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McLeod to add AI assistant, offer voice agents
Software company ramps up internal AI development while expanding partnerships with third-party vendors
Attendees check out the exhibit hall at McLeod Software’s 2026 user conference in Nashville. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics)
Key Takeaways:
- McLeod Software unveiled an AI assistant for LoadMaster and PowerBroker at its 2026 user conference, with release targeted for the fourth quarter.
- McLeod said it added nearly a full AI development department, while about 30 companies have licensed its year-old Respond.AI product.
- McLeod plans voice agents by year-end and a model context protocol server in 2027’s second quarter, alongside expanded third-party AI integrations.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — McLeod Software is rolling out new artificial intelligence capabilities, including a virtual assistant that will come with the next version of its core transportation management system.
The software developer also plans to introduce AI voice agents to automate routine communications.
CEO Tom McLeod outlined these and other investments in AI at the company’s 2026 user conference, which ran Sept. 13-15.
“We have added almost a whole new development department for AI,” he said.
The new McLeod Assistant will enable users to quickly access information in their databases through natural language queries, such as asking for a list of customers in a specific area, rate trend information or help finding a specific bill of lading.
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This AI assistant will be part of McLeod’s base offering in version 26.2 of its LoadMaster and PowerBroker systems. The company is targeting a fourth-quarter release.
McLeod’s voice agents, which it plans to roll out by the end of this year, will help automate certain communications at trucking and brokerage operations.
One example is an AI driver assistant that will provide automated answers to drivers’ questions about their next stop, retrieve a pickup number and handle other routine inquiries that dispatchers would otherwise have to answer manually.
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Also, McLeod has connected AI capability to its CloudIQ business intelligence platform and has added easier access to its McLeod Knowledge Base training materials and “how-to” guides.
In the second quarter of 2027, McLeod plans to introduce a model context protocol server to provide a direct connection with other AI applications.
The latest features expand upon McLeod’s existing Respond.AI capability, which helps organize unstructured data from emails and generates responses to routine interactions, including requests for rate quotes and load status updates.
McLeod said about 30 companies have licensed that product, which has been available for about a year.
During the conference’s opening session, he positioned today’s AI capabilities as the latest leap forward in a long-standing trend toward automating manual workflows, which computers have been doing for at least 40 years in the transportation industry.
When McLeod Software first began installing systems at trucking companies, it was replacing typewriters that staff were using to type freight bills and checks, he said. That eliminated labor-intensive processes and boosted productivity.
“That’s the same thing we are doing with AI,” McLeod said. “We don’t see it as magic. We see it as an extension of what computers have been doing for us for a good while.”
While ramping up its internal AI capabilities, McLeod is partnering with a growing number of third-party developers to connect their AI applications with McLeod’s transportation management software.
“We are also cultivating an AI ecosystem with the other AI-specific vendors that are introducing products and having success in the marketplace,” McLeod said.
Arpan Podduturi of Samsara examines how AI, telematics and onboard cameras are converging to protect drivers and reduce risk. Tune in above or by going to RoadSigns.ttnews.com.
The company has established certified vendor integrations with AI developers Augment, Chain, CloneOps.ai, FleetWorks, Parade and Vooma.
Additional integration partnerships with Pallet, Envoy AI, Hyperscale and Euclid are in the approval and testing process.
McLeod also introduced Mario Moore as its new chief AI officer during the conference.
While only eight weeks into his role at McLeod, Moore said he’s already gotten a clear impression that trucking companies are eager to apply AI to their operations.
“Many of them do not mind at all being on the bleeding edge. They want to try these things,” Moore said during a roundtable discussion with industry press. “There’s certainly an appetite for new technologies and the ability to make their businesses more efficient.”
