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ATLANTA and LONDON, Sept. 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Descartes Systems Group (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG), the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, will showcase its artificial intelligence (AI) and logistics technology innovations at its 2026 Innovation Forum, which takes place October 6–8 in Chicago. The innovations address time-consuming work across supply chain operations, including chasing shipment updates, rekeying trade documents and investigating delivery exceptions. Combining the connectivity and operationally ready data of the Descartes Global Logistics Network™ (Descartes GLN™) with logistics expertise and embedded AI, these capabilities help customers act faster, increase capacity and keep customer commitments on track.

“Too much of a logistics professional’s day can still be consumed by tracking down information, reconciling data and following up on routine tasks,” said Ken Wood, Executive Vice President, Product Management at Descartes. “Our AI innovations take on more of that operational legwork, giving people more time for the decisions, exceptions and customer relationships that require their expertise. At this year’s Innovation Forum, we’re showing how trusted data, logistics expertise and intelligent automation come together to help customers put AI to work with measurable results and appropriate human oversight.”

Some of the technology highlights at the event include:

Transportation Management

AI agents that take on freight visibility follow-up. Descartes MacroPoint™ OpsForce automates driver engagement, restores interrupted tracking, confirms shipment milestones and collects missing proof-of-delivery documents. Previously reported customer results include an average 30% increase in no-touch tracking automation and 1.5x productivity gains for tracking teams, helping transportation providers manage more freight with less manual follow-up.
Fleet Performance Management

Machine learning that increases delivery capacity. The Descartes Fleet Data Intelligence™ platform learns from actual delivery durations and route conditions to improve service time predictions. Early deployments increased route density by up to 30%, enabling fleets to schedule more stops within existing driver hours.Predictive AI to help reduce accidents. Descartes Fleet Safety™ draws on more than 40 billion miles of telemetry and 500,000 accident records to identify driver risk and guide targeted coaching. By combining predictive insights with training and monitoring workflows, the solution helps fleets intervene earlier to improve driver behavior and reduce preventable accidents. Global Trade Intelligence

AI-powered free trade qualification to uncover duty savings. Descartes Free Trade Intelligence combines AI-enabled analysis with rules of origin covering more than 250 regimes globally to help assess eligibility for preferential tariffs. Explainable recommendations and documented calculations support faster qualification, more informed sourcing decisions and audit readiness.AI-assisted screening that reduces false positives. Descartes Visual Compliance™ AI Assist uses machine learning to filter low-risk screening results and reduce unnecessary reviews. Configurable risk settings, human oversight and audit trails help compliance teams focus on potential threats while maintaining control over screening decisions.Conversational AI that accelerates global trade research. The Descartes Datamyne™ AI Agent answers natural-language questions with insights linked to supporting shipment records, helping teams evaluate suppliers, monitor competitors and identify market opportunities. It helps reduce research and analysis time, depending on user experience and query complexity.
Logistics Service Providers

AI that turns shipment documents into operationally ready data. Descartes’ AI-powered Image Document Management interprets related commercial invoices, bills of lading and packing lists to prepare data for customs entries and shipment creation. Embedded AI agents reduce repetitive rekeying and manual corrections within the applications customers already use.Faster quoting to capture new business. Descartes Spot™ combines live carrier rates, fees and surcharges with quotation management, helping forwarders return 90% of customer quotes in under 30 seconds while evaluating shipping options and protecting margins. Ecommerce Operations

AI-driven purchasing and inventory planning. Descartes ForecastMine™ uses sales data to generate SKU-level demand forecasts and purchasing recommendations, including for bundles, kits and product variants. It flags slow-moving products and helps merchants reduce stockouts and excess inventory.
Descartes’ innovations will be showcased at a unique and interactive Technology Fair on October 6 from 6:00 PM-9:00 PM CT, offering attendees hands-on experience with its latest capabilities and solutions. After the Technology Fair, the company plans to donate monitors and flat screen televisions used at the event to Compudot, a national non-profit organization with a local office in Chicago that provides free computers, low-cost or free internet solutions, and technology education to schools for underserved youth and families to help them support educational goals for students.  

Through sessions, peer discussions and hands-on demonstrations, the Innovation Forum brings customers, partners and Descartes teams together to explore how technology can reduce operational friction across the shipment journey from order to delivery.

To learn more about event speakers, sessions and sponsors, visit 2026 Innovation Forum.

About Descartes

Descartes powers more responsive, efficient, secure and sustainable international and domestic supply chains by uniting logistics-intensive businesses on its Global Logistics Network (GLN). Shippers, carriers, and logistics service providers connect and collaborate on the GLN leveraging technology, data and AI to manage last mile deliveries, domestic and international shipments, transportation rating and payment, global trade research, customs compliance and a variety of regulatory processes. Learn more about Descartes at www.descartes.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and X.

Global Media Contact
Cara Strohack                                                                     
Tel: 226-750-8050                                 
[email protected]  

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (“forward-looking statements”) that relate to Descartes’ logistics and supply chain solution offerings and potential benefits derived therefrom; the innovations Descartes intends to present at its Innovation Forum in Chicago; and other matters. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the factors and assumptions discussed in the section entitled, “Certain Factors That May Affect Future Results” in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ontario Securities Commission and other securities regulatory authorities across Canada including Descartes’ most recently filed annual and interim management’s discussion and analysis which are available under Descartes’ profile through the EDGAR website at http://www.sec.gov or through the SEDAR+ website at http://www.sedarplus.com/. If any such risks actually occur, they could, among other consequences, materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In that case, the trading price of our common shares could decline, perhaps materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purposes of providing information about management’s current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Except as required by applicable law, Descartes does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

This Tech ETF Is Beating QQQ—and Canada May Be Part of the ReasonThe Descartes Systems Group NASDAQ: DSGX reported record second-quarter results, with revenue, profitability and operating cash flow all rising from a year earlier as demand remained strong for its global trade intelligence, transportation management and fleet-routing software.

Revenue for the quarter reached $201.1 million, up 12% from $179.8 million in the prior-year period. Services revenue increased more than 13% to $188.6 million and represented 94% of total revenue. Chief Financial Officer Ed Gardner said organic services revenue growth, excluding recent acquisitions and foreign-exchange effects, was “just north of 9%,” roughly in line with the first quarter.

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Descartes Systems Group Approaches Buy Point Of Flat BaseNet income rose 32% year over year to $50 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased 18% to a record $94.4 million, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of just under 47%. Operating cash flow increased 28% to $81.3 million.

Trade Complexity Supports Demand Chief Executive Officer Ed Ryan said the company’s global trade intelligence operations remained among its larger services-revenue contributors during the quarter. He cited rapidly changing tariffs, stepped-up customs and export-control enforcement, and rising recordkeeping requirements as major demand drivers.

“Many have accepted that volatility is the new baseline operating condition,” Ryan said of customers involved in international commerce. Rather than building processes around stable trade rules, customers are increasingly seeking flexibility and redundancy in supply chains, he said.

Ryan said businesses are relying more heavily on trade-management systems, tariff and duty content, sanctioned-party screening, export-compliance tools and auditable transaction records. The company also said customers are using its Datamyne tools to research ways to manage tariff burdens and review peer trade activity.

The company reported continued strength in e-commerce imports processed through its NetCHB system, despite the elimination of the tariff-exempt Entry Type 86 de minimis program. Ryan said import volumes into the U.S. have continued to grow and that brokers are using Descartes’ platform to handle high-volume, high-velocity e-commerce shipments.

Transportation management also remained a growth area. Ryan said MacroPoint, the company’s real-time freight-visibility offering, benefited from artificial intelligence agents that interact with drivers to encourage adoption of its tracking application. The agents helped enable tracking on 26% more loads sequentially from the first quarter, although Gardner clarified that agent-initiated loads remain a small percentage of total MacroPoint volume.

In fleet management and routing, Ryan said rising fuel costs, driver shortages and wage inflation have increased interest in tools designed to reduce miles driven and improve delivery efficiency.

AI Investments and Acquisitions Management emphasized the company’s investments in AI, which it expects to reshape how its logistics software is used and priced. Ryan said Descartes expects customers to increasingly use its products through APIs and agents, with a greater emphasis on outcomes rather than software access or workflows.

The company is developing and deploying agents for uses including Harmonized System code classification, duty-exposure modeling, customs filing remediation, late-load prediction, transportation booking, e-commerce demand forecasting, sanctions-screening triage, fraud detection, dynamic route scheduling and fleet safety coaching.

Ryan said customers are already seeing benefits from AI agents in MacroPoint, including driver location checks, proof-of-delivery collection, arrival and departure confirmations, truck-rate gathering and carrier insurance-certificate collection. He said the company plans to provide a more comprehensive AI update at its Oct. 6-8 innovation forum in Chicago.

Descartes also expanded through acquisitions. During the second quarter, the company added Drivin, a Latin America-focused routing and delivery solutions provider, which contributed for about three weeks of the period. Ryan said Drivin adds a team experienced in high-density urban delivery environments.

After the quarter ended, Descartes acquired Tai, a transportation management system provider for freight brokers, and Extensiv, formerly known as 3PL Central, a warehouse management software provider serving more than 1,200 third-party logistics providers. Gardner said the company spent about $220 million on the Tai and Extensiv acquisitions after quarter-end.

Ryan described Tai’s software and AI capabilities as best in class and said it complements Descartes’ existing freight-broker offerings, including MacroPoint, Aljex and MyCarrierPortal. Extensiv fills a gap in the company’s offerings to third-party logistics providers, particularly in e-commerce and high-velocity warehouse operations, he said. Extensiv brings omnichannel fulfillment data involving more than 150 million orders to the company’s Global Logistics Network.

Ryan noted that a small portion of Extensiv’s operations lies outside its core 3PL warehouse-management offering and is expected to experience some revenue attrition early in the next fiscal year. Descartes is focused on growing Extensiv’s core 3PL warehouse-management business, he said.

Cash Position, Capital Allocation and Outlook Descartes ended July with $401 million in cash, no debt and an undrawn $350 million credit facility, before the post-quarter acquisitions. During the second quarter, it deployed about $30 million for the Drivin acquisition and approximately $24 million for share repurchases. The company spent about $45 million on buybacks in the first half under its Normal Course Issuer Bid.

Ryan said the company remains positioned to pursue further acquisitions, citing a more favorable valuation environment as fewer buyers participate in deals and software-company valuations decline. He said Descartes would consider leverage for a sufficiently attractive transaction and has historically been comfortable with leverage up to three times.

For the first half of fiscal 2027, revenue rose 13% to $394.7 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 19% to $184.1 million, or 46.6% of revenue, while net income rose to $98.5 million, or $1.13 per diluted share, from $74.3 million, or $0.85 per diluted share, a year earlier.

Looking ahead, management said shipping conditions remain challenging amid tariff changes, elevated fuel costs, driver shortages, Middle East unrest, weather-related transportation disruptions, Panama Canal sailing restrictions and port delays. Nevertheless, Ryan said customer demand remains healthy because of the complexity involved in moving goods.

As of Sept. 1, following the Tai and Extensiv acquisitions, Descartes estimated third-quarter fiscal 2027 baseline revenue of approximately $181 million and baseline operating expenses of approximately $111.5 million. That implies baseline adjusted EBITDA of about $69.5 million, or 38% of baseline revenue.

The company said it is currently operating above its expected adjusted EBITDA margin range of 40% to 45%, but will retain that target range while Tai and Extensiv are in the early stages of integration.

About The Descartes Systems Group (NASDAQ:DSGX)The Descartes Systems Group Inc NASDAQ: DSGX is a global provider of cloud-based logistics and supply chain management solutions. The company's software-as-a-service platform connects and optimizes the flow of goods, information and payments across the global supply chain, helping businesses coordinate transportation, customs clearance, routing, scheduling and fleet management. Descartes' modular applications serve shippers, carriers, third-party logistics providers and regulatory authorities by enabling real-time visibility, compliance and execution across complex trade networks.

Headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Descartes was founded in 1981 and has grown through a combination of organic development and strategic acquisitions.

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