2026: The Year Ahead with DHL Supply Chain CEO Mark Kunar

In this episode, join Mark Kunar, CEO at DHL Supply Chain, as he shares findings from Insight 2030, including the growing role of AI, robotics, and automation in shaping the future of logistics. Mark also discusses how DHL is staying ahead of cybersecurity threats and maintaining a customer-centric approach.  

Transcript

00:00:08:20 - 00:00:32:14
Speaker 1
Welcome to All Business No Boundaries, a collection of supply chain stories by DHL Supply Chain, the North American leader in contract logistics. I'm your host, Will Heywood. This is a place for in-depth discussions on the difference DHL makes on your supply chain challenges. Today's episode is 2026: The Year Ahead with DHL Supply Chain CEO Mark Kunar. Let's dive in.

00:00:32:16 - 00:00:46:12
Speaker 1
Mark, welcome back to the All Business. No Boundaries. podcast. Great to have you here. We'll start off like we always do. I'm going to ask you to introduce yourself, full name. Your title and role. The company your with. And how long you've been here?

00:00:46:14 - 00:00:59:23
Speaker 2
Thanks. Thanks. Will, thank you. I'm glad to be back. And, so, Mark Kunar, I'm the, CEO of DHL Supply Chain North America, and I've been with the company for nearly 30 years.

00:00:59:23 - 00:01:19:00
Speaker 1
And you've been with us before. But this is your first time as CEO of DHL Supply Chain North America. So first of all, congratulations there. Thank you. I know a lot of people are excited for you. As you step into that role, I wondered if you could share with the listeners sort of, how the transition has been going.

00:01:19:02 - 00:01:25:08
Speaker 1
What's exciting to you about the role? And where you see the biggest challenges coming up ahead?

00:01:25:09 - 00:01:44:10
Speaker 2
Yeah. So, it's been really exciting. It's, to use a sports analogy. The first time you try to hit, you know, a fast ball, and you crank up the,  miles per hour on the fast ball. It felt like I was hitting, you know, beyond what I could for the first couple of months.

00:01:44:10 - 00:02:16:07
Speaker 2
And now the ball is slowing down a little bit and been able to connect. So it's been good. You know, overall, I'm just I'm, I continue to be extremely excited about just the opportunities. So huge opportunities with our customers. I still see, you know, how we can continue to, to help them improve their supply chains and, and every day we talk to a customer and they say, well, I didn't know that you guys did that as well.

00:02:16:07 - 00:02:38:11
Speaker 2
So the breadth of services that we're able to provide customers is still, somewhat unknown and, and exciting that we're able to do that. And then also, you know, probably most importantly, the people, you know. So everywhere I go, I continue to meet people that are the best in their industry. And, whether that's a number of our customers.

00:02:38:11 - 00:02:49:07
Speaker 2
But, really, more importantly, our associates and, you know, it's amazing to me. Everywhere I turn, I see an expert in a different area.

00:02:49:10 - 00:03:08:22
Speaker 1
So I wondered, if you could share with us a little bit. You spent the last year plus as, chief financial officer, which was a new role for you as well. And I wonder what that experience was like and then how that, has helped you or hindered you in terms of making the transition to the the Chief Executive role?

00:03:09:00 - 00:03:38:15
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think every experience gives you a little bit of something that you bring in into the role. I think, where it's helped me so far is it's given me the ability to, to have that background and not have to worry about it. So I feel like I've, I've kind of prepped the financial side, of the business, for the last year and, and then as I'm kind of working through some other things organizationally, I've got that in the background, which is nice.

00:03:38:17 - 00:04:02:12
Speaker 2
It also, gave me an opportunity to, to really kind of understand where, the profit pools were organizationally, you know, where the opportunities are. We did a lot of work on market sizing and, and white spaces, that we can continue to, to go after. So, it's giving me that opportunity to kind of take that into the new role.

00:04:02:14 - 00:04:17:13
Speaker 1
One of the comments I've heard you make a couple times, with a variety of audiences, is a is around operation, operations, operational excellence. I wondered if you could share a little bit your thoughts about that topic.

00:04:17:14 - 00:04:44:15
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think, you know, we we've grown up for over the last 30 years or so, really focusing on operational execution. I think it's what's, given us the right to grow with our customers. And I still think that's that's the case, you know, but but overall, I think we've taken it to another level from the standpoint of, you know, for years, our customers always wanted to talk to us about continuous improvement.

00:04:44:15 - 00:05:19:12
Speaker 2
And what are you doing there? Innovation. I think, those have been woven into, our operating platforms so that, you know, our teams understand that, customers no longer have to ask about continuous improvement. It's it's just part of our DNA. So whether it's whether it's that, whether it's innovation and bringing the newest technologies to supply chain, because we're often piloting many of the new technologies that come around, or just the day to day service execution that you have to do in this business.

00:05:19:12 - 00:05:26:00
Speaker 2
It continues to be the foundation for what I think is, is a very strong and resilient company.

00:05:26:02 - 00:05:45:08
Speaker 1
Yeah. And maybe a couple words about the scale of the business, because I think that's one of the things when you think about the operational execution, then you think about sort of how broad it is. Just tell us sort of the size of the business that you're running. Number of people, number of facilities, kind of how that how that shakes out.

00:05:45:09 - 00:06:17:20
Speaker 2
Yeah. So over 600 facilities spread throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Over 42,000 associates that, that call DHL, their, their family. So, very proud of that. And, you know, the, the sheer scale from the standpoint of a number of business sectors, that we focus on, you know, from Tech, Consumer, Life Sciences, Automotive, Engineering, Manufacturing.

00:06:17:22 - 00:06:29:06
Speaker 2
So, many of those we, we intentionally focus on the services and requirements of customers in those spaces because often their needs are very similar.

00:06:29:08 - 00:06:44:16
Speaker 1
Yeah. So you and I have worked together a long time, but, you know, when you kind of lay out the scale of that business, I know your capabilities, but that's, that's a daunting task. As a leader. You know, how, is that intimidating to you? I mean, how do you think about that as you drive into work every day?

00:06:44:18 - 00:06:50:04
Speaker 1
All of those associates, all of those customers. It's a lot to. It seems like a lot to me.

00:06:50:05 - 00:07:16:11
Speaker 2
Yeah. So the, you know, the care and well-being and the safety of our associates is probably the heaviest on my heart. You know, every day making sure that our associates go home, every day safe. So that is probably number one concern, that that, keep me up at night type scenario. So, I'm, I'm really happy about how we continue to make progress every day.

00:07:16:17 - 00:07:42:11
Speaker 2
We won't stop, until we have zero incidents in our business, and that's, we need to have that mentality going into our operations every day. But just, you know, overall, from a customer standpoint, our customers rely on us, every day to execute, to deliver. And, you know, our failure would cause, you know, serious harm to our customers.

00:07:42:11 - 00:07:55:12
Speaker 2
So I think we just need to continue to make sure we understand that, we're a significant part of our customers, partnership and ecosystem. And we need to continue to recognize that.

00:07:55:14 - 00:08:00:05
Speaker 1
How do you and your team stay close to customers?

00:08:00:07 - 00:08:31:20
Speaker 2
Well, we have, you know, we have a very robust account management process, QBRs, a number of different things that we do, from a day to day, basis. But I think where really the rubber meets the road is, is at the day to day floor level of, us giving feedback to our customers about what we're seeing, what we're seeing in their truck, what we're seeing, and in as far as kind of the, the packaging requirements that they're, they're asking us to execute against.

00:08:31:22 - 00:08:54:01
Speaker 2
So, while, the top to tops are really important and, and we have to do those to make sure that we're staying aligned with customers, that day to day feedback of what we're seeing, on the floor, in our trucks and, and, you know, in our, in our service areas and, and service centers is what's most important.

00:08:54:01 - 00:09:22:08
Speaker 1
I think. The market overall, you talked about, you know, in your CFO or strategy roles, thinking about white spaces, and growth areas. I wanted to start with maybe the customer environment today because 2025 has been a turbulent year, economically speaking. Are you seeing, patterns, sort of across the board or are you seeing distinctions from one, industry sector to another?

00:09:22:10 - 00:09:26:11
Speaker 1
How are customers sort of faring through, through these times?

00:09:26:13 - 00:09:57:01
Speaker 2
Well, I guess what I would say is, is most customers are, evaluating how they continue to become leaner, overall, you know, with, with tariff, trade disruptions, with, macroeconomic, concerns around growth. Generally, I see customers focused on how do we get lean, efficient, how do we make sure that the investments that we've made in technology and, and digitalization, how are we making sure those pay off?

00:09:57:03 - 00:10:08:00
Speaker 2
So, customers are challenging themselves as to the investments that they've made. How do we leverage those? How do we make those, give us more resilient supply chains?

00:10:08:02 - 00:10:29:09
Speaker 1
So I know, DHL had commissioned a study recently, where we interviewed, some executives, sort of a broad batch of executives, interested in your initial observations on some of the feedback that came through there? And how is that informing? You know, your leadership of the the DHL team?

00:10:29:11 - 00:10:53:22
Speaker 2
Yeah, there was a number of things that came out of that. I think cybersecurity came out, pretty loud and clear. And, you know, obviously it's it's always something in the back of our mind, you know, we're, you know, continue to invest, continuing to move more of our platforms to the cloud. And, and, and really leveraging many of the hyperscalers in the security that they're able to offer us.

00:10:54:00 - 00:11:29:06
Speaker 2
From that standpoint, but also just the amount of investment that's been made over the last 3 to 5 years in technology and digitalization. And, and the thought that there's more to come in those areas. So, only about 40% of, C-level and VPs, Directors, those individuals that, that are focused on their on what's happening on the day to day standpoint in their supply chains are comfortable that they've, they've, put the right amount of robotics, automation, digitalization and technology.

00:11:29:06 - 00:12:03:18
Speaker 2
So it it really said that to me that there's going to continue to be investments in that space. But they're looking for ROI as well. So we have to make sure that as we're looking at investments in technology that the ROI are there, for them. And I think, you know, having scale as a 3PL, you know, gives us kind of that unique opportunity to help customers with that because, you know, they they may be looking at robotics as a one and done solution for, for one of their facilities.

00:12:03:20 - 00:12:12:12
Speaker 2
We're really looking at robotics that are able to scale across, you know, ten, fifteen hundred different locations. That make sense.

00:12:12:14 - 00:12:39:08
Speaker 1
Yeah. Related to the buzzword of the time is artificial intelligence and a lot of, hype and, and activity around, around that subject, you know, how do you keep the organization focused in a constructive way, around, AI? How's the team pursuing different artificial intelligence technologies?

00:12:39:10 - 00:13:01:13
Speaker 2
Yeah. So, just like a number of the technologies over the last 3 to 5 years, you know, we have teams that are focused on developing pilots, looking at the the newest technologies in those areas, running them through the funnel to, to see which ones come out. And as I was saying earlier, do have an ROI associated with them.

00:13:01:15 - 00:13:21:04
Speaker 2
But AI is a bit different because I think people are still imagining what it can do. From that standpoint, I think robotics is pretty simple in that, you look at repetitive tasks and, and generally people look at those and say, yeah, I can get a robot, to help me with that repetitive task.

00:13:21:06 - 00:13:54:08
Speaker 2
I think with the AI, I think it's still so new that people are kind of trying to figure out what it means to them and how does it make me more efficient in doing my work. So I think on the agentic side, I think there's tremendous opportunity. You know, I've continued to talk to my teams about the fact that, you know, forecasting, planning, those are the areas that probably are going to have the largest impact on our business, make us more efficient, drive to a better, scenario for our customers.

00:13:54:14 - 00:14:15:04
Speaker 2
I know our customers. Even in the Insights 2030, you know, customers, cited the fact that, the changing demands of their business are really what drives instability. And so, if we can begin to get ahead of some of the planning and forecasting around, the base businesses, we can handle the fluctuations much better.

00:14:15:06 - 00:14:33:04
Speaker 1
So back to the cybersecurity topic. I've been surprised to see that the logistics industry is one of the bigger, bigger targeted industries in the market. Why is that? And what are what's DHL and, I mean, maybe some industry peers doing about it?

00:14:33:06 - 00:14:57:07
Speaker 2
I think the target just has to do with just the sheer number of connections that that the logistics industry has with end consumers. And, I think that just opens up a number of vulnerability points that that exist. So, our, our business is known for that sheer mass number of transactions that occur every, every day. So I think that's what drives some of it.

00:14:57:07 - 00:15:23:03
Speaker 2
But, you know, from a day to day standpoint, you know, it is something that continues to be, something that we have to put on the front. And our focus, you know, we, we look at how do we how are we going to protect our customers? You know, we have continuity plans on what happens if one of our customers is attacked, really proud of the way our teams react

00:15:23:05 - 00:15:47:14
Speaker 2
when that happens. We continue to, to monitor, you know, from an outside standpoint, you know, how does the external world look at us from a cyber security standpoint? You know, I'm happy to say that our Bitsight score is 760, most recently out of 820. You know, our competitive set is, is somewhere around six, 660.

00:15:47:17 - 00:16:10:04
Speaker 2
So, I do think that we're outperforming the industry overall from that standpoint. But it, it comes with investing in, 24/7 cybersecurity defense centers and, things that we have to continue to look at every day, to make sure that we're keeping our ourselves as well as our customers safe.

00:16:10:05 - 00:16:31:11
Speaker 1
Yeah. Great. So we're recording towards the end of 2025, and I wondered if you could kind of comment on the performance of the business overall, this year. And then you're a CEO, not a fortune teller. But for 2026, what are you anticipating? And, how do you see that year developing, at least in the first half?

00:16:31:13 - 00:17:08:11
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I would say, you know, overall, from this year's standpoint, what we experienced is our customers volumes have been, somewhat lighter than 2024. And 2024 was lighter than 2023, especially in the consumer space. So we're seeing some of that slowness, you know, come through. Overall, I'm really proud of how our teams have reacted and continued to, to drive productivity savings, through our businesses and, and have been able to respond to customers, as they're changing as their demands have, have changed.

00:17:08:13 - 00:17:37:07
Speaker 2
So a little bit light. I would anticipate, I feel like next year is going to be pretty flat, to this year. And, you know, we're going into the year assuming that that will be the case. You know, I think Q3, Q4, I think will be kind of an interesting, time period next year, you know, will we take, another climb, you know, kind of, through there or will it be flat again to, to 2025?

00:17:37:08 - 00:17:46:02
Speaker 2
But generally, you know, I think, we're anticipating volumes to be very similar in 2026 as what they were in 2025.

00:17:46:04 - 00:17:54:21
Speaker 1
And dialing back out here now on the global board. Is the picture similar in other operating regions or what's the world look like?

00:17:54:21 - 00:18:22:04
Speaker 2
Yeah very similar in in other areas I think you know, we started the year and I think, many companies, held back on investment decisions based on not understanding kind of what the tariff and, and trade situation was going to look like. This year, I think they're starting to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Because I think that's going to occur, this year, next year, maybe for the next three years.

00:18:22:04 - 00:18:50:00
Speaker 2
Yeah. And, and I think people are just going to have to learn to deal with that. I think DHL is in a great position to help companies deal with that. We've been you know, this isn't our first rodeo when it comes to trade and customs. We've done it for a long time. We understand that business and we're reacting and, you know, really as quick or quicker than, than anybody in this space to help our customers, continue to trade freely, between, regions.

00:18:50:02 - 00:19:07:05
Speaker 2
So, you know, overall it globally same type of picture. Yeah. You know, the the trade lanes are changing throughout the world. And some of them are, are more robust than they were in the past. And then some flows into the U.S are lighter.

00:19:07:07 - 00:19:29:16
Speaker 1
Great. So 30 years at DHL about, that's that's a long time and you've seen a lot and I just wonder as you reflect on, your time here, what have been some of the things that I don't know, you've, you've liked or been pleasant surprises or what keeps you here? Just kind of tell us something about that.

00:19:29:16 - 00:19:52:16
Speaker 2
Yeah. So it's, it's been, a very fun ride. Overall. And I think the one thing that the DHL has always provided me is a new opportunity to learn. You know, if I look back at the number of roles that I've had over that 30 year period, it definitely has been, you know, something very rewarding for me.

00:19:52:18 - 00:20:16:13
Speaker 2
And I got the opportunity to, to make mistakes. I got the opportunity to lead large teams, and that's that's really neat. And, I got the opportunity to do things that that I never thought I would in, in my career. I started as an accounting major and, and, after a couple of years, I knew I didn't want to do that anymore.

00:20:16:15 - 00:20:50:19
Speaker 2
And so, it's been real exciting to, to have a really broad career, in logistics. And the nice thing is, is really, over the last five years, the importance of supply chain and logistics has really changed. You know, and I think that was brought about by COVID. And people realized that, you know, having a very resilient, cost-effective supply chain is a differentiator when it comes to your ability to service your customers and, and really drive long-term growth within your, your organization.

00:20:50:19 - 00:21:08:22
Speaker 2
So, it's been neat to see how that has changed, you know, really over that 30 year period from, you know, you would tell people you worked in logistics and they'd ask you what that was. To today, if you say I work in supply chain, they, they want to ask you about, trade tariffs and a bunch of other things.

00:21:09:00 - 00:21:20:14
Speaker 1
Yeah. And so play that out for sort of the younger people in both our business and then the, the industry overall. What are you seeing from a talent mix, perspective?

00:21:20:16 - 00:21:53:06
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think, many, engineering schools, many business schools are continuing to, to really recognize that supply chain is an important area to focus in. And, and we're seeing more and more programs that are specifically targeted towards, you know, supply chain logistics and, the professionalism of those programs continues to increase. So we hire, you know, somewhere around 200 interns a year.

00:21:53:08 - 00:22:18:17
Speaker 2
We have between 200 and 250, new hires every year that are direct college graduates. So we continue to see opportunities, in that space. I think the nature of the graduates has changed. It used to be mainly focused on operations. But now, you know, we have finance, you know, data analytics,

00:22:18:19 - 00:22:30:00
Speaker 2
IT. We hire a kind of broad brush of a number of different types of careers. And, and with the elevation of supply chain, people see as an exciting place to be.

00:22:30:02 - 00:22:35:19
Speaker 1
So your learning rate right now, in the 30 years, is it at an all time high?

00:22:35:20 - 00:22:58:06
Speaker 2
Certainly is. You know, there's, and it's and it's different if you focus on a number of different things. So, you know, the first, couple of months, it was focused on just getting my, my feet under me from, from understanding what the job was. And, and today, I'm really focused on continuing to drive the culture of the organization in the right direction.

00:22:58:06 - 00:23:21:17
Speaker 2
And, and, this, this business goes because we have the best people. And, we need to make sure that we're providing a, an environment where people want to come and work and, they want to, they're knocking at the door to get in, and, and we want to make sure that we're that right employer, Employer of Choice, for, for our associates.

00:23:21:17 - 00:23:25:10
Speaker 2
So, real exciting time to be here.

00:23:25:12 - 00:23:31:11
Speaker 1
So maybe, maybe we can conclude on culture. How would you describe the DHL Supply Chain culture?

00:23:31:11 - 00:24:01:10
Speaker 2
Oh, geez. That's tough. I always tell people it is really difficult to to put your, to, to explain what culture is. But I can, I can explain some attributes of what that looks like. So, I think we have the, the most innovative supply chain organization globally. I think we're on the leading edge with regard to robotics and how AI is going to impact our business.

00:24:01:11 - 00:24:22:22
Speaker 2
You know, from a, from an overall standpoint, I think that we're a welcoming organization. I think, people are, feel like they can bring their true self to work every day. And, and that's important to us, overall because I think, when people feel welcomed , they're going to give their best, organizationally.

00:24:23:00 - 00:24:48:00
Speaker 2
I think there's a family feeling within DHL. And we really try to focus on that. I think people are invested in, in others' success. And when you can get people, excited about, the success of others, not just themselves, you have something pretty special. So, those are some of the things that come to mind when I, when I think about the culture of DHL.

00:24:48:02 - 00:24:57:13
Speaker 2
But if you're part of the organization, you feel it, and you know what it is. And generally, I think, you know, people enjoy working here.

00:24:57:19 - 00:41:12:01
Speaker 1
Yeah. Great. Well said. Well, thank you for joining. You will be back, I'm sure, and we'll look forward to that. But between now and then, good luck. You know, you have our support and, look forward to the, the months to come. Thank you, Will.

00:41:12:03 - 00:41:19:17
Speaker 1
If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to rate us and subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also listen to our entire library of episodes on our website: DHL.com/ABNBpodcast. See you next time!