I just reviewed some very interesting insights about how C.H. Robinson is using AI at the operational level, not just in corporate speeches. CFO Damon Lee shared specific details that go beyond typical AI marketing, and honestly, it’s worth analyzing.

First, the context: C.H. Robinson’s stock rose 55.3% in 2025, making it the best performer in its sector. Analysts largely attribute this to their AI initiatives. They currently have 30 AI agent tools operating within the company, which is a significant number considering they generate nearly $11 billion in annual revenue.

What caught my attention is that the CFO doesn’t shy away from something many executives avoid: most companies adopting generic AI solutions don’t see real results. In fact, they often end up spending more without gaining productivity. C.H. Robinson took a different path: they assembled a team of 450 engineers to build custom AI tools.

One of these tools revolutionized how they respond to quotes in their land transportation division (NAST). They receive around 600,000 quote requests per year. Previously, they could only handle 60% to 65% of these. Now, they respond to all of them. Response time dropped from 17-20 minutes to 32 seconds. And here’s the key point: while a human uses 5-10 data points to set a price, the AI system processes tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands. This results in much more accurate quotes.

What the CFO highlighted afterward is even smarter. They have another tool focused on margin optimization. Historically, pricing strategies were static: set a margin, seek volume, and review results at the end of the month or quarter. Now, with AI, they can test and adjust strategies in real time. A strategy set on Monday can be evaluated and refined within minutes. This allows hundreds of adjustments daily, something the CFO calls gross margin arbitrage. The system constantly analyzes market data and instantly adjusts prices and costs based on demand.

In numbers: for the quarter ending September 30, gross profits in truck brokerage fell 2% year-over-year, which is not surprising given the difficult market of 2025, but LTL operations grew 10.5% in adjusted gross profits.

Now, skepticism exists. As of December 15, 6.47% of the shares were shorted, which is relatively high. Some question whether the price increase comes from the traditional business or from AI. The CFO acknowledges both factors but points out a key insight: it’s rare to find operational companies that truly leverage AI at the application level. Most pure AI investments are in chips and data centers. C.H. Robinson is different because they are integrating AI into real operations.

This is what distinguishes companies that talk about AI from those that actually use it. The CFO made the difference clear.