Xeneta Summit 2025 — Day Two Recap

Xeneta’s Ocean and Air Freight Summit, hosted at Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower, Spain, has come to a close – and what an event it’s been! A huge thank you to our customers, partners and old friends who joined us to share ideas, challenge perspectives, and shape the future of freight. Together, we’re transforming how freight is bought and sold.

Whether you missed day two or simply want to revisit the key insights, here’s a quick recap — plus a look ahead to next year’s milestone: the 2026 Xeneta Summit.

Day one takeaways can be found here.

Day Two

Looking ahead to the future of freight

Eloisa Tovee opened day two of the Summit with a high-energy welcome address, exploring how curiosity, collaboration, and a willingness to challenge old habits are driving the industry forward. Drawing on reflections from day one — from evolving procurement behaviors to the power of real-time data — she reminded the audience that change isn’t just coming, it’s already here.

"Xeneta opens people up to a whole world of crowdsourced intelligence that allows you to layer complementary datasets, in real-time, so you get the whole picture, and not just a freight cost.

Its granularity strips away assumptions about what you think you know and instead, gives you enriched data that you can trust and act on."

Next up, we welcomed Marie-Pierre Rogers, Henri Le Gouis, and Emily Stausbøll to the stage to explore the importance of resilience amid ongoing volatility and disruption. Through powerful real-world examples — including Stausbøll's achievement as the 16th and youngest person to complete the 72.5km swim from Château Chillon to Geneva — the panel highlighted how the same mindset that drives personal endurance also fuels professional success.

As Stausbøll noted:

“It takes time to reach something. For instance, indexing isn’t a new concept, but often people don’t know where to start. So ask yourself, what is the first step of this, and then build and build and build on that”

The panel also emphasized that true resilience isn’t built alone. It comes from teamwork — from surrounding yourself with people who challenge, support, and push you forward. Whether in open water, or global logistics, preparation and partnership remain the ultimate competitive advantage. To Le Gouis' point:

“You are obliged to find solutions, but you are not obliged to be the only one finding solutions”

Next, Shubham Bhattacharya, Xeneta Lead Product Manager, led a session demonstrating how Xeneta helps customers turn comprehensive data points across different areas into actionable insights they can use to inform their strategy going forward. The session showed just how powerful data can be in boosting efficiency, responding to change, and unlocking insights when it’s used in the most appropriate and impactful way. In Bhattacharya's own words:

"Xeneta’s journey started with rates benchmarking-data powering charts, excels and reports. Along the way, we learned that customers need more actionable insights and faster speed. And so we’ve been transitioning to make this platform like a butler for you. Helping you go from Data to Decisions swiftly."

To demonstrate how this comes to life for customers, Bhattacharya invited Uday Bundelkhandi and Saowen Yen to the stage to share how their teams are using Xeneta to anticipate change and strengthen resilience in an unpredictable market. Yen explained:

“We don’t have a crystal ball, we can’t see everything coming. But [with Xeneta] we can see one of the biggest factors that will impact the market, and then we can adjust our strategy and work out how resilient we have to be”

What does 2026 have in store?

To round off the Summit, Xeneta experts Emily Stausbøll (Senior Shipping Analyst), Peter Sand (Chief Shipping Analyst), Niall van de Wouw (Chief Airfreight Officer), and Wenwen Zhang (Lead for Airfreight Development and Analyses) took to the stage to deliver the Ocean and Air Freight Market Outlooks for 2026.

Together, the team offered a data-driven, forward-looking perspective on what lies ahead for supply and demand dynamics, freight costs, and global trade lanes – along with actionable recommendations to help shippers and forwarders prepare for the year to come.

Ocean Freight

Stausbøll kicked off with a reflection on ocean freight’s record-breaking year:

“May last year saw more than 16 million TEUs moved in a single month. This is something that had never happened before, and it’s happened eight times since.”

Her insights highlighted just how extraordinary today’s shipping volumes are, underscoring the scale and pace of change facing global logistics.

Peter Sand expanded on the capacity outlook:

“There is a record order book for new ships which will pile on the pressure for carriers in 2026, 2027 and 2028 and further play into the hands of shippers who will point to overcapacity in the market to negotiate more competitive freight contracts."

He also emphasized that shippers should understand which carriers hold the largest fleets and orderbooks, and who is most exposed to evolving risks such as USTR port fees, and use that intelligence to sharpen their procurement strategies.

When it came to the US-China power struggle, Stausbøll warned that this will rage on into 2026, with trade once again becoming weaponized and shippers caught in the middle – whether that is the financial implications of tariffs between the US and China or disruption caused by the US and China fighting over maritime infrastructure.

For those interested in exploring these insights further, Tobias and I are hosting a dedicated 2026 Ocean Freight Outlook Webinar at the end of this month — register now, by clicking on the banner below, to join the discussion and get a deeper dive into what’s next.

Air Freight

Turning to the airfreight outlook, Zhang walked the audience through the six key factors shaping air cargo demand in 2025:

Supply chain disruptions
The US de minimis ban
China + X manufacturing expansion
US import tariffs
US + X consumption trends
AI-related investments

And posed a critical question: How long can airlines continue to outperform what these fundamentals suggest?

Closing the session, van de Wouw drew a fitting comparison to the forces shaping the year ahead:

“Just like gravity, the projected 2026 demand and supply growth suggests air cargo rates are likely to come down.”

With demand growth expected to trail capacity expansion, shippers will look to take advantage of the resulting downward pressure on rates by securing more long-term contracts — locking in predictability while the market softens.

At the same time, forwarders will be focused on expanding their market share to sustain growth in a relatively flat volume environment. Together, these dynamics are likely to drive contract rates between shippers and forwarders even lower, adding fresh complexity to commercial relationships.

As van de Wouw noted, this raises an important question for the future of the industry:

Will index-linked contracts finally gain traction in air freight?

While the post-pandemic market has seen airlines and forwarders become more transactional in nature, the potential for data-driven, flexible contracting models — similar to what’s emerging in ocean freight — could help both sides navigate the next cycle with greater stability and trust.

Closing Reflections

The final session of the day came from Fabio Brocca, Chief Product Officer, who joined Patrik Berglund, Xeneta CEO and Co-founder, to officially close the Summit and announce the 10th Xeneta Summit, taking place November 5–6, 2026, in Munich.

Reflecting on the past two days, Brocca shared:

“Summit for me feels like going home — meeting old friends, talking with our customers, learning from all of you. I’m deeply grateful to be able to showcase the work of many months in front of the biggest brands in the world. Xeneta is truly something special.”

Thank you to everyone who made this Summit so meaningful

A heartfelt thank you to all our speakers, sponsors, and panelists who shared their expertise during the Summit. You gave us invaluable insight, and, more importantly, the tools to turn that insight into confident action for 2026.

And to everyone who attended — thank you for your energy, curiosity, and commitment to transforming how freight is bought and sold.

We can’t wait to see you again next year in Munich, for what will be a milestone celebration — the 10th edition of the Xeneta Summit.