Stefan Paul, CEO of Kuehne+Nagel, speaks about the company’s bold vision for the next decade and how it plans to shape the future of global logistics. Drawing on the company’s 130-year history, he discussed the strategies behind Roadmap 2026 and the longer-term Vision 2030, highlighting innovation, sustainability, and customer trust as the pillars of success.
Over the years, Kuehne+Nagel has demonstrated resilience in a rapidly changing market. The company’s 80,000 colleagues have consistently met evolving customer needs, from expanding healthcare logistics to scaling e-commerce and integrating new operations such as the Chinese airfreight service provider Apex Logistics. “Our goal is to be able to say ‘yes’ more often to our customers. The more challenges we can solve for our customers, the more we earn their trust,” Stefan Paul explains.
Roadmap 2026 represents a natural evolution from the successes of Roadmap 2022 and establishes four strategic cornerstones for growth. The first is the Kuehne+Nagel Experience, designed to deliver extraordinary service for customers while keeping employees motivated. Stefan emphasizes that trust is earned through consistent, high-quality service, and that creating a seamless experience for both customers and colleagues drives long-term growth.
The second cornerstone, the Digital Ecosystem, leverages technology and data to provide actionable insights and automation across operations. By integrating proprietary and external data into a cloud-based platform, Kuehne+Nagel aims to enhance efficiency, speed decision-making, and deliver tailored solutions to its clients. “Integrating different sources of data seamlessly and applying the insights is essential to ensuring the best digital customer experience and the fastest time-to-market for new solutions,” Stefan notes.
Living ESG forms the third cornerstone and reflects Kuehne+Nagel’s commitment to sustainability, employee engagement, and governance. The company has committed to Science Based Targets initiative goals to reduce emissions by 33% by 2030, operate all contract logistics sites on 100% renewable energy, and increase the proportion of zero-emission vehicles to 60% of its fleet. “Supporting a sustainable future is at the core of our company beliefs and vision. We are engaging with customers in new ways to reduce CO2 emissions and help shape a responsible logistics industry,” Stefan says.
Finally, the Market Potential cornerstone highlights growth ambitions, including replicating the success of the Healthcare business in the Renewable Energy sector, expanding in Asian and African markets, and enhancing e-commerce and customs solutions for small and medium enterprises. These initiatives are designed to strengthen Kuehne+Nagel’s role as a trusted partner for clients navigating complex supply chains.
“The Roadmap 2026 and Vision 2030 show how we will shape our future,” Stefan Paul concludes. “By focusing on exceptional quality, employee motivation, customer service, and technology, we will secure Kuehne+Nagel’s sustainable success for years to come.”
