Generative AI holds unique power to strengthen human connections

Logistics professionals have long heralded industry conferences as some of the best places to connect with peers, learn about emerging solutions, and grow relationships with existing partners. This is especially true in the years after the coronavirus pandemic. For many, these conferences are now the only opportunity to meet with industry connections face-to-face.

Tenstreet held its 6th annual  User Conference in Las Vegas earlier this month, an event aimed at providing industry education, unveiling new features, and connecting with customers.

For Tenstreet CEO Tim Crawford, it’s the ability to meet with clients in person that makes the conference worthwhile. 

“It is always great to interact with our clients in person,” Crawford said. “Zoom calls are great, but there is really no substitute to seeing people face-to-face.”

The Tenstreet User Conference stands out because of its focus on building stronger bonds with existing customers. The event is all about growing relationships through in-depth exploration of the company’s newest offerings.

Tenstreet unveiled a total of 35 new features at this month’s conference, including a wide array of solutions designed to provide both pre-hire and post-hire support for users. Over the past year, Crawford and other leaders at the company have spent a significant amount of time thinking about how humans can work alongside emerging technologies to create a better connection between drivers and carriers. Tenstreet’s newest features reflect that focus. 

Tenstreet announced multiple new offerings aimed at making its messaging tools smarter. The company aims to enable stronger human connections between carriers and drivers while simultaneously leveraging emerging generative AI technologies to streamline communication.

While human connection and generative AI may seem contradictory at first glance, Crawford explained the power of AI to bring people together in more meaningful ways than ever before. When carriers use AI solutions to handle straightforward communication tasks like answering frequently asked questions, they free their human employees up to engage in more nuanced and purposeful conversations. 

Generative AI solutions provide an easy way for drivers to gather routine information without needing to speak to another person. When those driver requests become more layered and complex, however, that is where humans can step in and take over the conversation. 

“We wanted the technology to be like an escalator,” Crawford said. “Escalators never really break, they just turn into stairs,” emphasizing the importance of using technology to bolster human relationships, not undermine them. Every AI-powered solution Tenstreet develops is designed with that goal in mind, from pre-hire applicant screening solutions to post-hire driver communication tools. 

At the end of the day, Crawford understands that drivers want to join – and stay – with carriers that make them feel connected on a deeply human level from the very beginning.

“We believe the most successful carriers will be the ones that lean into human connection. It is all about intent and how the technology gets positioned,” Crawford said. “The application paths with early human connections are by far more successful for both carriers and drivers. We are trying to build on that, not move away from it.”
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