About a year ago, PSI Software SE, in collaboration with the market research firm Civey, surveyed 300 logistics professionals and executives about their views on artificial intelligence in intralogistics. The results at the time painted a clear picture: a great deal of interest, a high willingness to invest — but very little use in day-to-day operations. Twelve months later, it’s worth taking a look at how things have actually turned out.
Phillip Korzinetzki, Director of Marketing & Communications at PSI Software SE – Logistics Business Unit (pictured, below), talks through the findings.
The study found that, at the time of the survey (July 2025), 15 per cent of companies were using AI in production in their warehouses. Another 41 per cent announced plans to invest in such solutions by 2028. The most important areas of application cited were warehouse optimization (44 per cent) and inventory management (33 per cent), followed by putaway, goods receipt, and returns management. The biggest hurdles — almost tied — were implementation costs, employee acceptance, and technical integration, each cited by around 40 per cent of respondents.
AI use is more niche than expected
Developments over the past year confirm the growing interest in AI in warehouses, but put into perspective the pace at which the announced investments are actually translating into productive applications. Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used by logistics companies — though primarily for administrative tasks. And those AI solutions that do make it into productive use tend to provide support in specific, clearly defined application areas — such as order picking or inventory analysis — rather than serving as a comprehensive warehouse management system.
Many initiatives remain at the demonstration stage without making the transition to regular operation. Solutions become productive when they integrate seamlessly into existing processes and quickly deliver concrete, measurable benefits. In this context, a decision-support approach is gaining traction: AI provides the basis for decisions, but the user continues to make the final choice. Pure ‘black box’ approaches find little acceptance in business-critical warehouse processes.
From pilot project to standard
The key is the ability to evolve AI from an innovation into a product that is affordable and immediately available to every customer — and that delivers immediately tangible added value. This is precisely an integral part of PSI’s future strategy. For example, Batch AI has become the first AI module to be integrated into the PSIwms standard. In practical use, this solution has helped customers reduce picking routes by about 30 per cent and increase picking efficiency by over 20 per cent. In the coming months, additional AI modules will be added that, following the example of Batch AI, will provide tangible optimizations for clearly defined tasks in day-to-day warehouse operations. The focus will be on quickly answering user questions, providing context-sensitive support for system operation, and accelerating the setup of logistics processes.
Conclusion: pragmatism beats vision
At first glance, the interim assessment may seem more sobering than hoped for. Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that the use of AI in logistics is gradually taking shape. It’s also becoming evident that AI is not a silver bullet. Too much of a good thing can be overwhelming. Rather than radical system overhauls, it is the easily integrable pieces of the puzzle that offer operational benefits.
