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Proof Over Promises: UPS's Bold AI Initiatives Enhance Products, Services and Customer Experience
[June 18, 2026]

Proof Over Promises: UPS's Bold AI Initiatives Enhance Products, Services and Customer Experience


For more than three years, UPS (NYSE: UPS) has strategically deployed AI to transform global logistics. Today, the company is detailing AI-powered solutions that combine the expertise of its approximately 460,000 employees with technology to shape the future of UPS. These initiatives advance a companywide priority: simplification.

UPS is scaling AI, automation and advanced analytics to improve end-to-end visibility and the overall customer experience; make its global logistics network faster, more predictable and resilient; and ignite innovation.

"After 118 years of reinventing logistics, we have entered a defining moment - using AI to simplify how we work across the enterprise, from customer acquisition and onboarding to how we plan, move and deliver," said Carol B. Tomé, UPS chief executive officer. "We are pairing the deep expertise of our people with the power of AI to drive faster decisions and a better experience for our customers around the globe."

Each year, UPS customers ship packages that generate billions of tracking numbers. With market volatility driving supply chain complexity, customers increasingly demand visibility that goes far beyond an anticipated delivery date. UPS is applying AI to power industry-leading end-to-end visibility and control - and to improve customer support. Specifically, the company is:

  • Redefining tracking to support more than 98% of customer service requests by the end of 2026, using AI and human expertise across digital and voice channels - including AI-enabled intelligent assistants in more than 20 countries.
  • Equipping customer care teams with AI-powered, real-time shipment insights to resolve inquiries and claims faster.
  • Transforming reverse logistics through Happy Returns, using a conversational, AI-powered experience to simplify the post-purchase journey and reduce returns fraud.
  • Combining RFID and AI-powered tracking to deliver near real-time, package-level visibility - giving customers greater transparency, flexibility and enabling faster, smarter decisions.

Further, UPS is delivering AI solutions to better serve customers around the globe including:

  • Scaling proprietary network planning tools that model "what if" scenarios using real-time inputs - weather, transportation delays, volume forecasts - to stress-test operations and generate execution-ready plans before disruptions impact service.
  • Expanding a real-time digital twin of the global network to include all modes of transportation, creating a digital replica of facilities, air and ground networks, and end-to-end package flos that updates every 10 minutes - continuously tracking performance so the network can adjust and self-heal in real time.
  • Deploying agentic "control tower" capabilities on-site with customers, combining data, predictive models and connected services to go beyond shipment tracking - flagging, prioritizing and helping resolve disruptions across complex, multi-carrier networks with full end-to-end visibility and customer control over their data.
  • Simplifying international shipping with next-generation brokerage services that use AI, cross-border data and human expertise to help customers accurately interpret customs requirements worldwide for shipments of all sizes.
  • Improving the cross-border experience with more predictable landed costs at checkout, more accurate product classifications via UPS Export Assure and digital trade documentation via UPS Paperless Invoice - reducing errors and accelerating processing.
  • Enabling faster customs clearance with AI built into UPS's industry-leading brokerage capabilities. Outpacing the competition, 97% of UPS shipments clear customs on the first day of entry.

"When trade rules changed, we needed to adjust fast without disrupting our customers," said Michael Garcia, vice president of operations, Audien, the world's largest over-the-counter hearing aid company. "UPS helped us take a realistic, end-to-end look at how our products move so we could stay compliant and protect service. The result was a clearer path forward during a period of uncertainty - without slowing our business."

Finally, as part of its Network of the Future transformation, UPS is redesigning operations to be more data-driven and resilient. With AI embedded across planning, routing and execution, the network will dynamically adapt to changing conditions.


"Every step we're taking supports our strategy - putting customers first, empowering our people and accelerating innovation," Tomé said. "AI isn't a buzzword at UPS. We are building on a rich history of technology embedded in every facet of our business. We are doing the work - using AI to transform global commerce."

About UPS

UPS (NYSE: UPS) is one of the world's largest companies, with 2025 revenue of $88.7 billion, and provides a broad range of integrated logistics solutions for customers in more than 200 countries and territories. Focused on its purpose statement, "Moving our world forward by delivering what matters," the company's approximately 460,000 employees embrace a strategy that is simply stated and powerfully executed: Customer First. People Led. Innovation Driven. UPS is committed to reducing its impact on the environment and supporting the communities we serve around the world. More information can be found at www.ups.com, about.ups.com and investors.ups.com


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