AI Makes No Sense Without Customer Impact: Implementing It Just for the Sake of Technology Is a Dead End (Jan Vacek, DHL)

January 13, 2026

Logistics is one of the industries where AI has enormous potential–but also high demands for security, integration, and real customer impact. “We don’t implement AI because it’s a trend. Every solution must improve the service for the customer,” says Jan Vacek, VP, Head of Domain and strategic Engagement ITS DGFF and ITS PRG Site Head from DHL, in a new episode of the Adastra podcast.

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In the episode, he explains how DHL approaches AI adoption at the enterprise level–from a strong emphasis on data security to building an internal AI community across hundreds of employees. A small central team plays a key role in evaluating new tools, while an open approach allows individual teams to actively use AI in their own projects.

One concrete use case is AI voice agents in customer communication. These agents can now handle full conversations, respond in real time, and access all necessary data instantly. Their performance is comparable to human operators, but customer adoption still faces natural skepticism.

AI is also fundamentally changing software development. According to Vacek, the biggest benefit is not in writing code itself, but in enabling business users to define requirements faster and create prototypes more efficiently. This significantly reduces rework and accelerates time-to-market.

DHL also emphasizes that AI is not just a technological shift, but primarily a shift in mindset. The biggest challenge is not the technology itself, but its adoption across the organization and the ability to balance innovation, governance, and real business value.

• How do you set up an AI strategy in a large organization?
• Why is security more important than speed?
• And how do you prevent AI from turning into an uncontrolled “agent zoo”?