AI Rewrites the Workforce🤖

Happy Thursday! AI is tearing through logistics. Robots pick, algorithms route, and humans watch dashboards that used to be jobs. From DHL simplifying customs to Amazon giving drivers smart glasses, efficiency now speaks machine. The future of delivery isn’t people moving boxes—it’s data moving faster than people ever could.

Maze Focus🌀
🤖 AI Rewrites the Workforce
🚕 Uber’s 100K Robotaxis
📦 Couriers’ Contact Crisis
🚗 Locker Green Illusion
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Last week handpicked news you need to know
🍔 Delivery & eGrocery briefing
🚚 Ecommerce Logistics briefing

LET’S ENTER THE MAZE!
- Artur Stańczuk, MarketMaze Founder

The Maze: The logistics giants are getting leaner. Amazon and UPS are cutting tens of thousands of jobs as they double down on AI-driven automation. The message is clear: efficiency now means algorithms over managers. What began as pilot projects in warehouses is becoming a full corporate redesign around machine intelligence.

• In October 2025, Amazon confirmed 14,000 corporate layoffs, reallocating billions toward its AI labs, Bedrock platform, and Anthropic investment.
• UPS has already cut 48,000 jobs in 2025, part of a network overhaul that uses AI for routing, shift planning, and fleet optimization.
• Amazon is expanding its AI vehicle inspection program, using computer vision to detect defects in seconds and lower maintenance costs.

Why it matters: AI is no longer a buzzword, it’s a restructuring plan. Both companies are proving that automation can shrink payrolls without killing service. For ecommerce, it means cheaper delivery, faster routes, and fewer humans in the loop. The question isn’t if AI will replace jobs—it’s how fast leaders will rebuild around it.

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The Maze: Uber is going all-in on autonomy. The company plans a 100,000-vehicle robotaxi fleet powered by NVIDIA chips starting in 2027, building what may become the first global AV operating system for mobility. It’s not about replacing drivers overnight but creating a scalable, standardized fleet that cuts costs, expands coverage, and rewires ride-hailing economics.

• Uber will use NVIDIA’s DRIVE platform and AI data factory to train and deploy Level 4 self-driving fleets with multiple automakers including Stellantis, Volvo, and Lucid.
• The first pilot vehicles, around 5,000 units supplied by Stellantis, will enter Uber’s ecosystem ahead of mass rollout planned between 2027 and 2030.
• The partnership includes a joint “data factory” on NVIDIA Cosmos, mining billions of driving miles to continuously update and certify AV models for safety.

Why it matters: This is the first credible attempt to make autonomous rides profitable at scale. If Uber and NVIDIA hit their milestones, they could turn AVs from a pilot project into a profit engine. For ecommerce and logistics, the same stack could power autonomous delivery, shrinking the cost of the last mile and reshaping how goods and people move. Read more about how AI is redrawing mobility in The AI Ride Revolution.

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The Maze: When parcels fail, trust fails faster. Amazon and FedEx top the UK list with 57% satisfaction, while Evri and Yodel trail far behind, with four in ten customers unhappy. The problem isn’t delivery speed but what happens when things go wrong. The “contact journey” has become the new competitive frontier in parcel logistics.

• UK consumers sent 4.2 billion parcels in 2024, up 7% year over year, yet 68% faced a delivery problem in the past six months, mostly delays or misplacements.
• Only 47% of recipients were satisfied with the way couriers handle issues, compared to 78% overall delivery satisfaction, exposing a weak post-purchase experience.
• Evri and Yodel’s dissatisfaction rates exceed 30%, while Amazon’s integrated support loop and FedEx’s clear SLAs help both lead in customer loyalty and retention.

Why it matters: Post-purchase pain points cost retailers customers. A single bad contact flow can erase the benefit of fast delivery. As ecommerce scales, carrier selection becomes a CX strategy, not a cost line. Winning brands will own the “what if it fails” moment as tightly as the checkout click.

The Maze: Parcel lockers sound eco-friendly, but not always. Six in ten people drive to collect packages, doubling total kilometers per parcel versus home delivery. In car-centric areas, lockers can emit more CO₂ than a van drop, turning a convenience feature into a carbon trap.

• A 12-recipient model shows 4.8 km driven per parcel for locker pickup, compared with 2.4 km for home delivery, once recipient car trips are counted.
• In cities where over 50% of users drive, the locker system loses its carbon advantage, though dense urban or transit-linked locations can flip that math.
• Locker networks are expanding fast, but site placement and human behavior decide whether they cut or increase emissions.

Why it matters: The greenest mile depends on how people move, not where parcels wait. Lockers work only when walkers and cyclists dominate. For ecommerce brands, forcing lockers without smart pricing or placement risks lower satisfaction and zero climate gain. Smarter incentives, not slogans, will deliver the real sustainability win.

🇪🇺 Brussels scrutiny on delivery mergers grows. The Oct 30 analysis says labour collusion is now hard-core under Art.101; fines hit €329m and boards are told to fix conflicts, audit data rooms, and strip employee clauses from shareholder pacts.

🇺🇸 Kroger and Uber Eats deepen partnership. Restaurant orders surface inside Kroger’s app, Boost waives delivery fees, and the pair will build retail media formats that target grocery and dinner moments in one journey.

🇺🇸 Grubhub taps Instacart for grocery reach. Grubhub customers gain Instacart’s national grocer network with phased rollout and integrated promos, giving Grubhub instant density and Instacart another demand and ads channel.

🇧🇷 Meituan enters Brazil with Keeta. Launch starts in Santos and São Vicente with plans to invest $1bn over five years, targeting long-run GMV while facing iFood’s scale and a tough subsidy battle.

🇮🇳 Snabbit doubles value on home-help bet. The Bengaluru startup raised $30m at a $180m value to deliver vetted cleaners and handymen in 30 minutes, blending AI dispatch with local hubs as capital shifts from quick-commerce to steadier services.

🇺🇸 DHL streamlines U.S. customs for importers. A single customs entry covers multiple shipments to cut fees, delays, and admin while improving landed cost visibility for DDP and DAP flows during peak.

🇺🇸 UPS leans on gig drivers for peaks. Smaller parcels shift to personal vehicle couriers to boost elasticity, while premium and large items stay on brown trucks with routing control and service metrics under tight watch.

🇺🇸 Shippo predicts exact delivery dates. AI learns from millions of shipments to promise precise ETAs, reduce WISMO tickets, and steer label selection for cost and speed as merchants head into holiday volume.

🇷🇺 Wildberries invests $400m in Central Asia. Funds go to fulfillment, last mile, and cross border rails to deepen localization and defend share as seller growth in Uzbekistan accelerates.

🇺🇸 Amazon rolls out Blue Jay and AI on the floor. New robots, agentic AI, and driver smart glasses target faster picks, safer routes, and cleaner proof of delivery with early gains in ergonomics and last 100 yards speed.

🇺🇸 UPS expands flexible fleet for surges. Mixed fleets add capacity without heavy fixed costs as gig drivers absorb residential spikes and union crews focus on complex jobs with quality tracked in real time.

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