Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to this segment of Plugged In with PCS Software. Today I’m joined by Danielle Villegas, CPO of PCS Software. Danielle, how are you?
Good, thank you, Alan. How are you?
I am doing very well. It was great seeing you over the past couple of weeks at your user conferences.
Yes, it was great having Clone Ops there as a sponsor for our regional conferences. I think our clients were very excited to hear about the partnership between PCS and Clone Ops and everything that Voice Agents can do for their organizations.
Today we are going to break down how PCS’s new Cortex AI dispatch agent is powered by CloneOps AI and how we’re helping carriers and brokers reduce empty miles, improve backhaul utilization, and accelerate freight matching.
PCS has been in business for about 30 years, and we’ve had a TMS out there that’s been the system of record for a very long time. We wanted to empower midsize carriers by leveraging 30 years of data and freight applications. The goal was to build AI natively into the application to help customers do more with what they already have. Freight arrives from all over—phone calls, PDFs, emails—so we wanted to make sense of that chaos and point users in the right direction to use their time more efficiently and effectively to generate more revenue.
Dispatching has traditionally been very manual and time-consuming. Freight comes from everywhere, and transportation agreements often arrive as PDFs that must be manually rekeyed into the TMS. Our solution aims to get ahead of this process before the load is created and before dispatching happens. We keep humans in the loop but manage by exception, automating tasks that fit business goals and targets. This allows dispatchers to move from low-value tasks to high-value tasks, increasing margin and revenue.
The agent looks across all lanes and carrier capacity. It sees contracted loads, knows where drivers will be, and uses historical data like rates and products hauled. Our voice agent, powered by Clone Ops, can make outreach calls to shippers or brokers, saying, “We’ve got capacity. We’ll be in this area. We’ve hauled for you before. Can we do that again?” Kora, our voice agent, can make thousands of calls at once, eliminating busy work for dispatchers.
Cortex AI includes a new dispatch manager screen in a modern web-based application. It features an AI-driven dispatch assistant that analyzes 36 data elements to recommend the right driver. The Opportunity Manager evaluates loads before they are created, using customized metrics and benchmarks to prioritize opportunities that meet revenue and margin targets. From there, loads can be created automatically without rekeying.
As the system learns, it can automate decisions entirely, creating loads without user clicks. This “manage by exception” approach frees dispatchers to focus on strategic tasks. Kora also records conversations, embeds transcripts in Cortex, and extracts details like origin, destination, rate, and special instructions to build loads automatically.
Early adopters are seeing benefits such as eliminating rekeying and freeing up resources for more outreach and backhaul planning. Automating minor calls and confirmations helps reduce empty miles and improve margins. Kora is customizable—her script, tone, and handoff options can be tailored to each business. She even provides helpful explanations during conversations, demonstrating true intelligence beyond a simple voice bot.
If you’d like to meet Kora or get a demo, reach out to PCS via our account email. We’re excited to introduce her and continue innovating with AI-powered agents.
Thank you for joining us on this segment of Plugged In, where we showcase what happens when real automation meets real freight operations.
