Descartes launches AI agent for global trade data research

Users can ask questions about suppliers, buyers, commodities, shipment activity and trade relationships. The agent then analyzes the data and provides contextual answers, along with visualizations and access to the shipment records behind the findings, according to Descartes.

That underlying data is a key part of the product. Datamyne covers 230 markets and adds more than 500 million shipment records annually, according to Descartes. The company said the database can be used to identify suppliers, monitor competitors, evaluate trade risks and track changes in product flows and market demand.

The AI agent also allows users to continue refining their questions and investigate related companies, commodities, shipments and trade relationships without leaving the Datamyne platform.

Ken Wood, executive vice president of product management at Descartes, said the agent is designed to combine AI with domain-specific data while allowing users to verify its findings.

“The Agent analyzes shipment-level data and presents findings alongside the records and visual evidence supporting them,” Wood said in a statement.

The approach reflects a broader shift in freight technology toward embedding AI into existing software and proprietary datasets rather than offering standalone general-purpose chatbots.

For Descartes, the technology puts a conversational interface on top of Datamyne’s trade data.

“Embedding the Agent directly into Descartes Datamyne gives customers a more transparent and intuitive way to accelerate decision-making and respond more effectively to changing global trade conditions,” Wood said.

The company said the agent can also produce summaries that identify trends, anomalies and potential sourcing opportunities across large volumes of trade records. Descartes has been expanding its use of AI across its logistics software in recent months.

Recent developments

In August, the company introduced AI-powered image document management capabilities designed to help customs brokers, freight forwarders and logistics service providers extract information from trade documents and prepare data for customs and transportation processes. Earlier that month, it introduced an AI-enabled Free Trade Intelligence solution designed to help manufacturers, importers and exporters identify opportunities to reduce trade costs.

The Datamyne launch also comes shortly after Descartes released its annual transportation management benchmark survey, which found that transportation technology investment has increased nearly 50% over the past decade. The company said the next phase of transportation technology adoption will depend in part on companies’ ability to scale automation and artificial intelligence.

Descartes did not provide details in its announcement on how the 90% time-reduction figure was calculated. The company qualified the figure by noting that results depend on user experience and query complexity.

The integration gives freight and logistics technology users a way to interact with specialized shipment data through natural-language queries while continuing to access the underlying trade records.

Why This Matters

The launch shows how logistics technology companies are incorporating AI into existing data platforms. For trade and supply chain teams, the tool provides another way to search and analyze shipment data without relying solely on traditional database queries.