CloneOps.ai, an AI-powered logistics communication platform, announced Wednesday the company has closed on an undisclosed amount of seed funding round led by a number of industry angel investors.
Led by CEO David Bell and CFO David Vingiano, CloneOps.ai automates routine communications, allowing human talent to focus on high-value activities including strategic decision-making and customer relationship management.
“Keeping up with call volumes, both inbound and outbound, can be very difficult to handle with just humans that can only do one speaking task at a time,” Bell told FreightWaves in an email.
“CloneOps allows a person to deploy their AI agent to do those voice tasks simultaneously, increasing productivity 4 to 5 times while being able to use their [human] voice to handle escalations and problems.”
While CloneOps.ai did not disclose to FreightWaves the names of those investors, it did announce that they represent the company’s initial 10 customers, which are currently beta testing the platform as the company plans to take the technology live in early 2025.
Kevin Nolan, founder of Nolan Transportation Group and Sope Creek Capital, did disclose to FreightWaves in an interview that he participated in the round and that Sope Creek’s portfolio company OTR Solutions is participating in the technology’s beta test.
“CloneOps.ai is about converting nonrevenue tasks into revenue-producing activities,” Nolan explained. “By automating time-consuming tasks like retrieving proof of delivery, verifying rates and sending paperwork, brokers can focus on what truly matters: closing deals and servicing clients.”
Nolan also sees CloneOps.ai as a way to enhance the customer experience, comparing it to that of other industries.
“We’ll have that Delta-like experience where we call in and the phone attendant says, ‘Hello, Mr. Nolan. Thank you for calling. Someone will be right with you.’ That level of personalization and responsiveness is what will set the top brokers apart from the rest.”
Augmenting human talent
Despite the rise of AI, Nolan emphasizes that technology like CloneOps.ai is designed to augment, not replace, human brokers.
Instead, CloneOps.ai functions as an extension of the brokerage team, with virtual agents handling outbound calls and emails while human employees prioritize and monitor interactions.
This collaborative model empowers teams to be more efficient and effective.
“There’s no chance we’re ever going 100% AI in logistics across the industry. Service matters too much, and our industry is too highly fragmented for that to happen,” Nolan stated.
Bell also pointed out how AI could change the workday of a logistics professional as more operations are automated.
“Looking ahead 5-10 years, I think AI will be doing so much of the work that the 8 hour work day will shrink and people will enjoy free time. There are only so many loads to cover in a day and if it gets done 4 times faster, what do you do? I think initially the work force could grow because sales and productivity will increase at a high rate causing more growth,” Bell explained.
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