US freight broker C.H. Robinson says it is doing more with fewer people as it turns manual work into AI agent workflows. In third-quarter results published on 28 October, the company reported income from operations of $271.8m, up 23.1% on a year earlier, on total revenue of $5.36bn, up 29.5%.
Average employee headcount fell 10.4%, from 12,559 to 11,253. In its North American surface transportation business it fell 11.4%, and in global forwarding 15.8%.
Chief executive Dave Bozeman credited the company’s “Lean AI” strategy, which he described as combining its operating model “with the power of custom-built AI, and the expertise of our people”. He said the team “continues to turn manual processes into agentic workflows” in both main businesses.
All figures come from the company. The release does not say how much of the fall in headcount or the rise in profit is due to AI, rather than pricing, cost cuts or the freight market. Bozeman said the same operating model and AI technology would be used to integrate RXO, a rival broker C.H. Robinson has agreed to buy. That deal still needs regulatory and RXO shareholder approval.