Trimble keeps freight business sale on the table while unveiling new AI tools 

Painter characterized the transportation unit as a scarce asset with a distinctive network and technology portfolio, saying Trimble has an obligation as a public company to consider credible approaches.

“It’s not surprising to me that we’ve had inbound interest,” Painter said. “It’s a scarce asset, a scarce set of capabilities. We’re a public company. We have a fiduciary obligation to the shareholders to listen if we have credible interest.” 

Trimble has not indicated when the review will conclude or what its ultimate outcome might be.

“We hope to wrap up the review,” he said. “I’m super comfortable if I’m back in front of you again in weeks, months, or a year from now at our next conference and we’re executing the playbook because that’s how we’re operating right now.”

Painter also left open the possibility that the strategic review could result in the transportation business becoming a separate company.

He declined to speculate about what Trimble’s exposure to trucking would look like if the transportation business were ultimately sold.

“My view is this is a Trimble business and let’s say until it’s not, if that’s the case,” Painter said. “I’m super, super — I can’t emphasize that enough — comfortable to be the ongoing owner of the business.”

“This business is a terrific business with an exciting future providing real value and unique value,” he added.

Trimble pushes AI into existing trucking systems

The comments came as Trimble used its annual Insight conference to demonstrate that investment in the transportation segment is continuing during the strategic review.

The company unveiled technologies centered on voice AI, route and trailer orchestration, automated maintenance and transportation management systems designed to support AI agents.

Michael Kornhauser, who leads Trimble’s transportation operations in North America and its applications business, said the company’s modernization strategy is intended to let existing customers begin using AI without undergoing expensive, disruptive replacements of longstanding TMS platforms.

Trimble’s latest TMS release provides an updated experience designed to support AI while allowing fleets to retain existing systems and integrations.

“We felt that that was the quickest way to get our customers in their existing systems to a place where AI can impact their business today,” Kornhauser said.

The approach means customers don’t have to immediately disconnect technology and integrations accumulated over decades, he said.

“For now, there’s not a big lift. There’s not a big risk,” Kornhauser said.

Trimble executives also highlighted Arc Agent, which the company is developing around a single AI agent capable of acquiring multiple skills rather than deploying separate agents for individual tasks.

Philipp Pfister, vice president of Transporeon- a Trimble company, described Arc Agent as functioning somewhat like another employee: Users can teach it a task, verify its work and gradually give it greater responsibility as trust develops.

The goal is for Arc Agent to operate across freight processes ranging from procurement and execution to settlement and across shippers, carriers, brokers and other participants.

Trimble said customers will also be able to create skills tailored to their own operations instead of relying exclusively on predefined applications.

Kornhauser cited one example involving currency conversion for TMT Trucking. A capability that he said traditionally might have required a three- to six-month proof of concept, custom coding and professional services was created in Arc in roughly 35 minutes.

“You don’t have to have an engineering degree to build a skill,” Pfister said.

AI brings security questions

Painter acknowledged that adoption of autonomous AI also introduces questions about governance, cybersecurity and protection of proprietary information.

Customers can connect Trimble and non-Trimble data, he said, but businesses experimenting with AI quickly encounter questions about controlling access and preventing sensitive data from escaping their organizations.

“Pretty quickly, you go from, wow, this is pretty cool to wait a minute, how are we going to govern this?” Painter said.

He said Trimble spends “tens and tens of millions of dollars every year” on cyber resilience.

Pfister said Arc Agent incorporates a human-in-the-loop model in which users can approve actions and provide feedback, while the system maintains a trail of actions that can be reviewed.

“The data of our customers is like the number one priority that we have,” Pfister said. “We need to protect the data of our customers at any point in time.”

Mexico freight gets more attention

Trimble is also expanding technology aimed at increasingly complex U.S.-Mexico freight movements.

Asked during the roundtable how AI and orchestration technology could improve cross-border freight, Kornhauser pointed first to Trimble’s mapping and routing capabilities.

“We’re doing a lot to enhance our Mexico Maps data,” he said.

Trimble has roughly 6 million mapped places in North America and is adding more locations in Mexico, particularly truck-relevant points associated with cross-border movements.

Kornhauser said improved mapping can give carriers greater visibility into cross-border shipments, while Trimble’s TMS products also support those movements.

“We see the same thing — there’s an increased volume, there’s a lot of complexity,” Kornhauser said. 

The Mexico investments underscore the scope of the transportation technology operation Trimble is considering whether to retain, spin off or potentially sell.

Painter, however, emphasized that no decision has been made.

For now, Trimble executives said they are continuing to invest in the business, including integrating capabilities from Transporeon, which Trimble acquired in 2023.

Painter described that acquisition as a strategic success and said its capabilities give Trimble a platform to connect different participants and processes across freight transportation.

“We think it’s got a bright future ahead of it,” Painter said.

Why it matters: Multiple parties remain interested in Trimble’s freight technology business, but its CEO says the strategic review has no announced outcome, as the company continues to roll out new AI-powered freight technology.