Cargoful: Optimizing Logistics with AI

Founded in 2020 by Filippo Tamburini, together with co-founders Cosmo Valentino, Alessandro Salvetti and Erica Pezzica, Cargoful offers a cutting-edge AI-powered SaaS platform. Their solution enables companies to optimize routes, reduce costs and increase efficiency, making them a trusted partner for industry leaders such as Procter & Gamble, Forno D'Asolo and Bindi. With a clear vision for sustainable and advanced logistics, Cargoful is setting new standards in supply chain innovation.  

In our conversation with founder Filippo Tamburini, we explored how they're using technology to tackle the logistics industry's biggest challenges and the lessons they've learned as pioneering entrepreneurs. 

Cargoful founders

1. What are the main problems that Cargoful solves for its customers? 

 Transportation represents a significant burden for enterprise customers, adding up to 5-15% in cost compared to revenues while creating constant headaches around service levels. Traditionally, management of these operations has been either treated as a "necessary evil" or outsourced to suppliers – both approaches resulting in limited visibility and sub-optimal solutions (trucks currently run at 70% utilization!). The impact is twofold: massive cost leakage and inconsistent customer satisfaction, with transportation performances directly influencing how clients evaluate their suppliers. 

Cargoful empowers enterprises to take control and ownership of their transportation operations. Our vertical AI-powered SaaS solution integrates seamlessly with existing ERP/TMS systems, delivering 10-25% cost savings (usually on top of legacy planning systems) while enhancing service quality and reliability through deep insights into customer preferences and behavior.  

 2. How do you see the future of the market, and what opportunities are there for Cargoful? 

In logistics, precision is paramount – imagine that a single incorrect transportation planning decision can stop production sites, costing companies millions of € per minute. The sector demands powerful, precise technologies that deliver accurate solutions with minimal margin for error - and this need has intensified post-COVID, as businesses have developed an unprecedented focus on transportation control and ownership. Enterprise-grade readiness of these AI-native software is what will drive the upcoming new wave of innovation in supply-chain tech. 

We are navigating a fast-evolving landscape that will continue to grow in importance over the next 2-10 years. While tools based on data analysis and machine learning are starting to deliver impressive results for businesses, we’re also nearing a pivotal moment where also newer AI applications (like large language models) will become reliable enough for enterprise usage. At Cargoful, we focus on creating such AI-powered solutions to bring significant value rapidly and safely to our clients. Furthermore, our approach keeps humans at the center of decision-making, enhancing their roles and empowering teams with smarter, more efficient tools. 

3. Cargoful has an impressive portfolio of enterprise clients, including Procter & Gamble, Bindi and Forno D’Asolo. What does it take to work successfully with large enterprise clients? 

For sure, we have been lucky - especially in intercepting the right visionary professionals who believed in us and gave us the opportunity to show the untapped potential they were curious to seize and capture within their companies. We actively engage by reaching out, attending industry events, and always listening carefully to the challenges faced by companies, leading with insights whenever we see potential to solve their problems with our technology. 

Then it's about structure: proving the business case with clear impact numbers and feasibility assessment (ideally involving the client team with a short POC). This involves being frank, transparent, and extremely precise - showcasing what the solution can add to the prospect in terms of impact, speed, and drive to make the change. 

And finally, there are all the intangibles related to professional trust and respect. We focus on building genuine relationships with professionals, helping clients see us as strategic partners, combining technical expertise with a people-centered approach to turn opportunities into impact. 

Cargoful services

4. Cargoful was part of the second batch of the Acceleration Program at B4i. What impact do you think this experience had on your startup? 

The B4i Acceleration Program was a transformative experience for Cargoful at a time when we had only a few clients but a strong drive to make change happen. 

First, we got to know and share our journey with Sasha, Nico, and the entire B4i team - outstanding individuals and professionals we feel we can rely on at each phase of our growth and development. That's invaluable when you find yourself as first-time founders entering the startup arena. We are extremely thankful. Furthermore, the program dramatically expanded our understanding of the startup ecosystem, dynamics, and best practices. We gained insights into the space, market dynamics, and how to effectively communicate our value proposition, especially to funds and stakeholders. Finally, we built a powerful network. B4i connected us with mentors and potential investors, creating an ecosystem of opportunities. These connections have been instrumental in our understanding, iterations, and growth, opening doors we couldn't have imagined before the program.   

5. Life as a founder isn’t easy. Can you share with our community of entrepreneurs the lessons you’ve learned along the way? 

DO 

• Sell. Get out of the building and make things happen. Speak with customers, explore and actively listen, being always resourceful. Do POC both to sell your product and to understand more, get nuances or just understand how people think. 

• Persevere when you get slapped in the face. People will not always understand you, respect you, or acknowledge the hours you put into what you are showing. They may be rude, disrespectful, or - simply - ignore you. Not letting yourself down - especially psychologically - is paramount to distinguish value from noise and to shape your road to impact. 

• Deliver. Always keep your Do/Say ratio to the max. Manage expectations on client's side (both internally and externally) is critical to build trust-based relationships. 

DON’T 

• Prioritize raising money over building & selling what's needed. Investors are a lever that helps you get where you want, but they are not in control. They will not substitute you in tough choices or build your product for you. It's up to you to deliver the right solution that solves the right problem, hire the right people, and make the calls when needed. Investors can facilitate, but you are always in the driver's seat - and know your business and priorities better than anyone else. Don't assume otherwise. 

• Assume it’s going to be fancy and a 50m sprint. Things will take more time and effort than expected (also 5-10x). Positioning will change, products will evolve, landscape will be shaken up (more than a) few times. You’ll get more problems to solve than successes to celebrate. It’s going to be hard, and it’s fine like that - but you need to be prepared. 

• Be afraid of uncertainty.  There will be unexpected issues and hardly predictable interactions, usually accompanied by a large degree of randomness and awkwardness (both internally and externally). In the end, in many situations, you will need to make choices through thick fog and with uncertainty factors that cannot be clarified. I believe this state should not be feared but accepted - and being okay with uncertainty (and sometimes being-ok-with-not-being-okay) is a key state of mind to have in order to make it through the pond alive.