Logidot wins Innovate UK grant to build AI assistant to enhance AI adoption in the Logistics sector

Logidot has secured a grant co-funded by UK Research and Innovation’s highly competitive Innovate UK BridgeAI scheme. The competition attracted over 1000 applications awarding only a handful of winners in logistics. Logidot’s winning project - in collaboration with the University of Bath’s centre for Smart Warehousing and Logistics systems, and a leading contract logistics company - aims to validate and develop an AI-agent to support competency and AI adoption for various roles in the logistics sector.

Less than 25% of businesses in the logistics and warehousing sector are currently using AI. The innovation seeks to address known AI adoption barriers through the development of a customisable and scalable AI-Agent/Virtual Assistant based learning tool aimed at seamlessly supporting the daily tasks of staff across multiple areas of operations, helping overcome a lack of familiarity and trust in AI and known knowledge gap across the industry.

Emerging AI systems generally fall into fully autonomous (e.g. robots) or collaborative semi-autonomous systems involving human input. While large language models (LLMs) have enabled significant progress in natural language interaction, they remain prone to hallucinations — confidently producing inaccurate information. Overcoming these limitations is critical not just for safe deployment, but also for enabling future AI systems capable of continuous, context-aware collaboration with humans. Multimodal AI, grounded in real-time sensory data and guided by human oversight, offers a more reliable path. This “Physical AI” approach, exemplified by Logidot, fuses data from location sensors, operator-held devices, and human-in-the-loop feedback to deliver a location-aware assistant tailored to both frontline workers and managers — a first in the warehousing sector.

Efficient logistics underpins UK trade and supports over 7 million workers, but the sector faces worsening labour shortages, high turnover, and surging costs — issues intensified by Brexit. 86% of UK firms report warehouse operative shortages (CILT), with many relying on temporary agency staff who may represent up to a quarter of the workforce. High onboarding costs and challenges in monitoring productivity add pressure. AI tools like Logidot’s assistant could reduce training time by up to 85% and help upskill staff, improving retention and operational continuity.

Efficient, cost-effective and safe operations require precision planning, people/assets management and agile responses to changing priorities. The industry is embracing innovative digital technologies and robotics to automate operations, improve efficiency and reduce costs. However, with increasing automation, human-robot collaboration and the measurement and tracking of goods, equipment and workforce activity across operations becomes increasingly challenging. AI promises to help, but industrial players report major barriers to adoption - including skills and training challenges, lack of company-wide strategy, privacy and security concerns, information accuracy and overload and of course speed of integration with legacy systems and running costs.

To address these challenges, Logidot and the University of Bath are developing an AI tutor to support continuous upskilling and reskilling, particularly for seasonal and frontline workers. Using natural language and voice interfaces, the system offers fast, intuitive support for staff engaged in physically demanding roles. The AI assistant integrates a client-specific knowledge base with Logidot’s IoT platform — providing real-time visibility of assets and workforce location — and connects with an AI-powered warehouse simulator and execution system to enable seamless collaboration between human and automated operations. This will enable:
  - A personalised AI tutor for continuous upskilling and reskilling.
  - Real-time task guidance and decision support tailored to user roles and locations.
  - Enhanced managerial oversight, enabling supervisors to monitor team competency, training progress, and task execution through explainable insights.
  - Intelligent system integrations, connecting frontline staff, warehouse management systems, and automation platforms to reduce errors and enable real-time coordination.
  
Logidot founder Dr. Niccolo Corsini stated: “Covid-19, Brexit, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East... the UK warehousing and manufacturing sectors have weathered crisis after crisis with incredible resilience and kept vital supplies flowing. A perfect storm of labour shortages, rising costs and ever higher customer expectations is forcing industry to automate rapidly. Physical AI promises to be a key enabler and we are honoured to have been recognised as an innovative solution to help companies on this digital transformation journey. We look forward to collaborating with Bath University as well as our other partners.”

University of Bath’s Centre for Smart Warehousing and Logistics Systems Director Vaggelis Giannikas stated: “AI, like many other technologies, can be extremely beneficial. Yet, we see time and again traditional industries to be lagging behind when it comes to its adoption. This project will help use our expertise in AI tools for industrial operations but also in technology adoption barriers to shape the future of smart logistics and warehousing.”.

For more information see video announcement.