As the air cargo industry accelerates toward a digitally connected future, Kale is positioning itself at the forefront of tranformation, says Suneet Gupta, Senior Vice President & Head, Business Development, Cargo Community & Enterprise Systems, Kale Logistics Solutions.
What tech do you see as game changers for the air cargo sector?
The biggest leap for 2026 will come not from any single technology but from the convergence of AI, automation, and interoperability. AI is becoming more active, taking on planning, forecasting, and exception-management tasks autonomously.
Automation is scaling from isolated workflows to end-to-end cargo processing, driven by robotics and automated documentation.
But interoperability is the definitive game changer. Industry-wide standards, such as ONE Record, digital customs interfaces, and community systems will allow data to move across stakeholders. In 2026, the breakthrough will be self-correcting air cargo networks where AI-driven systems talk to each other across the supply chain. This shift will unlock speed, precision, and resilience at a scale the industry has not seen before.
How are you preparing the workforce for the digital and automated future of the industry?
Our workforce is skilled with all the new age technologies. We recently had a very successful industry-wide AI upskilling drive. We have already foreseen the need for technology upgrades and empowered our workforce to upskill.
Clients demand to stay updated with trends and instantly migrate data too. This year, we have successfully performed migration in multiple locations and are moving towards a digital future.
Where do you see the air cargo technologies sector in the next decade?
A decade from now, the industry will move towards fully connected, data-driven ecosystems. AI will shift from predictive to autonomous decision-making, optimising capacity, routing, and compliance in real time. Digital twins will become standard for managing terminals and fleets, while interoperability frameworks such as ONE Record will eliminate data silos across the supply chain.
From smart warehouses to AI-assisted documentation, automation will reduce manual touchpoints and errors. Emerging technologies such as IoT, drones, and computer vision will enhance visibility and safety. In a nutshell, the industry will evolve into a self-orchestrating, transparent, and resilient network.
How are smaller airports and regional hubs benefitting from your solutions compared to major global airports?
Smaller airports and regional hubs benefit by gaining access to enterprise grade digital capabilities without the complexity or cost burden faced by major hubs. Kale’s cloud native platforms allow them to adopt digital workflows, community systems, slot management, and e-documentation without heavy IT investment.
This gives them real-time visibility, faster truck and cargo processing, and better coordination with airlines and forwarders. For many regional hubs, these tools help expand capacity, attract new volumes, and improve service reliability. Kale helps smaller airports leapfrog legacy constraints and operate with the efficiency and transparency of much larger global terminals.
