A lot has been happening on the AI front in the last week. Both on the personal front for me and also in the news. For me, I am probably late to the party compared to many but I started using Cowork with Claude over the last two weeks. I don't know why I waited so long.

It is truly powerful and I'm just getting started. I already upgraded my account for more usage within the first week of being subscribed. Haha

While this is an incredibly powerful tool I've started to leverage the power of AI is starting to become a problem. A thread from an Anthropic employee that recently left was shared around the internet raising flags on the dangers at which AI is progressing. Shortly after, the CEO of Anthropic (who created Claude) called for an AI slowdown. Most likely what they have seen is possible is probably more than we can guess.

So what is the balance and where does it become too much?

For me, I've been cautious about how much we dabble with AI at The New Warehouse. As a media entity, resource and discovery tool for new solutions in the market I've made sure we have been extremely cautious in keeping content authentic. AI is great for workflow productivity for us but definitely not great for overall content creation.

Aaron Rubin of ShipHero made the post below earlier this week and while it is a funny post, it has been stuck in my head all week.

This is a potential reality. AI is getting injected into many of the things consumers are interacting with on a daily basis. Is it always being executed well? Definitely not but it's becoming more and more prevalent. My 83 year old father is now using AI to figure out how to do things step by step and do additional research on things he is considering purchasing and he figured it all out on his own.

As the regular consumer figures out how to leverage AI even more, especially beyond search, it opens up a whole new world of convenience for them. Stay on hold for 15 minutes? No, have your AI assistant do it (maybe Meta's new Muse?).

So the question becomes at what point does all of the AI optimization that businesses have been doing become pointless because consumers have done the same optimization on their end. What comes next after that?

I can see agents going to battle over a lost package.

What are your thoughts on where this is heading?

Also, anything cool you've done with Claude? My agent is all ears :)

Monday's Episode - Leading Well at a 3PL: Jim Heffernan of The Armstrong Company

Welcome to this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, featuring Jim Heffernan, Executive Vice President of Fulfillment at The Armstrong Company. Armstrong operates more than 150 physical locations nationwide, with Heffernan leading fulfillment operations from Southern California.

Drawing on more than 30 years in the industry, Heffernan explains why successful 3PL leadership starts with people. His approach to leading well at a 3PL centers on empowering teams, listening carefully to customers, and executing consistently.

Wednesday's Episode - Physical AI Orchestration for Warehousing Starts with Software

Welcome to this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, featuring Saurabh Gupta, CTO of GreyOrange. The company began by building warehouse robots. It has since expanded its focus toward software and physical AI orchestration across fulfillment, manufacturing, and retail.

Gupta joins Kevin to discuss what physical AI orchestration actually means for warehouses. They explore the evolving relationship between WMS and WES platforms, the shift from simulation to automation, and AI's growing role in warehouse execution. The conversation also raises an important question for warehouse leaders: Is adding more automation enough if the systems still operate independently?

Friday's Episode - EPG’s Aura Brings Agentic AI to Warehouse Safety, Orchestration & Training

Live from MODEX 2026 on day three, Kevin from The New Warehouse Podcast interviews Jett Chitanand of EPG, a supply chain execution software platform offering WMS, WCS, contract billing, labor management, transportation management, and Lydia Voice. Jett shares EPG’s new AI environment, Aura, which won Best Product of the Year at LogiMAT, and explains how customers are moving beyond visibility to using agentic AI to solve real warehouse problems. He highlights Aura use cases including Warehouse Observer (with NVIDIA) for real-time safety and operational alerts (e.g., forklift traffic risks, liquid spills) and Warehouse Orchestrator to autonomously reprioritize work when shipments are late to protect SLAs. They also discuss Aura’s “communicator” that guides new associates through workflows to reduce training time.
​

I'm at Intralogistex in Dallas this week. Find me if you're here!

Have a great week!

Kevin

Unsubscribe | Update your profile| PO Box 238, Crosswicks, NJ 08515