New Google Trends data shows UK interest in artificial intelligence (AI) for logistics reached its highest recorded level in late January 2026, signalling a shift from experimentation toward operational deployment.
The search term “AI in logistics” reached a peak index score of 100 between 18-25 January – a 156 per cent increase compared with early November 2025 – indicating sustained growth in industry research and evaluation activity rather than a short-term spike.
This aligns with wider market forecasts predicting the global AI logistics market will grow from $26.33bn in 2025 to $38.68bn in 2026 (CAGR 46.9 per cent), driven by increasing supply chain complexity, labour shortages and the expansion of e-commerce fulfilment operations.
Advanced Supply Chain (ASC) says the rise in search activity reflects a change in adoption behaviour across UK operators.
Stuart Greenfield, UK & European Sales Director at Advanced Supply Chain, said:
“Across the past year, conversations have moved from exploration to execution. What were once proof-of-concept discussions are now centred on integration timelines and measurable return on investment.
“AI is now not just analysing data, it’s making decisions and preventing problems. We’re seeing AI support predictive demand forecasting, automated exception handling, real-time route planning, intelligent inventory balancing and more accurate planning overall. Automation is advancing too, but the bigger shift is towards flexible, modular systems that expand or contract with demand – including AMRs, scalable AS/RS and mixed human-robot operations.
We expect the next phase of adoption to focus on cross-site optimisation rather than single-facility automation as retailers and manufacturers manage increasingly fragmented fulfilment networks.”
Share