{"id":3530,"date":"2026-07-16T06:11:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3530"},"modified":"2026-07-16T06:11:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:11:05","slug":"fedex-ceo-says-we-are-in-the-middle-of-the-biggest-supply-chain-shift-hes-seen-in-35-years-we-are-the-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3530","title":{"rendered":"FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he\u2019s seen in 35 years: \u2018We are the referendum\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>In a new episode of <em>Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry<\/em>, <em>Fortune<\/em>\u2019s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell sat down with FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam to discuss his rise within the company from the lowest level possible up to the CEO seat; how he\u2019s overhauling the logistics company and taking it through three transformations; and how he\u2019s thinking about AI, robotics, and the future of the company.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3528\">Bending Spoons only hired 0.04% from its 800,000 job applications last year\u2014its CEO says its cutthroat hiring process is unlike \u2018useless\u2019 interviews<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Why Subramaniam says tariffs and geopolitics are reshaping global trade, driving growth in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>How FedEx is uniting its Express and Ground networks, simplifying the organization, and building digital capabilities for e-commerce.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>How FedEx is using its data and AI to optimize deliveries, improve customs support, predict disruptions, and serve high-value supply chains.<\/li>\n<li>Why Subramaniam sees FedEx\u2019s logistics intelligence as a potential source of new services and revenue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>How FedEx is testing autonomous trucks with Aurora, starting with highway routes.<\/li>\n<li>How Dexterity and Berkshire Grey are helping automate truck loading and unloading in FedEx hubs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Why Subramaniam says FedEx\u2019s \u201cPeople, Service, Profit\u201d model and its \u201cPurple Promise\u201d remain the company\u2019s foundation.<\/li>\n<li>How he views taking over from founder Fred Smith as a responsibility to protect the culture that Smith created.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>How a roommate\u2019s canceled FedEx interview led Subramaniam to join the company in 1991 as an associate marketing analyst.<\/li>\n<li>Why he credits continuous learning, mobility across roles and geographies, curiosity, and calculated risk-taking for his rise to the top job.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Why Subramaniam says aspiring CEOs need to decide whether they truly want the role, with its sacrifice, travel, and stakeholder pressures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Read the transcript, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity, below.<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Well, Alyson, great to see you in Memphis, and we love to have you in Memphis. I\u2019m glad that you\u2019re right here in our Experience Center, and we look forward to this conversation.<\/p>\n<h2>Subramaniam on the shifting global trade landscape<\/h2>\n<p>Yeah, well, that\u2019s an excellent question, Alyson. First of all, these 18 million packages actually represent shipments from about two to three million active shippers, and about 300 million recipients around the world. And we are in the center of this ecosystem. The interesting thing is that it also generates two petabytes of data every single day about the system. So we see the supply chains from the bottom up.<\/p>\n<p>In many ways, we are the referendum on global supply chains. This may not have been that interesting two or three years ago, but it is very interesting today because the supply-chain patterns are changing very rapidly. I\u2019ve been doing this for 35 years, and I\u2019ve been watching these flows. And we had one set of equilibrium over this period of time. And in 2025, we had a lot of changes, and I\u2019ve never seen a change in one year like we\u2019ve seen in 2025.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>I\u2019ll let you know what I mean. For example, U.S. imports were down, and U.S. exports were up, and those combinations thereof, we haven\u2019t seen in a long time. Intra-regional traffic is up. We have Latin America inbound up significantly. A lot of countries\u2014Southeast Asia, India\u2014they\u2019re growing very rapidly. So it\u2019s all happening all at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>In essence, the supply-chain patterns are changing, and we are moving from one equilibrium state to another equilibrium state. And we are in the middle of such a transition, and I just coined the term \u201creglobalization\u201d to kind of capture the point. But it\u2019s a very interesting time as we are watching these changes happen firsthand in real time.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Well, from our point of view, there were three things that were important. Firstly, as we just talked about, the patterns of physical movement of goods changed. So, in this context, having a scaled physical network was very important. That\u2019s the great advantage for FedEx, is that over the last 53 years, we have built this global network. And I mean network in the truest sense. People use the word very loosely sometimes. It is the ability to pick up a package from any one point in the world and get it to any other point in the world. There are only two or three companies who can do that, and we do it the best.<\/p>\n<p>So we had that scaled physical network. So if a company was thinking of moving their supply chain from A to B before, and they\u2019re now moving from P to Q, well, we are at A, B, P, and Q, and so we already have that established network. That was the first thing.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The second thing is the operational aspect of it, because we are unlike other companies. We\u2019re actually involved in moving the goods across the border. That\u2019s our job. That\u2019s what we\u2019re set up to do, and that became increasingly more complicated. But this is what, before, basic math would have done. Now you need advanced calculus, and we do advanced calculus. This is what we do for a living.<\/p>\n<p>So, ironically, this became an advantage, even though we had to hire a lot of new people, because the number of packages that had to be formally cleared through customs went up six- or sevenfold, and we had to hire about a couple thousand people to make sure that that happened. So, operationally, we had to make some changes, but again, we had an advantage because of the experience and expertise that we have.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>And then thirdly is digital intelligence. Just imagine, for every country to every other country, for every commodity, you need clear and scored information. We have it, again through the dint of practice and our experience. And here\u2019s where Gen AI came in handy. If you try to ship this shirt to the U.K. tomorrow, there are probably 50 different classification codes that you may have to choose from. But because of our experience, we can just suggest to you which ones you should use, for example. And we\u2019ve done it for small, medium customers, and we are trying to take that practice up as well.<\/p>\n<p>So those are the three elements of changes that we have seen, and it\u2019s very complex. This is when people who really know what they\u2019re doing can step up to the plate.<\/p>\n<p>So obviously that\u2019s what we do. But it just depends upon where it\u2019s starting and where it\u2019s ending up. It could start at another end of the world, and it could be in any ZIP code in America, for example. If that\u2019s the case, then obviously it starts off on the pickup side. We have a FedEx service and a courier and a driver, just like you see here. And it eventually gets to the air ramp in that city, and the flight, let\u2019s say, is from Japan to, let\u2019s say, Michigan. It\u2019ll probably come here to Memphis that night. It\u2019s sorted in our huge hub that we have here, and then gets on a plane to Michigan the next day, to, let\u2019s say, Detroit, and then there\u2019s a whole process that happens from the air ramp to the courier, who gets it to the final deliveries.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>So that\u2019s a whole orchestration that has to happen, and you just multiply that by every origin, every destination in the world, and you see the infrastructure that\u2019s required to move that. So it just depends upon where it\u2019s coming. If it is coming from Chicago to Detroit, and overnight, then probably it goes on a truck for a couple of days\u2019 service, or if you really want it by 10:30, then it comes through Memphis and back to Detroit. So depending upon the service requirements and the expectations, from every point to every other point in the world, we have a sophisticated network of possibilities to get that package to the end destination.<\/p>\n<p>Two petabytes.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Many, many zeros.<\/p>\n<h2>How Subramaniam leads FedEx through uncertainty<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Well, first of all, to answer that specific thing, we are a very kinetic organization, and that\u2019s the great thing about FedEx. We are in motion pretty much every second of the day in every corner of the world. But the great thing about that is we have a fantastic team around the world, steeped in FedEx culture.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>500,000 folks, and so that part of it, I know we will take care. It\u2019s just that some of the external environments change and we have to think about how the network will have to adjust to something happening. That\u2019s where we have to keep managing and monitoring. And again, we have a superb team, from an engineering organization perspective and our frontline operations, that really keep it running. And great leadership that makes it happen every single day.<\/p>\n<p>The other question is, what do I do? That\u2019s an interesting question because I realized after I took this job that the most important currency that I have is time. So I actually sat down and thought about it. I said, \u201cWhat is my role exactly?\u201d And so I determined that, first of all, it\u2019s to guide the strategic direction of the company, obviously.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Second is to create an execution framework. Make sure you have the right set of folks around the table to make this happen, and then be the guardian of the culture of FedEx, and then represent the company well internally and externally, which I\u2019m hopefully doing right now. So that\u2019s how I parcel my time, and more or less, it follows those patterns. But of course, sometimes you\u2019re going to have to jump in on certain emergencies.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>That\u2019s exactly right. But the roles have changed. So, as president and COO, and increasingly over time, our founder Fred Smith had handed off more and more responsibilities. So, when the time came, I said, \u201cOkay, it\u2019s one more step up, but I can do this.\u201d But no, the whole thing changed. The world changed. The number of stakeholders that were demanding your attention was completely different and more numerous than I anticipated.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s why I had to rethink and figure out, how do I parcel my time? And actually having to say no a heck of a lot more. And really prioritize, because if you try to do everything, it\u2019s not possible. But this takes it to a whole other level.<\/p>\n<p>And again, the fact that I was president and CEO for three years before that was a huge help. But now this is a whole different level.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Yeah, well, I consider it a great privilege to have had that opportunity to take over from our founder. I always say that I can see far because I\u2019m standing on the shoulder of a giant. The preparation for the handover was over a period of time, as Fred was always extremely well-planned and thinking through things ahead of time. And so this transition was also equally well-planned, and so there was no surprise. So when I got appointed as president and CEO, that was when the transition started.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>No, he asked me to show up\u2014he was traveling to Los Angeles, and he said, \u201cI\u2019ve checked your calendar. You\u2019re doing nothing.\u201d So that\u2019s when I got the word that I was going to take over. So it was quite an interesting trip for sure.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Well, it was quite well understood at that point that this is a stepping stone. Nothing was guaranteed, of course, but it was a stepping stone into the job. So it was pretty clear to the internal and external world that this was the path that was going to be. The timing was only the question.<\/p>\n<p>So I think that when I stepped into the CEO role, he handled the transition so beautifully, so well, from a communications perspective, from a mentoring perspective. It was very clear\u2014he told me from the very beginning that you are now the final decision maker on anything. We can debate anything you want, but at the end of the day, if this is the direction you\u2019re headed, then you\u2019re the final call.<\/p>\n<p>So it was great. We talked about a lot of things, and one of the things that he and I had a conversation about was I told him that a lot of things might change. We may have new technology, we may have new people, we may buy new companies, but one thing that is not going to change is the FedEx culture, and that\u2019s why I came to work here in the first place. That\u2019s why I come to work every single day. That\u2019s the special thing, and Fred gets credit for a lot of different things, but he doesn\u2019t get nearly enough credit for creating this phenomenal culture that we have at FedEx from the very founding of the company. And so that\u2019s one thing that\u2019s a constant for us.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Well, first of all, we are a service business, and so this principle of what we call People, Service, Profit\u2014you take care of your people; they provide outstanding customer service, which turns into profit for the company, which you reinvest back in the people. That\u2019s the unending cycle of PSP.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s actually a hard-nosed business proposition because imagine somebody was doing a job just enough not to get fired, versus going above and beyond the call of duty to deliver an outstanding experience, which we call the Purple Promise. That\u2019s the difference between failure and success. And you do it 18 million packages a day. That\u2019s really the hallmark of FedEx.<\/p>\n<p>So I have had the opportunity to live and work and travel to different parts of the world, and I always find myself\u2014the language of the country may be different, but the language of FedEx is the same. It all goes back to the fundamentals of humanity.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>You respect the individual. You make sure people understand what is important to be done and what we expect from them, and you reward and recognize the right behavior. It cuts across humanity, no matter where you are, and that\u2019s the heartbeat of the FedEx culture, and it\u2019s just fabulous. And that\u2019s the foundation from which everything springs.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Purple Promise is we make every FedEx experience outstanding, and hopefully if you stop any FedEx person anywhere in the world and ask what the Purple Promise is, they\u2019ll give you that answer.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<h2>Subramaniam on his path from analyst to CEO<\/h2>\n<p>Well, I\u2019m glad that I\u2019m talking to a Syracuse grad.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>My first port of call from moving from India was to Syracuse, and I had not seen temperatures below 80 degrees before I moved here, and then surely got surprised when I got to Syracuse. But it was great fun. It was a great experience.<\/p>\n<p>When I was doing my MBA at University of Texas at Austin, and at that point, 1991, jobs were hard to come by, and my roommate at that time had decided to go back to India. So anyway, when I was walking into the apartment, I heard him on the phone. He\u2019s like, \u201cNo, I can\u2019t do that,\u201d and he hung up the phone. I said, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d He said, \u201cThat\u2019s FedEx calling, and that it was for an interview, but he has obviously decided to leave the country, so he was like, \u2018No, I can\u2019t do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I immediately picked up the phone and said, \u201cGive me the number,\u201d and I called over and said, \u201cYou just talked to my roommate, but he doesn\u2019t want to do the interview, but I am still here. Can I send you my resume?\u201d And they said, \u201cOkay,\u201d and the rest is history.<\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s how I got started at FedEx, and at the lowest level here in Memphis, which I didn\u2019t know anything about at that time. But it was great. It was a great opportunity. I started off in international marketing, but the international business was a fledgling business, so you get to do a lot of things when that\u2019s small, and it was such a great opportunity. So that\u2019s how we got here.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Well, I think in my particular case, pretty much every job that I\u2019ve gotten, maybe with the exception of one or so, was somebody said, \u201cYep, I want you to do this. I want you to do this.\u201d I kind of moved around, whether geography or job responsibilities, and was given multiple opportunities, and I just took it.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>And it was a great learning experience, whether living in different geographies or doing different jobs. So I was just learning and growing. Continuous learning is my thing, and so it was always exciting to take on something new. It\u2019s only when I got to the job as the president of FedEx Canada, about 2003, when I was in a senior role, I realized, \u201cOh, this is starting to look pretty interesting now.\u201d That\u2019s probably when I first thought, \u201cOkay, this could lead to something.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Well, we moved from the original Federal Express branding to FedEx. I think it was in the early \u201990s when this was the case, and the agency that was doing the work unveiled a new logo, but they pointedly did not mention the arrow. They wanted it to be a discovery, and there was one person in the room who actually saw the arrow instantly, and that was Fred Smith. So he said, \u201cWell, that\u2019s an arrow. Once you see the arrow, you can\u2019t unsee it, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s incredible. It\u2019s a party trick even now because a lot of people I know have never seen the arrow in that FedEx logo, and it reveals itself when you actually look at it. So it\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>Once you see the arrow, you just simply can\u2019t unsee it. It\u2019s great, but a lot of people I still realize haven\u2019t seen that arrow between the F and the X.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The great thing is that change has always been part of our culture, and if you don\u2019t like change, you\u2019re going to hate extinction, and so that\u2019s never been a problem. We\u2019ve always been this underdog. And driving change was always the game, and so when we are expanding or creating new value for our customers or innovating, there\u2019s always change.<\/p>\n<p>When the time is right for change, we have to make the change, and the team is ready for that. And as long as the mission is clear and timelines are certain, things get done. And so that\u2019s kind of where we are. And we are in an era of transformation at FedEx. It was time to make those kinds of changes. And that\u2019s what we did.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<h2>How Subramaniam is reshaping the FedEx network<\/h2>\n<p>What we had to do in the shadow of the pandemic was to firstly reduce structural cost, and that was hard to do. But we had to do it. After the pandemic high, we had to bring down structural costs. Once we knew that was a mission, the team just did an amazingly brilliant job. Billions of dollars of structural-cost reduction in the last four years. I just couldn\u2019t be prouder of the team because that\u2019s not easy to do, right? It\u2019s not. It\u2019s not variable costs. It\u2019s structural. That\u2019s not coming back.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>So we did that. But that\u2019s not the most exciting part. The exciting part was the transformation. The transformation has three components to it, and the first one was the network transformation. We are bringing both the erstwhile Express network and the Ground networks into one common network in the United States. Easier said than done.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Well, there was a reason why it was different, and I can talk about that. Before, primarily the packages were B2B business, and a lot of stops were business stops, meaning I\u2019m coming to this building and I have two trucks, one delivering 10 packages, another delivering six packages. But everything else is optimized, and it worked just fine.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, we gained market share in the ground parcel business for 52 straight quarters, and we were at 10% market share at the turn of the century. Our gap in market share was 70 points versus our nearest competitor. That\u2019s now single digits. But as e-commerce started to grow, the number of stops at residences started to go up. Now we\u2019re going with one truck with one package, and the other truck with the other package. That doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n<p>So it was the business evolution that we had. Then we knew we had to make this change. Originally, the way FedEx was\u2014we created FedEx Express. We bought this company, Caliber Systems, in \u201998, which was FedEx Ground, so two separate units. But now we had to bring it together, and the time was right to do that.<\/p>\n<p>So that was the network transformation. We are also using the same time frame to do a transformation internationally, and I won\u2019t go through the details of it. Suffice it to say that what we call tricolor was incredibly timed because without that we couldn\u2019t have done so well during this period of time with a lot of supply-chain patterns changing.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3526\">Murati\u2019s Thinking Machines releases first AI model for broad use<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>I\u2019ll tell you the evidence. In the last quarter we just finished, we had a 5% increase in volume, but the number of flight hours actually went down, which means more density through our system, so that was working.<\/p>\n<p>So those are the network transformations. We also had an organizational part of the transformation because you\u2019re now collapsing all these different organizations into one FedEx, and that makes us much more efficient, but also, more importantly, much more effective.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And then we have this digital transformation, again pointing to the fact that the intelligence that we have about the global supply chain is a valuable asset, while we are modernizing our technology at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>So all these three elements are underway. I know it\u2019s a lot of work, but I\u2019ve just been delighted at how the team has rallied to the cause. The mission is clear. And we\u2019re just executing right now, and it\u2019s working. And it\u2019s great when a plan comes together.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>In essence, this is an ongoing journey. But our network transformation, what we call Network 2.0, will be wrapped by the end of next year. The fall of 2027 is our target. We are right on target. We are 45% of the way done. By the end of this calendar year, we\u2019ll be 65% of the way done, and so that\u2019s our target: to get that done by that period of time.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Having said that, that\u2019s also not the end; it\u2019s actually the beginning because now it gives us a lot more opportunities to optimize across the air and the surface going forward. But this element will be done by \u201927.<\/p>\n<p>The organizational\u2014we already put the organization together, or it\u2019s already done. But I think we are in the early innings in terms of what we can create, in terms of effectiveness of this one FedEx. I would say over the next two years we will see the benefits of that coming.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>And the digital transformation, I think it\u2019s an ongoing thing, but I think we plan to lay the infrastructure down over the next two to three years. So we are about halfway in this journey, and, like I said, it\u2019s great to see the plan come together.<\/p>\n<h2>Subramaniam on AI, robotics, and FedEx\u2019s future<\/h2>\n<p>Yeah, well, that realization was in early 2020. Actually, I have a smart, young person in our organization. He wrote me a white paper, and so I didn\u2019t know him very well at that time. He just sent me the paper, so it was in about October of 2019, and I asked him to come and see me and walk me through it.<\/p>\n<p>Basically, the premise was the data we are sitting on is very, very important and valuable. By the way, right now it\u2019s an exhaust and it\u2019s not been really collected in the right places or engineered the right way. So that was a wake-up call. I guess I had the good sense to understand that I was onto something here, so we put about eight people in downtown Memphis in a building, and I just said, \u201cGo build the infrastructure to make this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>And it started there, and I had this incredible set of young folks who kind of joined that effort, and it was really incredible that we started building our data platform, and then we saw the benefits that came right out of it. In fact, we couldn\u2019t have done our network integration without that because that was the one that kind of blurred the boundaries between all these organizations and companies. They were just packages; a package is a package construct.<\/p>\n<p>So then comes AI. I mean, two, two and a half years later. Of course, the fuel for AI is data, and everyone\u2019s talking about AI, about publicly available data, but there\u2019s the proprietary data, the tacit intelligence that every company has\u2014that\u2019s really, really important. And to extract value from that, you need to have your data engineered and organized. You just can\u2019t wave your wand and say, \u201cOh, so luckily we\u2019re already two and a half years down the road on this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So we started using this AI, and I think the way I see it, it\u2019s a no-brainer. We\u2019re going to use AI to improve the efficiency of our back-office operation. But that\u2019s not what excites me. What excites me is what we are doing to optimize our networks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For example, we\u2019re using deep-learning models to really optimize our flows of packages. You asked the question earlier: How does a package get from one place to another? Just multiply that by 18 million every single night.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The other thing that\u2019s even more exciting is we are now providing valuable predictive and visibility solutions for the high-value-goods supply chain, and that\u2019s winning more business on the transportation side.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now we are nearly $10 billion in business for health care right now. That is substantial growth in the last three, four years, and these technologies and tools that we are building in AI are already helping drive more business to FedEx, so that\u2019s actually terrific for us.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>And then thirdly, we\u2019re using technology as a value creator in its own right. So we have now established a partnership with Dun &amp; Bradstreet. We are working with ServiceNow. We are starting to externalize some of our services.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re already doing route optimization. We know more about route optimization than probably anybody else, but other companies need it. We have predictive-maintenance capability that we can start to externalize, customs-clearance capabilities. We can externalize.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>So those are those kinds of things, and then ultimately, I do want to go up even higher in the value chain, especially on supply-chain orchestration. There\u2019s $1.8 trillion of inefficiency in global supply chains today, and we think we can, because of the intelligence that we have and the expertise that we have, make a dent on that. So that\u2019s the longer-scale-term vision for that.<\/p>\n<p>So this is a journey\u2014we got started in 2020. We\u2019ve made a lot of progress, but we have a long way to go. The best is yet to come.<\/p>\n<p>$1.8 trillion of supply-chain inefficiencies, because the goods are in the wrong place. They have obsolescence, they have wastage. I mean, you can multiply, especially the value of the goods we\u2019re talking about. Each of these things is health care, electronics.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>So we move $2 trillion of commerce, and so obviously, the value per pound of the things we move is very high.<\/p>\n<p>So we have been working with a company called Aurora over the last few years. We actually have 700,000 autonomous miles already driven, with the driver next to it. But we\u2019re testing the technology, and so we\u2019re proving it out.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The important thing is that you have to combine the technology with the assets on the ground that FedEx has got. So, in essence, the first place to try these things is on the highway, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t expect an autonomous truck driving on your street, but we have so many points in the country. We can just go point to point there. Then a human driver can take it out for the local delivery. So that\u2019s also an important component of that.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>So we\u2019re testing that. I would say we\u2019ve been happy with what we\u2019re seeing, but there\u2019s still some ways to go to finally prove it out and make it fully autonomous without the other driver there.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>I would say, yeah, a few more years. I think, yeah.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a completely separate effort. If you go to our largest surface hubs that we have, it\u2019s these huge facilities, and it is actually fully automated. And the only place where it is not automated is truck unloading and truck loading. Once it\u2019s in the system, it comes out the other side in a matter of minutes, and there\u2019s no human being touching it.<\/p>\n<p>So when I was up in Silicon Valley about four or five years ago, I started hearing about robotics development, especially in the age of AI, and we started working with some of these companies. And lo and behold, we now have solutions actually working in our facilities to do this truck loading and truck unloading, and it\u2019s actually working.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>We\u2019ve got to get through a few more steps here, but I would envision that we will be scaling something like that more broadly into some of our facilities, working hand in hand with our team members to make their jobs easier, and so this is something that hopefully could come in the next couple of years.<\/p>\n<p>This is real physical AI. I mean, if you really think about it, trying to load a truck with packages of different shapes, sizes, weights\u2014it is playing Tetris. That\u2019s an extremely complicated robotics problem to solve, and it\u2019s only because of the advances in AI that it\u2019s been able to solve that.<\/p>\n<p>It works. It\u2019s actually, if you see it in action, quite interesting. It\u2019s got a view of what the next set of packages are coming down the belt, and it kind of maps it out where it needs to go, and it starts to put it in there.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>One is called Dexterity, and they are on the package loading, and then we have a company called Berkshire Grey on the unloading side.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Yeah, I think it was a non-obvious solution to the front end, but when we looked at the logic of why it makes sense, it\u2019s the ability to focus on a segment, provide the right customer experience and the right technology. Just focus only on that LTL segment without having to optimize across parcels worldwide. You just focus on North America, focus on the LTL segment, and there\u2019s a lot of value to be had by doing that.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>And once it was clear that this was the direction that needed to go, that\u2019s one of the great, fantastic things about FedEx. It is the alpha of FedEx, I would say, is once the mission is clear and once the timeline is certain, it gets done. And so I\u2019m just extremely thankful for the incredible team that simply got on the mission and executed flawlessly to get here.<\/p>\n<p>And so far, so good. FedEx Freight now is trading as an independent company. They have their first earnings call coming up here. I\u2019m glad that we decided to do it, and also extremely glad that we got through the implementation phase, execution phase, so well.<\/p>\n<p>Well, for me, it\u2019s much more of an opportunity. I\u2019m a believer in making sure we continuously need to differentiate our services versus the customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>We are a customer-centric organization. Every company has got their core strengths. Some are engineering-oriented. Some are finance-oriented. We are a customer-centric organization.<\/p>\n<p>So we put ourselves in the shoes of a customer. We think what value proposition we can offer that others cannot. So that is our constant challenge: how do we differentiate? And now we have to put in both the physical and the digital, and how they work together. And again, because of the way the world is changing, our expertise becomes even more important in this space.<\/p>\n<p>So we are thinking in the broadest sense: how do we become the heartbeat of the industrial economy and make supply chains smarter for everyone? This is a specific service that we can do in this regard, and so that\u2019s what excites us. I mean, it\u2019s less of a threat, more of an opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>Before the pandemic, the word \u201csupply chain\u201d really was not in anybody\u2019s lexicon. It was maybe in the realm of the procurement manager, maybe the CFO. But ever since the pandemic, supply chains have become a boardroom conversation, and suddenly what we do becomes cool.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>And so we evolved our vision to make supply chains smarter for everyone. We are now constantly driving ourselves to make sure: how do we do that for our customers? So that\u2019s what keeps us excited. And how do you differentiate?<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Yeah, I think first of all, the role of the CEO continues to evolve, and so that\u2019s definitely not a fixed target in that sense. So you have to have that appreciation of what exactly it is, or at least what you think it\u2019s going to be. So I think if someone has aspirations to be a CEO of any company, I think it\u2019s important first of all to truly understand what it is going to take, to the extent you can, of course, with the assumption that it is going to change, but at least understand what it means in the truest sense.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just me talking to you, Alyson. There are a lot of other things that happen, so they have to understand that. Do they really want it? I mean, that\u2019s a big question. Only individuals have to answer for themselves because there\u2019s a lot of stress and sacrifice that goes with it, and they have to really ask themselves that question: \u201cDo you really want it?\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>And once you say yes to that, okay, then you have to go about preparing to do those different aspects of the job. And I think, for me, what has helped is a curious mindset. Never be judgmental. There\u2019s a fine line between curiosity and judgment. Have a curious mindset, be able to adapt to what\u2019s coming, have this continuous-learning mindset, and maybe take some calculated risks along the way as we move along here.<\/p>\n<p>So I think it\u2019s really important that you first really have to want it and truly understand what it\u2019s going to take.<\/p>\n<p>Well, travel is constant. That\u2019s just what it is at this point, especially in our business, with so many different stakeholders and global at that. So that\u2019s a given. I mean, you just need to be comfortable with jet lag. That\u2019s just a given.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But there are so many other aspects of the job these days, and all the stakeholders. So again, like I said, it is exciting. It\u2019s exhilarating. It\u2019s challenging all at the same time. But you\u2019ve got to truly know in your heart that you want it.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3524\">OpenAI wants its speaker to feel alive. Apple says it\u2019s a stolen idea<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thank you very much, Alyson. I appreciate you being here in Memphis.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raj Subramaniam says FedEx\u2019s global network and customs expertise have become more valuable amid a rapidly changing tariff regime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[286],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fortune-500-titans-and-disruptors-of-industry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he\u2019s seen in 35 years: \u2018We are the referendum\u2019 - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3530\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he\u2019s seen in 35 years: \u2018We are the referendum\u2019 - 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