The Torrid Pace of AI Adoption in Warehouses and Distribution Centers

My work takes me into warehouses and DCs (distribution centers) throughout North America, observing the various processes needed to receive, process, and ship products to businesses and consumers every day, and recommending automation solutions to improve process efficiency and accuracy.

In the past few years, especially up through 2025 to date, the deployment of software and automation solutions in warehouses and DCs that are based on AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms has grown significantly. If you have read my earlier articles here in Connected World, you can see both my interest–and concerns–about this trend.

These deployments have been made to remedy some nationally relevant issues, not the least of which is the shortage of workers in the warehousing space. AI-infused software and automation, including the human/robot collaborative work processes (cobots), are either intended to improve human performance in operational processes—or eliminate the human from the processes altogether ...