Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Google Cloud have announced a new collaboration to embed artificial intelligence (AI) across ONE’s business and create an AI Center of Excellence (CoE) to support the digital evolution of the shipping company.
Headquartered in Singapore, ONE owns the world’s sixth-largest container shipping fleet. Its planned AI CoE will assist the firm in piloting and scaling AI initiatives that it hopes will boost its competitive differentiation while also assisting the company in becoming a destination for top technology talent.
ONE will leverage Google Cloud’s data analytics, machine learning (ML) and AI technologies, alongside advisory expertise from Deloitte Consulting to support digital transformation projects.
“Whether it is delivering materials for industrial production and infrastructure construction, finished products for re-export, or food and goods to meet communities’ essential needs, global maritime transport companies like ONE form the backbone of global commerce,” said Kosuke Wada, Executive Vice President, Ocean Network Express.
“We recognise that our shipping services underpin smooth economic activity and believe that we must constantly raise industry standards. ONE has therefore decided to deepen our collaboration with Google Cloud and continue working with Deloitte after their stellar support during our initial phase of digital transformation.”
“By tapping both companies’ core competencies around AI, we can drive transformative change across our entire business, become an innovative leader in the sector, and facilitate economic benefit for people and countries worldwide.”
ONE has already had some early success with AI pilot projects, having migrated its SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) and finance systems onto Google Cloud’s infrastructure and layered on machine learning models that intelligently organise the firm’s engagement history with its customers.
The shipping company has also created an AI-powered internal Virtual Assistant chatbot, integrated with Google Workspace and accessible via Google Chat, that can automate responses to employees’ queries regarding policies and processes using Google Cloud’s natural language understanding technology and pre-built virtual agents.
“With at least 11 billion tons of goods transported by sea each year, ONE’s AI transformation not only future-proofs its operations and positions the company as an employer of choice, but also sets the benchmark for the creation of even more smart, efficient, and scalable digital solutions that are needed to meet the ever-growing demands of businesses and economies around the world,” said Ruma Balasubramanian, Managing Director, Southeast Asia, Google Cloud.
“We are thrilled that ONE has continued to choose Google Cloud as its co-innovation partner, as it spearheads a sea change across the maritime transport industry, and demonstrates the accelerated and measurable impact that a cloud-first and unified data strategy can help deliver.”
