From Startup Grit to AI-Driven Growth: Logistics Leadership in the Digital Age | Ep 67
In this episode, Brian Hastings, co-founder of Veritas Logistics, joins Roark Baldwin of the Adapt AI Group podcast to explore how AI and digital transformation are reshaping the logistics industry—and why leadership will always be a human job.
Brian shares Veritas’s journey from launching in the middle of COVID to celebrating five years in business, reflecting on the values of truth, integrity, and client care that fueled their rise. He offers practical insights into where AI delivers the most impact—from document retrieval to sales follow-up—and why company culture and operator buy-in are critical for successful tech adoption.
Whether you’re a startup founder navigating limited resources or an established broker looking to modernize, this conversation delivers tactical advice on blending old-school relationship-building with cutting-edge automation.
The Logistics & Leadership Podcast, powered by Veritas Logistics, redefines logistics and personal growth. Hosted by industry veterans and supply chain leaders Brian Hastings and Justin Maines, it shares their journey from humble beginnings to a $50 million company. Discover invaluable lessons in logistics, mental toughness, and embracing the entrepreneurial spirit. The show delves into personal and professional development, routine, and the power of betting on oneself. From inspiring stories to practical insights, this podcast is a must for aspiring entrepreneurs, logistics professionals, and anyone seeking to push limits and achieve success.
Timestamps:
(00:10) – The Impact of AI on Logistics Leadership
(02:00) – The Journey to Establish Veritas Logistics
(05:24) – Navigating Technological Challenges in Logistics
(07:00) – Digital Transformation in Logistics
(11:18) – Embracing Technological Adoption in Sales
(14:14) – Future of Digital Innovations in Supply Chain Management
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Watch the pod on: YouTube
Transcript
Hey everyone.
Speaker A:Welcome back to the logistics and leadership podcast.
Speaker A:Brian here.
Speaker A:This next conversation was originally from another podcast called Adapt AI Group, hosted by Roark Baldwin.
Speaker A:So big thanks to him and his team, we dive in to how AI and digital transformation are impacting logistics and why, no matter how advanced the tech gets, leadership is still your job.
Speaker A:Here's that conversation.
Speaker B:Well, to kick things off, could you tell me just a little bit about your background and maybe that initial vision.
Speaker B:Initial vision or aha moment that led you and the co founder to establish Veritas Logistics?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A: supply chain space for, since: Speaker A:I was at a larger brokerage company for roughly 10 years.
Speaker A:It was just under that.
Speaker A:Um, but you know, I started in the entry level role, moved my way up kind of in the ranks, got to like that mid level manager position and you know, I got to that position and I felt like I was probably going to be there for four or five years and you know, that was not a time that I was wanting to wait in that role.
Speaker A:I felt like I'd already done a couple things and had performed at a certain level.
Speaker A:So that's when, you know, the wheel started churning on okay, how can we do this and how can we do it just a little bit different?
Speaker A:The company that I worked for, tql, based here in Cincinnati, great company, extremely profitable, extremely well run company.
Speaker A:And it's something that, you know, I look back at and I see that, you know, even the people that I met and the time that I was there, extremely valuable.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So they do a lot of things the right way and I think for us we just wanted to do it a little bit differently.
Speaker A: , the mid level manager role,: Speaker A:And I was only in it for a couple months before I had to, you know, call it quits and sit out my non compete.
Speaker A: arted this company in June of: Speaker A: chnically started in March of: Speaker A:We had numerous people that, you know, said, hey, are you, are you sure that you want to do this?
Speaker A:Are you sure that, you know, you want to start at this time?
Speaker A:And for us I had already set out that non compete and I was not waiting another debt.
Speaker A:So I was not, you know, it's, you know, the non compete timeframe was definitely grueling mentally and I did not want to wait another day.
Speaker A:So jump Right in and try to do everything we could to start as a business.
Speaker A:So yeah, it's here we are today.
Speaker A:We're five years into the company.
Speaker A:We just had our fifth anniversary last month in June.
Speaker A:And we're a smaller logistics brokerage here based out of Cincinnati.
Speaker A:We have roughly 22 people on board with us and you know, continue to grow and you know, trying to service our customers the best way possible.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker B:And you know, taking a logistics venture from that concept to a reality is a pretty significant undertaking.
Speaker B:Nevermind Covid and the economy being shut down and restrictions on, on your team's ability to work.
Speaker B:Could you walk us through maybe that first client, the key value proposition that convinced them to trust you as a new and emergent player?
Speaker A:Yeah, I think the biggest thing was just leveraging the experience.
Speaker A:You know, rarely do you have somebody in our space that has, you know, eight, ten years of experience to manage their freight for them or, you know, handle their freight on a daily basis.
Speaker A:So they didn't have to teach me or coach me on what to do and how to do it.
Speaker A:I knew the language, I knew what to do and I knew how to execute.
Speaker A:So I think that, you know, key value proposition, especially with people within our organization today, it is that experience.
Speaker A:We know that we're going to bring value to their group as well as the level of care that we have for our client.
Speaker A:You know, that's at the end of the day, if we don't have clients, we don't have a business.
Speaker A:So very valuable for us is that partnership.
Speaker A:And that's what we strive for.
Speaker A:We strive for that long term partnership with each and every one of our clients.
Speaker B:And the name Veritas implies your truth and integrity.
Speaker B:It's on your website, it's on your LinkedIn.
Speaker B:So how did that foundational value influence your approach to building your company?
Speaker B:Especially in a market that's complex.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I think, you know, in our industry there's a lot of gray area, you know, especially with, you know, shippers, drivers, carriers on time deliveries, on time pickups, that sort of thing.
Speaker A:And for us, you know, we feel, and we're passionate, if you don't have trust or you can't tell the truth, you don't have anything, you don't have a foundation, you have nothing to build on.
Speaker A:So that's one thing that, you know, we take very seriously.
Speaker A:And we want to make sure that, you know, we are telling the truth, especially in tough situations because, you know, that, that's, that's where, you know, we make Our money is delivering bad news and handling those situations and, you know, trying to come out on the other end, even though it's very, you know, it can be challenging.
Speaker A:Right, like delivering bad news to a client that pays your bills.
Speaker A:Like, that's hard.
Speaker A:But, you know, we're, you know, hopefully we're teaching and coaching and training the people within the organization to do that.
Speaker A:And at the end of the day, we care, we care about our clients freight, and we want to make sure that we're prioritizing them every step of the way.
Speaker B:And last question here.
Speaker B:Before I start pivoting towards the topic for today's podcast about digital transformation, I would like to go back to when you first started out.
Speaker B:What were maybe some of the technological challenges you faced then and how did you overcome them to set that groundwork for Veritas logistics moving forward?
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, early on we were operating off spreadsheets and old school operating systems.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So we had a TMS that was, you know, I'm not going to name names, but it was very archaic and the aesthetics of it were not very good.
Speaker A:The functionality of it was not very good.
Speaker A:And, you know, we had to make some changes.
Speaker A:And you know, we, we want to invest in a couple things here.
Speaker A:It's people and technology and we want to make sure that we're doing it right again.
Speaker A:I think there's a lot of buzz out there right now.
Speaker A:I know that we're going to get into in a few minutes, but there is a lot of buzz for AI and automation and what's that going to look like?
Speaker A:And are our jobs going to be alleviated within the next 10 years?
Speaker A:And people are somewhat nervous or have some anxiety about that.
Speaker A:I've talked to a couple different brokerage owners lately and they're asking questions, hey, what do you guys think?
Speaker A:What's going on?
Speaker A:All this AI buzz.
Speaker A:What's the deal here?
Speaker A:And I have some thoughts and opinions and I think that the more we get into it today, the more we can uncover some of those.
Speaker B:Sounds great.
Speaker B:Well, that's almost the exact question on the script next, right?
Speaker B:No, it seems like AI is the hot topic buzzword that people are throwing on things, even if it doesn't necessarily apply or even if it's not the right context.
Speaker B:So, topic for today's podcast is how CEOs, CMOs, business leaders can address digital transformation, especially in the logistics space.
Speaker B:So I would love to hear from your perspective as a CEO of a logistics company, how are you transforming your business operations and fundamentally, how has that reshaped your client services.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I don't think, I do think AI is coming.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So anybody that says, oh, we're just gonna focus on the, you know, we're gonna do what we've always done and it's gonna be fine, like, I, I, I'm not sure I believe in that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I do think it's coming, it's coming very quickly, especially over the past couple years now.
Speaker A:Do I think it's going to be the be all, end all?
Speaker A:I don't, I think, you know, it's going to be a very good supplement to what we have today.
Speaker A:And is it going to alleviate some, some low level tasks and low level positions that you know, can be automated?
Speaker A:It, it might, it might do that, you know, unfortunately, but at the same time that, you know, as a CEO and a co founder of the business, we have to set our sights on, okay, how do we implement this type of technology into our organization today and how do we put people behind it to monitor, manage it?
Speaker A:Because I do think that if you don't have somebody behind it, I think it's great to have a great AI product or a great automation tool.
Speaker A:But if you don't have somebody behind it to manage it properly, you're not going to get implementation within your business.
Speaker A:It's not going to help change your business.
Speaker A:It's not, you're, you're not going to get any adoption within your employees.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So if you have a manager that doesn't really believe in it, it's going to fall on deaf ears and you're going to spend a lot of money on this tech and you don't really use it and you're not getting anything from it.
Speaker A:So I think that you have to have a good operator that actually believes in it and can tell a good story and how it can make people's lives easier, especially in their day to day work.
Speaker B:Well, you know, there's a lot of companies that aren't using, you know, and you even mentioned it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Like we'll just kind of wait this out and we'll see what, what emerges.
Speaker B:So I would say if a new company startup is saying, look, I would love to implement AI or a new digital technology.
Speaker B:Brian, from your experience, what do you think would be the, the first thing I should go after?
Speaker B:What are some of those low hanging fruits that if a company is not using them now, that they absolutely should be looking at it?
Speaker A:Yeah, I think a couple things, I think document retrieval, I think, I mean there's a couple Companies that we work with today that, that automate different invoicing processes, different document retrieval, you know, things like that that are, you know, sending an email to a potential or a carrier understanding, you know, we need certain documents or we need a signed POD after delivery.
Speaker A:Sometimes drivers, they might lose it or they might not send it in for a couple days.
Speaker A:Well, we need to send it off to our clients.
Speaker A:So instead of having a person do that, we can set up a bot or set up an AI tool to continue to try to get some of those documents so that we can continue on with the workflow.
Speaker A:I also think as far as an AI tool, there's a couple companies out there on the sales front where they can automate some of the follow up or they can automate some of the cadence with these clients or these customers to say, hey, you've reached out to X customer or X prospect on this day.
Speaker A:It's been about 10 days during, you know, per that conversation that we recorded and we uploaded, you should reach out to them now.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And I think that's where a lot of salespeople fall short is the follow up, where you have the initial call, you have a great conversation and then it falls on deaf ears or the prospect goes to you and says, well, you know, we're not really in need of the service two months later.
Speaker A:So I do think there's a couple different areas that, you know, it can automate.
Speaker A:The first one is more of that document retrieval understanding, you know, the processes and tasks that go along with it.
Speaker B:And I think you've touched on it a couple of times now, is just the ability to have a company culture that supports that adoption and the innovation because without that organizational support, no matter how great the tool, it's not going to work.
Speaker B:So curious, you know, what is Veritas doing now where you're shaping that company culture to embrace technological adoption, adoption or a culture of innovation.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:That you are successful as you continue to evolve your business.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, great question.
Speaker A:I think, you know, for us we use a quote automation tool today.
Speaker A:We've been using it for about a year now.
Speaker A:And what it is essentially is, you know, we get all these quotes throughout a day.
Speaker A:Sometimes it's hundreds a day, sometimes it's thousands a week.
Speaker A:Where, you know, does it really make sense for an individual to go in and crunch the numbers, get a quote and send it back?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like what value is that bringing to that person, especially if that person's in a sales role that can go out there and develop relationships and has Experience in our industry where if we can automate that, that quote tool where, you know, we can get the quote, we can mark it up, you know, 8, 10% and then move along with our day and, you know, win a handful of loads or win a handful of shipments out there that we wouldn't have won before.
Speaker A:Well, now we've just freed up our salesperson's time where they can go and they develop a relationship.
Speaker A:You know, something I believe that like a bot or an AI tool can't do an AI tool at this point.
Speaker A:And maybe it, maybe it can in the future.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Maybe I should, you know, I'm selling, selling AI tool short.
Speaker A:But I think at that point it is something that is, you know, I want our salespeople on the phone developing these relationships and continuing to gain business, you know, from them.
Speaker B:Two more questions here.
Speaker B:So, you know, looking at where you were with the spreadsheets and the systems five years ago compared to what tools you have available now, what would you say you wish you had had the most?
Speaker B:If you were to look back at when the company started and said, man, if we had had this tool or this feature, it would have been game changing for us back then?
Speaker A:Yeah, I think, I mean, a lot of it, it's kind of a, I think a natural progression.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And, um, some of it is we had to do it based on the fact that you would have money, we didn't have money to spend on.
Speaker A:Someone needs technology.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like you.
Speaker A:We had to do the spreadsheets because we couldn't afford a thousand bucks a month on the service to do that.
Speaker A:But I think, you know, coming from that side of it, I think there is some resourcefulness where you learn that and you say, okay, this is how it used to be, this is how it is today.
Speaker A:And understanding, okay, I'm using these, these technology tools to help me out in the future, especially with, you know, some of the stuff that is, you know, some of those tasks that we mentioned before that, you know, are, you know, kind of mundane or they're not revenue generating.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So those are some of the things that, you know, we're focused on moving forward.
Speaker B:Okay, great.
Speaker B:And then last question.
Speaker B:Looking ahead in your, in your crystal ball in the next two years, what digital innovations would you love to see that will help you, you know, navigate this increasingly complex supply chain landscape?
Speaker A:Yeah, So I think, I think, you know, to answer your question, I think it's just a continuing of the modernization of a lot of AI tools that we're seeing.
Speaker A:And I think Again, I think it has to be manipulated in a certain point.
Speaker A:You know, that's where I go back.
Speaker A:You have to have a good operator behind the technology and you have to have a good culture within the company to adopt some of these technological advances.
Speaker A:I've been at a couple different companies before and heard some stories where they roll out all this tech and they roll out all these new features and nobody uses them, right?
Speaker A:They get sit there, you pay a lot of money for them and nobody uses them.
Speaker A:And it's like, well, hold on, what are we paying for?
Speaker A:You know, I think our TMS that we have today is called Turbo.
Speaker A:It's phenomenal.
Speaker A:Tms, right?
Speaker A:Like it's, you know, our team loves it, we're a big fan of it.
Speaker A:I also think that we're not utilizing it to the best of its capability where we're not collaborating as much as we should inside the tms.
Speaker A:And that's something that, you know, we want to make sure that, you know, as the, as the operator, as the, you know, the, the person in charge of that, we want to make sure that people are using that for efficiencies within the business.
Speaker A:So, you know, two years out, I, I don't, I don't have a crystal ball.
Speaker A:At the same time, I think we're going to get a lot better.
Speaker A:I think AI is going to get a lot better.
Speaker A:I think the services provided are going to get a lot better and I think it will, you know, creep into some of those areas that we've been talking to as far as, like document retrieval, as far as, you know, the, the voice AI that, you know, there's a handful of companies out there within our, our industry today that do that.
Speaker A:And then even on the sales side as far as follow up sales cadence, you know, different types of emails, different types of, you know, information gathering type of information, stuff like that.
Speaker B:Well, thank you so much, Brian.
Speaker B:I really appreciated having you on the show today.
Speaker B:I know our clients are going to get a ton of value out of this conversation.
Speaker B:I really appreciate your insights.
Speaker A:Yeah, thank you very much, Roark.
Speaker A:Appreciate you having me on the show.
Speaker B:Thank you.
