WEEKLY NEWS


HOW A DIGITAL AGENT IS RESHAPING INTERACTIONS FOR FREIGHT FORWARDERS


BY Edward HARDY 02


A new AI assistant named Harvey, developed for Air Cargo Green Capabilities (ACGC Luxembourg), part of Air Cargo Network group of companies, by its software partner Cryptic Voyage Ltd, is being positioned as a game-changer for booking processes, rate calculation, and customer interaction. Rather


than serving as just another


digital tool, Harvey aims to act as a smart, intuitive team member— streamlining


operations and opening forwarders across the supply chain.


Automation and accessibility The inception of Harvey was rooted in two core objectives: automation and accessibility. According to Alexey Zotov, General Manager of ACGC Luxembourg the need for a more efficient and intelligent booking process was long overdue. “The idea came for several reasons,” Zotov said. “The first one is to


automate the booking process and to make it easier for the employees to receive the request for the air cargo transportation. So, what we are looking into is to make the process of booking fully automatic.” While many systems provide partial automation, Harvey was


conceived to go further. “The tool we use now doesn’t provide the full automation, just in terms of the booking request,” he explained. “The customer can ask Harvey to give him a quote on a certain route and this will be counted in the system… based on the tariffs and agreements the company has with the suppliers.” Zotov also emphasised the role of emerging technology. “The second


idea which pushed the launch of the Harvey project is the development of AI technology,” he noted. “As we see through multiple AI solutions, it can simplify different processes and sometimes become a separate employee… which is supposed to be a cost-effective and precise solution. Besides that, this is a mainstream now and we want to be up-to-date in the changing environment.”


From quote to booking To make Harvey not just functional but genuinely helpful, a broad technical foundation was essential. Colm Courtney, Director of Cryptic Voyage Ltd and the lead engineer behind Harvey, explained the structure that supports it. “Harvey was created to enable ACGC customers with a digital


search, quotation, and booking facility,” he said. “One of the key objectives around routings and other features is to bring structure to unstructured data.” Courtney emphasised that an AI-driven platform was chosen for its


ability to handle variety and scale. “By selecting an AI assistant as the digital platform, we are equipping ourselves to amplify the number and variety of options generated for customers’ searches.” Harvey currently operates across six integrated platforms, with


ACW 24 NOVEMBER 2025 access to smaller freight


Voiceflow as a key component. “Voiceflow… gives an opportunity to create the path for Harvey, giving the instructions where to source the needed info or what to do in this or that case,” Courtney said. Functionally, Harvey already supports quoting, booking, and


verification (currently in integration). It also serves as a knowledge base, offering general company information. “The functionality now is giving quotations (multiple options of them), making a booking, verification process… and providing the general information about the company.” Crucially, Harvey calculates chargeable weight and rates based on live


customer input. “The customer is prompted for volumetric information of the shipment so Harvey calculates rates, charge weights, weight breaks, etc. based on what the customer has texted.”


Smarter systems for smarter freight Maintaining accurate information across platforms is a known challenge in logistics software. Harvey’s creators have placed a premium on clean, curated data. “Feeding Harvey with clean data is key to reaching a level of accuracy


that will deliver a great customer experience,” said Courtney. “In the background, there are a number of data pipelines that work to curate the content funnelled through the app.” At present, Harvey focuses on general cargo with parameters like


stackability and turnability. Expanding to specialised cargo, however, presents a new set of technical hurdles. “Yes, there are challenges here and this was a key consideration in the Harvey vision,” Courtney said. “The adoption of emerging technologies, including AI, can play a role in developing the digital products that solve these problems.” Another key differentiator is Harvey’s design philosophy, particularly its flexibility and intent to empower smaller players. “Harvey aims to differentiate itself in terms of its scope,” he said. “By positioning itself as AI assistant, we can gradually stretch beyond quote and book.” And while Harvey doesn’t yet “learn” in a traditional AI sense, the team is building in scalability. “The AI assistant right now doesn't learn in this way; our initial goal was to enable a scalable data platform,” Courtney clarified. “Next goals are to build out the intelligent features and such AI mechanisms will be driven by the demand.”


Regulatory awareness Security and privacy have also been carefully considered in Harvey’s architecture. “GDPR and cybersecurity will continue to be central to every digital


requirement for the foreseeable long-term,” Courtney


noted. “Currently, we are observing what is the right balance for rolling out a user profile… for now a verified email address is all that’s required to interact with Harvey.” Harvey’s roadmap includes voice interaction—an enhancement driven by real-world feedback. “We had some customers trying to talk to Harvey through the app,” Courtney recalled. “After some investigations… we can add [Voiceflow]; this process will not take us too long to integrate”


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Customisation for freight forwarders is another major focus. “Many freight forwarders are working differently to each other… so flexibility has to be at the forefront,” said Courtney. “Harvey's infrastructure is adaptable… While the Harvey roadmap will prefer API integrations, we understand data exchange will have to take a number of forms.” For now, the software is being tested internally, but once proven, rollout will scale. “When the assistant is successful and able to help in the freight forwarders’ workflow, we will be glad to represent it as a ready-to-use and ready-to-integrate software.” Finally, Harvey is being designed with a forward-looking view of global compliance. “It’s quite common for any AI ecosystem to apply set rules within their frameworks… regulations would be one such use case.” As for the vision of Harvey’s future? Courtney summed it up: “It seems inevitable that as everyday consumers we are all on the way [to] having our own personal AI agents… a key measure of success for Harvey will be to break new ground in such a way that complements the digital products we already see on the market today.”


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