Episode Summary
Scott Luton and Greg White welcome Abhishek Gupta onto Supply Chain Now Radio at eft’s Logistics CIO Forum, a Reuter’s Event in Austin, Texas.
Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] It’s time for Supply Chain Now Radio. Broadcasting live Supply chain capital of the country. Atlanta, Georgia. Supply Chain Now Radio spotlights the best in all things supply chain the people, the technology, the best practices and the critical issues of the day.
[00:00:25] And now here are your hosts pay by Scott Luton with Supply Chain Now Radio. Welcome back to the show. You can probably hear the buzz in the room. We aren’t broadcasting from Atlanta, Georgia today, but rather we’re here in Austin, Texas, home of E.F. Logistics CEO Forum, which is now a Reuters event. We’ve been interviewing some of the most innovative thought leaders that are doing big things across the in Supply chain industry, in our team, our Supply Chain Now Radio teams, proud to continue to partner with Nick Asef, the EFC, the Reuters event team. It’s been a great experience through our our second event here. So let’s welcome in my fearless co-host here today. Greg White Serial Supply chain, tech entrepreneur, chronic disruptor and trust advisor. Greg, how are you doing?
[00:01:10] I’m doing great. It’s it’s so far we’ve had a few few interviews and all of them have been great. I can’t wait to get these out to the people.
[00:01:20] I think we’re going continuous. Yeah, I think we’re going to continue this. That that’s trickier today. We’ll find out. No pressure. Pressure? No, I think I think we’re in good hands. Let’s welcome in our feature guest for this segment, ABSEILED GUPTA, group product manager with Keep Truckin. How you doing, sir? Good. How are you guys doing? Fantastic. And I think when this comes on the heels of your keynote earlier.
[00:01:41] Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me here today. You just finished the keynote about, you know, how Keep Trucking is using data to help fleets of all sizes solve some of the major pain points, but predicts that it’s my first time at the CIO forum. Not the first time in Austin. The many times I usually used to live here. Really? But yeah, first time at the forum. So we’re gonna get some restaurant references from you. The torches, that’s the place and a place to go. Okay. There you go. Thank you. Write that down. So do you. So you just came fresh off your keynote. Now you’re here with us. So you’re gonna probably want to eat lunch with a microphone in front of you. Well, I forget how to live without one. Yeah, I’m pretty. I’m pretty. No, I just brought torches business on all I’m thinking about.
[00:02:28] So we’re gonna dove into a lot of things, a lot of really neat things that are doing it. Keep trucking. But before we do that, you know, our listeners always appreciate the opportunity, kind of get a sense who they’re hearing from. And we are we’ve got the best job in the world because we had this wide slew of thought leaders from all aspects of Indian supply chain to sit down beside us and we learn from. So let’s talk all about yourself. You know, your professional journey, you know where you’re from, what you did before your role. Keith trucking. Sure.
[00:02:57] Elsmore Absolutely. So I can I could talk a little bit about sort of what led me here today. So I actually grew up in India and moved to Texas and then lived in California. And I think, you know, I’ve been Calford him for for most of my life after that. But one thing I really noticed was just the stark differences. When you go from a place, you know, like India where, you know, you basically travel, you know, five miles in one hour and you come to a place like Texas where you’re traveling 50 miles in one hour. And the difference is, I just realized thinking about, you know, day when no one first moved here was just immense, especially when it relates to, you know, transportation. Good point. But I think for me, I’ve always had really been hit. It really deeply interested in transportation because, you know, I have a deeper technology as well. And transportation is one of those things that has really actually been one of the first places where you see technology that you can think of this all the way back to the wheel. Right. You can think about this to the the engine, the steamboat engine, the railroad. You know, vehicles, airplanes. I think it’s one of the most interesting places where you as a consumer, you see the application of technology.
[00:04:12] And so I have spent a of time kind of reading the, you know, various histories on all of these things. But that’s what I’ve always found fascinating about these two things, because they’re they’re really at the intersection. But that intersection is what’s really transformed, you know. Ah, you know, many, many industries. Right. And so if you think about it, a hundred years ago, everyone was talking about a standard oil. But if you didn’t have a way to move oil from the field to that, you know, that lamp that someone had at home, how would they actually, you know, how they actually, you know, make lamps noteworthy? Right. So so for me, I’ve always really understood that really I’ve always been fascinated. And so actually, before Forecki Trucking, I was working at Uber and, you know, the the probably the poster child transportation technology. But I was there the last four years, says Forecki drunk just recently. Please. But do I think I think this is probably where I saw the best convergence, right? Because I there what I really got to focus on was really more. How do you build technology platforms that enable sort of some of the things that, you know, consumers would see in this? This is really things such as, you know, how do we use data more effectively? How do we build kind of the right kind of platforms that help you make better decisions around, you know, supply or demand? You know, things like, you know, how do we use our data and share more effectively, you know, with third parties such as governments, where they can actually use this for really interesting things like city planning.
[00:05:44] I also worked in self-driving space as a part of Uber for a couple of years there. So it really got to see sort of the inside of that industry, especially I was just taking off in the last few years. And so I think there you know, I think there’s still there’s obviously a lot that needs to happen there. But I think you can cart start carts seeing so the convergence of all these different technologies coming together. So for me, kind of working at Keith Trucking, I felt was very natural just because it’s something that transporation, something I’ve always been interested in. And, you know, you’re always acutely aware of it as a as a consumer. But then I think getting to work on the technology side at Uber, I think really set me up for for kind of going deeper into this. And so that’s what that’s where I’m generally pretty excited about is is just what’s possible with that. Yeah.
[00:06:33] Yeah. The art of the possibility. Right. Where? The art of the possible. So what brings you here beyond SOJA keynote? What when you saw this event? Yeah, Tom is clearly extremely valuable. What brought you here?
[00:06:46] Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, so again, you know, very, very excited and very appreciative to be invited as a speaker here breading. I think this is a really good convergence of sort of, you know, the the I.T. side, the technology side, those justich space. And as I mentioned, I mean, you know, technology and transpiration go hand in hand. So, you know, these mobile devices have really been kind of transforming what we’ve been doing. So for me, I really wanted to talk a little bit about kind of, you know, what keep trucking is vision is when it comes to the space, you know, where a you know, Fleet Management solution.
[00:07:25] But what I want to talk a little bit about was specifically how is data, you know, within this industry kind of transforming the industry, but also how could we actually use it to build some real solutions that are impacting businesses? So my focus there, I keep trucking is really around kind of leading our safety products. This is things like cameras and this is things like, you know, how do we help fleets and drivers be safer on the road? But, you know, a lot of that is powered through data. Right. And data doesn’t just mean, you know, information collected from from a driver. It can be mean things like, you know, images that we collect from from, you know, the cameras that we have installed. It could mean third party information such as environmental factors. All these kind of things help us understand how to how to keep fleet safe or anything. We can apply the Sukar, you know, a few other things to fuel, you know, you know, things like dwell time. I’m sure you hear a lot more if you hear a lot about that one. So. So I think for us really talking about how we’re using data to sort of, you know, add value for businesses and for our customers is really what I wanted to discuss today, because I think we’re just at the sort of the tipping point on where that is and where we’re getting started.
[00:08:36] So before we go there, let’s four for the three people that may have never heard of keep trucking in the y’all. Y’all really made some waves. Tell us in a nutshell, what does a company do?
[00:08:46] Sure. So keep trucking. Our mission is, you know, to, you know, bring the world’s trucks online and automate freight. And, well, we met that is, we kind of focus on two really key things we want to build to provide for customers. It’s how do we help you save costs and how do we help you grow your business? And we do that through a Fleet Management solution and a freight solution. And I think for us, you know, I think we’re we’re kind of at this intersection where we get to look at customers of all sizes, whether they’re small owner, operator to, you know, fleets with the thousand plus trucks, regardless of what kind of space or industry or location they’re in. So for me, I think that’s that’s an exciting place to be. Just because it’s a we’re looking at both sides. Right. We’re not just about, you know, how do we help you save money, but also how do we help you grow your business because they get their day. It’s a it’s a very margin intensive industry. So the more we can do to impact both sides, I think is something that our customers really appreciate.
[00:09:48] And now your role group product manager. Where do you spend your time?
[00:09:54] That’s a good question. I mean, so really what that entails is thinking about and. So defining what our product is going to be in the space, right? What is our sort of strategy? What is our vision and what is our roadmap in addressing some of the problems that we hear from customers? I think, you know, for four customers, from from that standpoint, it’s really about spending a lot of time with customers, understanding their pain points and then articulating it into a value add solution that, you know, at the end of day, you know, really solves that problem. And I think that’s that’s the goal of being in product management. But the really interesting thing is I get to work a lot with, you know, everyone. Our technology side, not just the obvious engineering, but also our data science group are our design teams. And I think that’s what I find always exciting is, you know, building products. It’s it’s a team sport. And getting the right people is all in Wasilla technology side, along with our sales and account management teams. I think that’s really where you get where you get the best sort of convergence of ideas and solutions in a way that’s adding value for customers.
[00:10:56] And the firm is based in San Francisco.
[00:10:58] Yeah, we’re bases SCO. But, you know, obviously a little global offices and we’ve been around for about six years.
[00:11:04] Ok. OK. So let’s dab more into unclearly. I love the passion when you talk about how data is really revolutionizing the industry. Clearly, you’re speaking from a position of passion. Let’s dove more. Let’s dove headfirst into that. Where do you see from a transportation standpoint?
[00:11:22] Not just some of the changes, but but really speaking about the changes that data is enabling?
[00:11:31] Yeah, it’s a good question that you can take in many different directions. I think one thing to think about is, you know, transportation is really about a couple of things, right? It’s about moving people and moving things. And I think, you know, if you go back hundreds of years or whether you go back the last five years, you know, when you look at transportation from those two angles, you can see data is kind of really impacting both of them. Right. I think, you know, for example, with data where we really talk about is not just data that you’re collecting, but it’s really the convergence of, you know, your mobile device. It’s, you know, the Internet, it’s the cloud, it’s the hardware solutions that we’re that we’re creating. It’s a convergence of data from all of these things that are impacting, you know, transportation. And then I think you can start getting into really the interesting side. Right. So, you know, if I think about it, data has the ability to kind of transform, you know, not a variety of use cases and build actually a variety of new use cases. So, for example, you know, you can think about, you know, with better data, you can see better marketplaces, more efficient marketplaces. This can be a cross freight. This can be a cross. You know, what we were doing was digging my previous role that Aduba in right. Sharing. You know, this means you can do better pricing, better forecasting, better supply chain, better matching. That can be done in real time, you know. Then there’s other aspects of this, which is, well, now they have all this data.
[00:13:00] How can I use this to optimize my business? Right. How can I use this to better manage my business, save costs? That’s where you start getting into the other aspects, like things like, well, how can we improve safety? How can we you know, we use this to improve the costs. On the other things we see on the balance sheet, whether it’s insurance, whether it’s, you know, fuel or maintenance is everything. Yeah, exactly. It’s just better general management. Right. Because at the end they were using this as using it for is is just measuring and managing your business much more effectively. I think the other sort of really other interesting thing is we do think about consumer experiences. Ryder thing now. You know, we when you look at the value of data, that means, you know, it’s not just about consumer experiences that exist in consumer products like like, you know, like like Uber, but also you can apply the same things to things like trucking, for example. You can do smart onboarding, you can do better hiring, you could do better training. You can do things more intelligently and more effectively. I think from a for me consumer standpoint and kind of some of these these applications, you know, the interesting thing is it actually also transforms kind of how user of where you live and how you live. Right. So, for example, we talked a lot about, you know, better data. What if there’s better data that you can now use to reduce congestion in cities, you know, transform how cities work? You know, I was reading an article a week ago, I think, on The New York Times about freight at delivery in New York City, called how it’s causing him a ton of problems.
[00:14:37] Right. And so it really starts out. We usually start wondering, well, you know, could data help me decide how to store things more effectively? Could it help me sort of decide how to do better last mile delivery? Can you help me sort of determine, you know, depending on where I store on the route I take? How do I do batching of multiple so deliveries all at once? And I think those are kind of questions that kind of need to be answered now, as you know, we’ve got this vast treasure trove of data of how people move, how things get delivered. You know, everyone, you can build these great consumer experiences, but then that also means there’s a lot of implications on all the world. Right. You know, we talk a lot about, you know, freight movement. But like even what you see in things like micro mobility in cities like here in Austin, I saw a ton of scooters everywhere. Right. And you know what happens when you’ve got scooters and bikes? And do we need to create more lanes for these? You know, how does taxing changing. And so lots of things I think then can happen from there. I the other kind of interesting couple of things you realize is how much data privacy plays a bigger role.
[00:15:47] Right. I mean, on that note, have you ever seen one of Apple’s latest commercials? And I came here at the exact imagery, but it zooms in from a cover, a wide shot of a city and resumes into someone using their their iPhone at home.
[00:16:01] And then it moves to a graphic where it shows kind of a lock, you know, on the phone. Right. And it makes it big. I mean, you don’t hear about the technology. You don’t hear about any of the great things that make great Apple products. It’s all about the security and locking up that user’s information. Right. It was I think it’s the first ad I can think about that is, is security first here for a product like that? Yes.
[00:16:27] Right. And I think, you know, we didn’t use talk that much. Right. But it’s becoming relevant and much, much more important. Right. Because it can really impact consumers. But I think also I think a lot of governments now are realizing, you know, that data privacy is something that they have to determine how to regulate. Right. Transpiration General has been regulated for for for a long time. And we’re you’re familiar with us and our how we started with the compliance mandate. But, you know, regulation exists, whether it’s federal aviation, whether it’s, you know, traffic policies or traffic laws. And so data now will play even a bigger role in sort of helping governments decide how do we regulate this? What’s shareable data? What’s privacy centric data? I think for us, it’s important to keep that, you know, that privacy in mind of the consumer and the end user at the same time, you know, new regulation will we’ll have to will will really dictate sort of what’s the value of data, that standpoint. And then, of course, there’s, you know, the favorite topic coming from everyone, which is automation. Right. Right. Better data means better automation, everything from robotics to self-driving. I think from my previous experience working within self-driving. I think there’s a ton of opportunity there.
[00:17:42] You know, lots of room to transform, you know, everything from from safety to sort of how we think about getting from point A to point B, automation, the trucking space horror, our warehouses loaded, A loaded. I think there’s still a lot of room, lots of work that needs to happen there. So I think that’s there’s still quite a long way to go. But I think you start looking at all these things and you start getting pretty excited. It just because the data is just one aspect. Right. But it’s it’s kind of touching upon, you know, all of these kind of various areas. And I think the interesting thing is it’s it’s going to start touching infrastructure. You’ll start touching highways. You’ll start touching sort of lanes within cities. Right. How do you sort of dictate what goes where? So, you know, I see data as just being one of those new enablers when it comes to transportation. Just because everyone is going to be impacted from it. You know, just like to say we were impacted when we talked about earlier about, you know, trucks or cars a hundred years ago or, you know, railroads, I think it’s gonna be the same thing going forward the next 50, 50 to 100 years.
[00:18:45] You know, what’s funny is if twelve, twelve years ago or so, I’d set up a lot of dinner meetings for organization called Apex, which is now part of the HCM family. And month in a month out, you could almost rely on hearing one phrase every single time. You know, big data is cliche or all these companies are spending money to to to collect all this data, but they don’t want them. What are they doing with it? Right. Yeah, you heard that all the time. That is not a problem anymore. Companies have really cracked the code of how to use this. What accumulate this wealth of data, right?
[00:19:20] Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And it goes back to your point earlier about, you know, what Apple is saying, which is, you know, we keep data privacy. Right. There’s a I think they’re still smart about how they’re using data. Right. You can you can see the the differences in the experiences of the products are creating. But I think you have to keep both in mind. I think consumers I think everyone needs to understand that that’s what’s important is we’re not just collecting and using your data, but we’re using it in smart ways and value add ways while ensuring the right kind of security on top of it. I think, you know, your broader point earlier about kind of what are companies doing with data, what are the things they’re collecting? I think I think the direction. The way we’re trending now, it’s, you know, it’s ubiquitous. So I’m not sort of surprised that, you know, whatever it was like 10 year Ryder, you were 12 years good. Yeah, they were saying that kids go for me. I in fact, no one even mentions big date anymore. Like I was thinking about that unless.
[00:20:18] It’s the least commonly used term, which I think, you know. Yeah. Back then it was like all the rage. Now it’s of course E-I-E-I-O everything. Yeah, that’s the new IAPT. Right. But I think you have to go a little bit deeper than that to really see what are the things that are actually being transformed. That’s what I get excited about is like I think, you know, I think the convergence of technology transpiration of going on for a long time. I think you move forward. I think you’re feeling it right with with deliveries. You’re feeling it with you know, you can get groceries delivered under an hour now. You can. You know, you see trucks having all this technology inside of them. You see scooters that, you know, are moving towards, you know, self-driving scooters. At some points. I think it’s going to touch us all. And I think that’s what I get excited about. And that’s what I want to that’s why I came to this, you know, this company for my people. That to me is also where the thing I want to stay moving forward.
[00:21:10] Yeah. So. So I’m curious, since you have kind of your finger on the pulse of of data and how it’s being used today and you talk to so many people about it. What do you think? What have you seen that is the most impactful, enlightening or interesting? You know, use of data. Yeah. In your world, you’re your corner of the world today.
[00:21:33] Yeah. That’s a good question, I think. You know, there. You know, I think the interesting thing about data you were saying earlier is like a lot of it’s be collected. I think they use cases for it. Rise is immense. And I think that’s the one of things we kind of realizes we might do a little bit. But then someone else has, you know, a bunch of other great ideas. I think, you know, some things that I see really sending out. Now, I think with the way I see, for example, insurance playing out. Right, I think insurance now is more consistently being based on data. Right. It’s on your per mile basis. It’s based on your behavior. Right. It’s not just, you know, trucking industry, but also consumers who can see this. You can see this not just in automobile insurance. You can see this in home insurance. You can see this and saw personal insurance. You can see health kind of moving in that direction, too. So I think it’s interesting because that’s one of those things that, you know, you’re you’re always going to pay for, but you can actually optimize it much more effectively through the use of better data. I think, you know, we we do things where, you know, we’re running computer vision on top of the images and videos we collect from our cameras to help fleets understand how to be safer on the road. Right.
[00:22:46] What is a big deal? That is a big deal. It’s it’s great for the fleets. It’s great for the companies and it’s great for the consumers. That. Right. I’ve never been in a truck, but safe. I mean, in Atlanta. Think about all the highways and byways you want to have or we can make that a safer journey. Benefits are by.
[00:23:03] Exactly. Exactly. So I think, you know, the information we collect from that, that’s also data. Right? That’s also information around, you know, someone tailgating someone to loan more. You know, if you if you ever seen those stickers on the back of a truck haul. Yes. If you can read this, that’s the kind of thing you want to avoid. Right. And so I think we want to make sure that we are we’re capturing that information to make our customers safer on the road as well. So I think, you know, when you go back to kind of like where are some of those big impactful use cases? I think, you know, there there is a lot I would say the the one’s eyes and interfacing a lot with this is typically on the safety and insurance side. But, you know, I think it goes much beyond that. I think it goes much beyond that into even beyond transportation at that point, I think. Agreed. Interesting is how other industries start converging. You know, you always see real estate and transportation converge through the use of data. Right. Right. Where housing goes is highly dependent on where, you know, transportation options. And so you can see data impacting sort of the decisions being made on things like that. So I think that’s something we know we really think about on California at this point. So so I think it’s it’s it’s those areas that I can see you kind of around the horizon that where they use cases are done. But more about. Yeah, that’s good.
[00:24:22] Interesting. Yes. We’ve all seen some of the news where some these large companies have new clearances to use drones. Right. To deliver goods. And that that’s that is such a fascinating topic. And to see how the spillover effect. Right. For all their aspects of transportation. So what to bring you back on the show? Yeah. As Moos changes in Supply chain, it is minute by minute. Right.
[00:24:47] When you talk about data, because our ability to look actuarial science for insurance, that’s not a new thing. Yet our ability to collect more and more data that provides more and more insights process quicker. And and to use technology to process the actual actuarial tables. Quickly. Mm hmm. That’s game changing for these for these carrier, these insurance carriers. Yeah. Agreed. Exactly.
[00:25:10] All right. So let’s. How can folks learn more? How can they connect with you? And also learn more about keep trucking?
[00:25:17] Absolutely. So I think, you know, to connect with me, you know, I was, you know, pretty active on the Internet. You gonna find us on Twitter or social media? But I think to learn more about keep trucking, you know, you can always go to keep trucking dot com. We’re also very active, you know, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. We love to sort of connect with our customers through the comments or responses, you know, because we have customers ranging from, you know, small owner operators to large fleets. You can see we’ll respond back to you on YouTube comments. You can find YouTube videos outstanding. But yeah, feel free to reach out to us. And we’re very active in Vario bailable.
[00:25:58] And that’s keep trucking. No G. Dot com. Yes. Yeah. Keep trucking dot com. Well, this has been a lot. I feel like we’ve just scratched the surface with you. I admire kind of where you approach just this this conversation from your data and technology in general. You can quickly get above my pay grade at least. I like how you take a practical approach. An everyday life approach is kind of what I hear. A lot of your commentary.
[00:26:25] Yeah. I think that and that’s what matters, right? Because transportation is one of those things that you use every day. Right. Whether it’s to move something or it’s to move yourself. So that use cases have to be practical. They have to be something that impact you on a day to day basis. You know, that’s that’s what makes things like drones, as he talked about, you know, we we saw earlier in this in the that how they’re delivering prescriptions with drones. Right. That that’s awesome. Right. That that’s what you want because, you know, demographic patterns will change. But the need for prescriptions will continue going up.
[00:26:58] And that’s contingencies. Right? Sheer rule environment. I mean, this this we’re entering we’re already are in a transformational phase where a lot more folks are going to get help a lot, lot more quickly. Yeah, so. All right. Thanks for your time. Really appreciate it. We’re gonna have to have the folks from Keep Trucking back home soon. Abu Shaykh Gupta, group product manager with Keep Trucking. Thanks again for your time and look forward to getting feedback in your keynote this morning. Thank you. Thanks for having me so much. Sheer. You bet. All right. So to our listeners, stay tuned as we continue our coverage of the EFC Logistics S.O form, which is now a Reuters event. And be sure to check out other upcoming events, replays over interviews, other resources at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com. Again, you can find us on Apple podcast, SoundCloud, YouTube, all the leading sites where podcast can be found. Be sure to subscribe to LLC thing on behalf of the entire Supply Chain Now Radio team. Scott Luton. Greg White. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead and we will see you next time. Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks everybody.
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Watch Scott and Greg as they interview Abhishek Gupta for SCNR Episode 212 at eft’s Logistics CIO Forum, a Reuter’s Event, in Austin, Texas.
Featured Guests
Abhishek Gupta is a Group Product Manager at KeepTruckin, a modern fleet management solution, leading safety & insurance products. Previously, he was a product leader at Uber responsible for multiple data platforms, such as Uber Movement, Kepler and AVS. Abhishek has 10+ years of experience at the intersection of product management & data and also held various technology roles at Box and Salesforce. He has a degree in computer science from University of California, Berkeley, follows basketball avidly and lives in San Francisco, CA. Learn more about KeepTruckin here: https://keeptruckin.com/
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