GROUNDBREAKERS 2024: Prologis CEO, FedEx Chairman discuss Artificial Intelligence, company culture and tariffs

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Event also featured Former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair and Survival Expert Bear Grylls

LONDON, Oct. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD), the global leader in logistics real estate, today hosted its fourth annual GROUNDBREAKERS thought leadership forum in London. GROUNDBREAKERS 2024 featured trailblazers including FedEx Chairman Fred Smith, former UK Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair and Survival Expert Bear Grylls.

Prologis Co-founder, Chairman and CEO Hamid R. Moghadam was joined by FedEx Founder and Executive Chairman Fred Smith for the event's opening keynote. The two founders discussed technology's influence on geo-economic trends and how their companies are integrating artificial intelligence (AI).

"Manufacturing of basic items is not going to be re-introduced into the West unless robotics is introduced and changes the game," Smith said.

Moghadam said the success of AI is dependent on digitizing massive amounts of data: "The most important thing is digitizing data. If you do not have data, no amount of AI can help you in any way. Most people skip that first step."

Both leaders agreed fostering a culture of innovation is key to attracting the right talent and delivering on customer expectation.

"Culture is the only form of sustainable competitive advantage," said Moghadam. "If you explain the why to people, not only will they sign on, but they will figure out a better way to get there."

Smith added, "Most companies try to catch people doing something wrong – our culture, we try to catch people doing something right."

Panel Highlights:

The Next Normal: The Future of Delivery
Prologis President Dan Letter engaged Dr. Stephen Peters, member of the Board of Management at Rhenus Group, Patrick Hertzke, partner at McKinsey Automotive Practice, and Alex Coates, president at Airspace, in a conversation about how consumer expectations and new technologies are changing the world of delivery.

"It's honestly exciting when you think about what AI and data analytics can do to improve or optimize the infrastructure that we have around delivery," said Coates. "Can we squeeze more efficiency out of today's infrastructure to get that right product to that right person at the right time?"

Fashion Forward: Everyone is Unique
Vogue Business Editor Kirsty McGregor sat down with Paolo Zannoni, executive deputy chairman at Prada, and Andy Ruben, founder and executive chairman at Trove, to explore trends and innovations disrupting the fashion industry.