Warehouse Trends October 2025: Data Integration, AI Voice, and Brownfield Breakthroughs
Fresh off the spookiest holiday of the year, we’re reminded that not all warehouse transformations are scary. October’s conversations proved that automating brownfield facilities, data integration, and even deploying autonomous trucks are less about fear—and more about finding smarter, safer ways to move forward.
Fulfillment, Visibility, and Operational Innovation
For Peter Coratola of EASE Logistics, innovation is as much about reliability as it is about technology. “Being the easiest company to do logistics with continues to be our focus,” he said. “We’re a people-led, technology-enabled company.” That mindset has helped EASE pilot one of the country’s most advanced autonomous truck platooning projects—where two trucks travel in close formation using connected technology to improve safety, coverage, and fuel efficiency. The pilot is running along the I-70 corridor in partnership with the state of Ohio. As Coratola put it, “It’s a hard decision to commit to innovation, but for a company our size, if we don’t push this forward, who’s going to?”
At AMSCO Prep, Joe Biancofiori demonstrated that success doesn’t always mean scaling big. “We don’t need to be the big boy. I just want to provide a good service to my clients and a solid job for my people,” he said. What started in a 600-square-foot basement has grown into over 18,000 square feet of fulfillment space, handling two to three million units annually. By expanding into direct-to-consumer fulfillment and implementing ShipHero’s WMS, AMSCO is proving that responsiveness, not real estate, is what defines a modern 3PL.
Unifying Data and People in the Warehouse
EPG’s Javier Esteve reminded listeners that most supply chains today are running on fragmented systems that don’t talk to each other. “All of those things generate their own data,” he said. “So as you start to address those complexities, you might introduce different applications, but they’ve gotta consume the same data.” EPG’s modular platform brings those silos together into one source of truth—“so that it’s consumable by things like artificial intelligence.” Beyond system integration, Esteve said the real challenge is balancing automation and labor: “For logistics operations, it’s labor and transportation—those are the biggest ones they’ve got to tackle.” By simplifying data and improving worker experience through AI and voice technology, EPG shows how connected systems can support both people and performance.
That same thinking guided Veena Radhakrishna of Cartesian Kinetics, who’s proving that modernization doesn’t have to start from zero. “Retrofitting is the smarter path when you can’t stop operations,” she said. “We do a sub-six-week install… and a lot of the planning and the integration and testing happens prior to the actual install,” By integrating robotics and vision systems into existing layouts, her team helps warehouses evolve without disruption—a model quickly becoming the new standard for modernization.
AI Voice and System-Directed Work in the Warehouse
Voice and AI solutions finally found their footing in October. Alon Peleg of aiOla explained how his company is closing the gap between human speech and warehouse action. “We’re not replacing people,” he said. “We’re giving them a way to work faster, safer, and with fewer distractions.” aiOla’s technology enables workers to trigger workflows and capture data simply by speaking, eliminating friction and missed information on the floor.
At ID Logistics, Jason Morin reminded us that warehouse technology only works if people can work with it. “Technology just makes us better at doing our jobs,” he said, stressing that good UX in warehouse systems is often treated like an afterthought. Morin prefers system-directed work because, as he put it, “the best way to get a human on the warehouse floor to make the right choice is not to give them a choice.” He also noted that “human beings are visual creatures — the mind can process an image 60,000 times faster than a word,” which is visual cues, and voice or light-directed picking reduces errors and frustration.
Warehouse Robotics and Automation
Robotics took a decisive step forward this month as leaders focused on integration over spectacle. John Santagate of Infios reminded listeners that the future of automation lies in software, not machines. “A robot really isn’t capable of doing anything without the software architecture that it’s tied into and performing against,” he said. Infios has doubled down on software-defined automation, bringing together WMS, TMS, and AMR systems to make data—not hardware—the key to a competitive advantage. Santagate cautioned that “the risk of making the wrong decision is high. Projects can cost millions, and failed implementations damage more than budgets—they undermine trust.”
Adrian Stoch of Hai Robotics believes humanoid robots are closer than most realize. “It’s only a matter of time, and I don’t believe that time in this instance means five years. I think it means a year or so,” he said. Early adoption is likely to occur in non-collaborative environments before expanding to shared spaces with human workers. The near-term challenge, he noted, isn’t capability—it’s safety and coexistence. Beyond humanoids, Stoch emphasized that automation should serve people, not replace them. “The kinds of jobs that automation augments or replaces are the kind of jobs that aren’t really that desirable,” he said, pointing to heavy lifting and repetitive trailer work.
On Deck at The New Warehouse
From humanoid robotics to data-driven forecasting, the focus this month was progress made practical. November will turn the spotlight on the people behind the progress, exploring project management, recruiting, and leadership development across the supply chain. The next wave of conversations will explore how teams are built, how projects are executed, and how leaders are preparing their organizations for what’s next.
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