Artificial intelligence was the talk of the town at Manifest, but for venture capital investments, the machines themselves took center stage. FreightWaves spoke with Mike Plasencia, group director of new product strategy and RyderVentures at Ryder System, Inc. about technology trends and what they have been working on. He leads RyderVentures’ investment strategy across more than 20 portfolio companies. For RyderVentures, there’s a convergence happening in the warehouse space that most in the industry are missing. The corporate venture arm of Ryder System has spent five years betting on disruptive technologies across advanced vehicle technology, e-commerce, digitization and warehouse automation. “AI was definitely the belle of the ball last year for VC investment,” Plasencia said. “We’re also seeing a lot of energy in warehouse automation. That just continues to be a big area of growth and opportunity.” The distinction is key. While autonomous trucks and robotaxis grab headlines, warehouse automation remains largely underpenetrated. There’s a clear utility, but Plasencia points to a specific reason: fear. It’s a brave new world for AI that can operate in the physical world. Especially when many FreightTech companies are focused more on software solutions. Physical AI Breaks the Single-Use Problem The emerging trend Plasencia calls “physical AI” represents a blend of artificial intelligence models with warehouse hardware. It enables equipment to handle multiple use cases rather than being locked into a single application. “In the past, you had some really good warehouse automation that handled specific use cases,” Plasencia said. “But I think now…
