America. Matt is passionate about logistics and supply chain management and has a keen sense for how technology can disrupt traditional silo-based planning and execution. Matt holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy, an MS in Industrial Engineering and Management Science from Northwestern University, and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He lives in Chicago.

The post The Impending Disruption That Will Transform IT and the Workforce: “Service-as-Software” appeared first on Logistics Viewpoints.