From 90 Minutes to Seconds: FourKites AI Control Tower Speeds Procurement

How FourKites Is Accelerating Procurement Strategies with AI

Procurement leaders don't need more dashboards. They need faster decisions, fewer surprises, and proof that every move reduces risk and spend. That's why FourKites' recognition as an "Accelerator" in the Nucleus Research 2025 Control Tower Technology Value Matrix matters. Placed second among 15 vendors, FourKites is setting a high bar for usability and functionality in AI-enabled procurement.

Their core edge: an AI-driven Intelligent Control Tower built on real-time, multimodal supply chain data that moves beyond monitoring to execution. The result is tighter control, faster response, and measurable operational gains.

Real-time visibility that drives execution

Nucleus Research highlights FourKites' Intelligent Control Tower for combining live shipment data with AI to increase control across orders, inventory, assets, and facilities. This is not passive status-tracking. It actively orchestrates workflows across the supply chain, improving on-time performance and cost outcomes.

"Ten years ago, FourKites pioneered the real-time transportation visibility category," said Mathew Elenjickal, Founder and CEO at FourKites. "Now, we're transforming the control tower space… the only control tower solution built on a real-time, global, multimodal network foundation that gives our digital twins and AI workers complete context around every supply chain object - orders, shipments, inventory, assets and facilities."

Automation that moves the needle

Procurement teams win when exceptions resolve themselves. FourKites' AI agents are built to do exactly that-automate execution steps, coordinate across systems and channels, and remove routine human intervention from the loop.

As Charles Brennan, Senior Analyst at Nucleus Research, notes: "The control tower market is seeing increased demand for solutions that can automate execution and prevent disruptions across departments, rather than just identify risks."

For executives, the value lands in fewer expedite fees, faster time-to-recover from disruptions, improved supplier performance, and higher service levels with less manual effort.

Proof from the field

• The Coca-Cola Company: Customer service response times dropped from 90 minutes to seconds using Tracy, one of FourKites' AI agents.
• Trane Technologies: Leveraged real-time visibility and AI-driven orchestration to improve response speed and cost efficiency.
• Orvis: Improved order visibility and reduced manual tracking with the Order Risk Dashboard-surfacing bottlenecks early and enabling timely action.

What this means for executives

Procurement is shifting from tracking to orchestrating. Real-time visibility plus AI agents gives your team the ability to preempt risks, enforce SLAs, and adjust plans without spinning up war rooms.

• Focus the business case: Target expedite cost reduction, detention/demurrage savings, OTIF lift, and cycle-time compression across purchase orders and inbound logistics.
• Connect the data: Ensure orders, shipments, inventory, and facility status live in one view. Without context, AI can't act.
• Automate exceptions first: Start with late pickups, temperature excursions, dwell risks, and carrier no-shows. Measure ROI within a quarter.
• Close the loop: Push AI decisions into TMS/ERP/communication channels to execute automatically, not just alert.
• Governance and trust: Define guardrails for autonomy, approvals, and auditability. Make every AI decision traceable.

Metrics to track

• OTIF and customer fill rate
• Expedite and premium freight spend
• Detention/demurrage and dwell time
• PO cycle time and supplier confirmation latency
• Inventory days and safety stock requirements
• CSR and planner productivity (tickets and touches per order)

Vendor due diligence: questions to ask

• Network context: How comprehensive is the real-time, multimodal coverage across orders, shipments, inventory, assets, and facilities?
• Autonomy with control: Which exception types can AI resolve end-to-end? What are the approval thresholds and audit logs?
• Integration depth: Can it write back into TMS/ERP/WMS and collaboration tools to execute, not just notify?
• Scalability: How many daily events does the platform process, and how is model performance monitored?
• Security and compliance: Data privacy, certifications, and regional data handling policies.
• Time to value: Typical pilot scope, 30/60/90-day ROI milestones, and change management support.

Why this recognition matters

Being ranked as an "Accelerator" and second among 15 vendors in the 2025 Control Tower Technology Value Matrix signals strong usability and practical functionality-critical for procurement outcomes that live or die by speed and accuracy. For leaders, the takeaway is clear: pair real-time network visibility with AI agents that execute, and measure impact in weeks, not years.

See the analyst perspective at Nucleus Research.

Next step

If you're planning enablement for your team, here's a curated starting point: AI courses by job role to align skills with your procurement and supply chain roadmap.