The full Geneva Dry agenda can be\u00a0accessed here<\/a>.
Geneva Dry registration, at just $920, can be\u00a0accessed here<\/a>.
Special Geneva Dry hotel room rates can be\u00a0found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Ingrid Kylstad, managing director of Klaveness Digital, pulls no punches when asked about the state of technology adoption in dry bulk shipping. Progress is real, she says in conversation with Splash ahead of her return to the Geneva Dry summit next month.<\/p>\n
However, she warns that the industry\u2019s internal structures are still holding it back in ways that have nothing to do with technology itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany technology decisions are still made on budget ownership rather than cross-functional value creation,\u201d Kylstad says. \u201cThe conversation can quickly become about cost lines instead of outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is a friction point she observes repeatedly, even as overall willingness to invest in technology has grown meaningfully. \u201cThere is clearly more willingness to invest than a few years ago, particularly when technology is directly linked to performance, risk management and margin protection,\u201d she says, pointing to strong growth at Klaveness Digital last year as evidence that parts of the market are genuinely moving from experimentation to embedding digital tools in core workflows.<\/p>\n
Geneva Dry always has a unique buzz<\/p>\n
But the pace is uneven. The companies pulling ahead, Kylstad argues, are those that have broken the link between IT budget structures and technology decision-making. \u201cThe companies moving fastest are those that align digital investment with commercial performance, not just IT strategy. When that alignment is there, adoption accelerates significantly and the value comes. The industry just needs to shift focus away from the deciding factor being budget structure, and instead look to long-term value creation logic.\u201d<\/p>\n
She offers a striking example from her own customer base to illustrate the point. \u201cWe recently had a customer go from high double-digit demurrage to single-digit largely as a result of digitalising their workflows over the past two years. That result is a strong commercial outcome from a two-year project \u2013 it\u2019s when you\u2019re looking for value creation overnight when it becomes unrealistic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Expect to hear much more on this topic at Geneva Dry being held on April 28 and 29 at the Hotel President Wilson including the Digital Dry Hard Talk workshop, as well as sessions on risk management, and digital efficiency drivers.<\/p>\n
On artificial intelligence, Kylstad is precise about where the industry stands and where the real step-change lies. \u201cThe biggest shift won\u2019t be a single breakthrough \u2013 it will be AI moving from chat to execution,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re already seeing tools that don\u2019t just analyse or summarise, but start to plug directly into workflows: drafting communications, running scenarios, structuring data, and supporting real commercial decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shipping, she says, has embraced AI\u2019s potential but remains early in operationalising it. Most adoption to date has centred on productivity assistance \u2013 summarising, drafting, searching, basic analytics. \u201cThat\u2019s valuable, but it\u2019s incremental. The real transformation comes when AI is trusted enough, and integrated enough, to support core commercial workflows.\u201d<\/p>\n
She is also direct about what AI cannot do on its own. \u201cThe value comes from combining models with shipping-specific domain logic and high-quality data. Without that context, you risk generating noise rather than insight.\u201d Data sharing remains a sticking point. \u201cThere is still scepticism when it comes to the sharing of data, even in aggregate, and that will inevitably slow down the development of truly relevant and contextualised solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
People show up ready to share perspectives, compare notes and actually do business<\/p>\n
The broader market trend she is watching is stack consolidation. \u201cThe industry is tired of point solutions. The winners will be the tools that integrate cleanly, demonstrate measurable impact, and earn a durable place in the tech stack. We\u2019re moving from fighting for screen time to fighting for infrastructure position, and that is definitely a change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kylstad is clearly energised about returning to Geneva Dry. \u201cGeneva Dry always has a unique buzz. People show up ready to share perspectives, compare notes and actually do business,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Klaveness Digital arrives with momentum, having recently launched the next generation of its flagship product CargoValue and secured new customers across its Pre-Vetting and Emissions Monitoring solutions. \u201cWe are eager to be on the road again showcasing how we\u2019re future-proofing supply chain management for industrials,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
But beyond the pipeline of meetings, it is the quality of conversation that draws her back. \u201cGeneva Dry is one of the few places where you get candid conversations about what\u2019s really happening in the market right now. For me, that exchange of real-time insight is what makes the event stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The full Geneva Dry agenda can be\u00a0accessed here<\/a>.
Geneva Dry registration, at just $920, can be\u00a0accessed here<\/a>.
Special Geneva Dry hotel room rates can be\u00a0found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Geneva-Dry-2026-sponsors-Mar-10-388x1024.jpeg\")
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