Smart logistics in action: How Allcargo Gati Is embedding AI in daily operations

When a logistics giant moves 9,000 vehicles across India daily, even a second’s delay can ripple into customer dissatisfaction. For Allcargo Gati, staying ahead in this high-stakes game means more than just faster trucks—it means smarter tech.

As digital expectations rise and India’s logistics sector races toward a $150 billion valuation by FY28, the company is rewriting its technology playbook. At the heart of this transformation is a decisive shift from legacy ERP systems to a cloud-first, AI-ready infrastructure.

In an exclusive conversation with Dataquest, Sanjay Khiyani, Chief Information Officer at Allcargo Gati Limited, shares how the company’s digital journey—anchored by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure—has already delivered a 20% efficiency gain and is paving the way for real-time, data-driven logistics.

What does digital transformation mean for Allcargo Gati today?

As India’s logistics sector is indefinitely evolving and changing rapidly, and as the demands for speed and accuracy are increasing, digital transformation remains a long-term process that allows us to prepare and protect our operations for the future. It is aligned with our fundamental mission of getting deliveries done fast, safely, and on time for our customers.

We have completed the migration of our mission-critical ERP (enterprise resource planning) system to Oracle database service on OCI which has put us in an excellent position for this transformation. The relocation has improved the system performance and overall operational efficiency by 20% and we have the ability to scale the growth of Operations easily and quickly.

With a fleet of over 9,000 vehicles all over India, technology is now embedded across every aspect of our business, from logistics consulting to last-mile delivery. In the future, digital transformation will incorporate new and emerging technology such as artificial intelligence automation, machine learning, and predictive and prescriptive analytics.

These new technologies will help us improve and optimize all of our operations as well as allow us to respond to customer needs as they arise in real-time. With cloud Infrastructure that is flexible and secure, we are well-positioned to lead innovation in the logistics space, which is projected to be a USD $150 billion industry by FY28.

What challenges did the old ERP system pose for your operations?

After Allcargo Group acquired Gati, a significant issue that emerged was the outdated ERP system, which had failed to adapt to current logistics requirements. This legacy setup brought about various challenges, including latency problems, occasional outages, and limited responsiveness during busy business times. Its traditional on-premises design lacked the scalability and flexibility necessary for smooth real-time operations throughout our expanding network of hubs.

Following the acquisition, Allcargo embarked on an extensive digital transformation process that included transitioning to a modern cloud-based ERP solution. This strategic move has greatly improved our operational agility and system resilience while also enabling us to swiftly implement new features in response to changing market conditions.

How has improved system performance impacted your business?

With enhanced system performance, Allcargo Gati has seen significant improvements in service delivery and operational efficiency. The increase in speed and precision has allowed us to better manage logistics operations, ensuring more consistent and timely deliveries.

By reducing latency and improving response times, our team can now handle higher volumes with greater ease, even during peak demand periods. 

These improvements have resulted in better customer satisfaction, as we’re able to meet evolving needs more effectively. Additionally, the scalability of our cloud platform allows us to seamlessly adapt to market shifts and seasonal surges without compromising performance.

What role do AI and automation play in your future plans?

AI and automation will both be integral to our future growth and digital transformation. Automation and AI will improve our operational efficiencies through predictive logistics, smarter route planning, and better customer interactions. AI will take our current decision-making from reactive to proactive, reducing delays, and optimizing vehicle usage.

Automation will also enable us to streamline the performance of predictable, regular tasks – thus allowing our workforce to shift their focus toward additional value added tasks. Automation and AI will combine with machine learning and advanced analytics to allow us to develop scalability in intelligent moves while staying ahead of customer demands in a highly volatile logistics marketplace.

How are you modernising your supply chain post-ERP migration?

Our modernization approach to the supply chain is focused on enabling new levels of functionality in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to enable new levels of agility, visibility and accuracy. After successfully foundationalizing our transactional systems on the Oracle Base Database Service, we are now enjoying reduced operational backlogs and greater system responsiveness of the vital factors in the supply chain.

In fact, the speed and scale with which we leverage OCI's cloud environment allows us to quickly respond to changes in demand by rerouting appropriately, and permitting operations at any point to continue without any major liabilities or consequences for the time delay, and number of hubs of coordination.

We are now able to leverage emerging capabilities; like real time tracking and visibility of inventories, insights into forecasts to incite positive change even before changes occur. Relying on OCI Data Guard and responding storage capabilities, we are assured of business continuity while experiencing peaks in demand and relying on the supply chain to coordinate effort.

Further, we are able to align warehouse and last mile with our newly implemented ERP which enables smarter resource priorities and is currently undergoing an operational transformation that is positively embedding a digital-first culture, where our operations are fundamentally changing based on intelligent automation and data-driven decisions. Our supply chain synchronizes and coordinates activities and associated activities using OCI to reduce latency and enable service reliability, ultimately building a more responsive, scalable and future-focus Supply Chain.

What digital tools are helping you respond to peak demand better?

Our shift to a cloud-based infrastructure has given us the digital tools to respond more effectively to peak demand. The scalability of this platform ensures high system uptime even during surges in demand. Advanced analytics and machine learning tools are being used to forecast demand more accurately and optimize resource allocation during peak periods. This enables us to manage increased delivery volumes without compromising on service reliability. Real-time insights allow our teams to make faster decisions, ensuring timely deliveries and a high level of customer satisfaction during challenging periods.

How is tech helping Allcargo Gati stay ahead in a growing logistics market?

Technology is central to our strategy to lead the rapidly expanding logistics market. By leveraging cloud infrastructure, we have improved operational efficiency, reduced latency, and boosted system reliability. These improvements allow us to offer faster, more reliable services, which are essential in a competitive market. In addition to cloud tools, the integration of AI and machine learning enables us to make more informed decisions and optimize our logistics network, resulting in enhanced service personalization and better resource management. As technology continues to evolve, we remain focused on staying agile, responsive, and innovative to meet the demands of a growing logistics market.