Global e-commerce has never been bigger. Social commerce, digital marketplaces, and one-click checkouts are everywhere. But behind every online purchase is a logistical puzzle—one that determines whether your order arrives in hours or weeks.
While businesses focus on product development and customer engagement, logistics remains the silent engine that keeps e-commerce moving. And it’s also one of the biggest challenges in the industry. Consumer expectations for instant and same-day delivery are now the norm, yet international shipments still contend with customs bottlenecks, tariffs, and supply chain disruptions. The solution isn’t as simple as moving goods faster. It takes reimagining the entire supply chain with technology—from route planning to compliance automation—turning logistics from a cost center into a key differentiator.
Srikrishna Jayaram, Principal Product Manager at Walmart Marketplace and an IEEE Senior Member, understands this better than most. His work at Amazon and Walmart has helped shape the smart logistics systems that power some of the world’s largest retailers, influencing how billions of packages move across the globe.
The Logistics Bottleneck, Revisited
For years, logistics lagged behind other industries in digital transformation. Many supply chains still run on fragmented systems and outdated manual processes—leading to delays and rising costs, among a number of compliance risks. When U.S. demand for goods surged by 15% almost overnight, supply chains buckled under the pressure. Ports overflowed with backlogged shipments, warehouse space ran out, and businesses scrambled to keep up amid labor shortages.
“It made people realize that logistics is more than moving boxes from point A to point B,” Jayaram explains. “Every shipment requires planning—routes, handoffs, contingencies for delays. There’s always a surprising amount of opportunity in making these processes better—not just to cut costs, but to create a better customer experience.”
This shift in perspective has turned logistics into a technology race. Companies that embrace automation, data-driven decision-making, and AI-powered optimizations are pulling ahead, delivering faster and preparing for any future global disruptions to come.
Data, Automation & AI for the Supply Chain
Jayaram’s approach to logistics is built on data and automation. At Amazon Air, he developed an intelligent global network design system that automated key transportation decisions—reducing manual coordination and enabling Amazon to expand rapidly into new markets like Australia, Singapore, South Africa, and Japan.
“The first step is identifying major friction points—where shipments get delayed, where capacity is underutilized, where processes break down,” says Jayaram. “Once you have that data, you can build solutions systematically. But the reality is, logistics is never solved—it’s always a work in progress.”
The system Jayaram implemented at Amazon would lead to over $75 million in annual savings while improving delivery reliability. Another initiative used machine learning to optimize air cargo operations, cutting transportation costs by $20 million in just months. Given that Amazon processes nearly six billion shipments a year, automation has become a cornerstone of the company’s operations, minimizing reliance on manual processes and ensuring fulfillment even in unpredictable global markets.
Beyond cost savings, AI offers other opportunities for logistics, ranging from demand forecasting to help optimize inventory levels and improve supply management; route optimization through AI-powered GPS; and predictive maintenance to reduce the risk of unexpected failures in the machinery and equipment that drives many warehouses. Logistics has started to evolve from a reactive, market-driven system into a robust, self-optimizing one.
A Future Shaped by Logistics Technology
Despite these advancements, full automation remains just out of reach. Independent carriers, regional policies, and aging infrastructure make full system integration an ongoing challenge. Rather than chasing an industry-wide overhaul, Jayaram champions targeted, high-impact investments—fixing the bottlenecks first. In his view, the digital transformation of logistics is less about a dramatic reinvention, but rather tweaks and adjustments that add up over time.
“Logistics has always been about small, continuous improvements,” Jayaram says. “Optimizing costs, shaving minutes off delivery times, improving the customer experience—it all compounds into a very meaningful competitive advantage.”
From warehouse robotics to AI-powered forecasting, logistics tech seems to have graduated from a back-end operation to the star of the show. As global trade grows more complex, companies that invest in logistics technology are looking to define the next wave of e-commerce—and the difference between leading and lagging behind might just come down to who offers the fastest delivery.