This post was originally published on LinkedIn by our co-founder and CEO, Akash Gupta. Connect with or follow Akash here for more insightful content.
As I sit reflecting on 2024, one event takes the cake.
It was late November, and I found myself stepping into a bustling fulfillment center halfway across the globe. The air was electric—a hum of bots glided across the floor, teams huddled around dashboards, and the clock slowly, yet quickly ticked towards yet another record-breaking Black Friday and peak season for GreyOrange.
For over a decade, I’ve been immersed in the world of peak season logistics, but this time felt different. This was my first peak season as CEO of GreyOrange, and the experience reshaped my understanding of leadership and our true impact on the global supply chain ecosystem.
The first eight years of GreyOrange were all about getting the foundation right. As CTO, I was in the trenches with our teams, designing and deploying robotic systems that visibly transformed how warehouses operate. Each peak season became a proving ground for our technology—a chance to test, learn, and iterate. Each peak season experience reinforced in me the value of precision, resilience, and a relentless focus on customer success.
My very first US peak season—Disney in 2019—was an eye-opener. It was our first-ever large-scale peak operation in the US. The site had gone live in June, running 225 bots for the very first time. From shipping 5,000 items a day when we started to scale up to 40,000 units a day during peak season, I got my first real taste of what peak season truly looks like.
I spent 40 to 50 days in the warehouse, working directly on the floor. This hands-on immersion gave me invaluable insights into what really matters during peak season: understanding when to prioritize throughput versus SLAs, and the critical role automation plays in maintaining that balance. It also sparked ideas for the algorithms we needed to prioritize for the future.
Fast forward to today, our sites are now shipping over 200,000 items per day during peak—a 5x scale achieved within five years. From one warehouse in 2019, we’ve grown to operate tens of warehouses at that scale. That season taught me the fundamentals of building scalable systems and set the stage for the innovations that followed.
Transitioning to the CEO role brought with it new challenges and opportunities. My work was no longer just about technology but more so about the people, our business strategy, and the bigger impact we create on the world. Leading through this peak season required a new lens – one that balanced path-breaking innovation with operational resilience. More on that below.
This year, GreyOrange delivered results on an unprecedented scale.
Day of Black Friday: We fulfilled over 405,000 orders and over 2 million items in just one day, breaking all previous records.
These numbers tell a story of scale, but behind them is something even more extraordinary: the cutting-edge innovation AND our team’s unparalleled resilience that made this all possible. Our GreyMatter orchestration platform seamlessly integrated some of the most advanced robotic systems from top vendors across the world. These systems, powered by our software, operated with unmatched efficiency, making over 83.9 million real-time decisions to meet service level agreements and adapt to dynamic demand.
Across the globe, GreyMatter orchestrated 10+ different types of bots traversed a staggering 6.1 million feet in November alone — the equivalent of 46 laps around the Earth.
Standing on a warehouse floor, I was mesmerized by what we had achieved in a little over a decade of this company. The immense sense of pride came, not just from the industry-leading technology we had built, but also from the teams we had, who brought it all to life within a perfect, organized chaos.
This peak season I saw that it isn’t just a test of systems; it’s a test of our people. As I traveled across continents, visiting our sites in North America, Europe, and Asia, each warehouse reinforced the value of the human side of our work. Operators continuously optimizing workflows, engineers fine-tuning algorithms, and customers relying on us to deliver for their businesses.
At a healthcare fulfillment center in the U.S., our teams faced a sudden surge in demand and quickly collaborated with the customer to implement a last-minute operational tweak. I call it a tweak because that’s all it took – an adjustment that unlocked critical capacity, ensuring that essential medical supplies reached patients on time. It was a staunch reminder of why we do what we do—technology enabling outcomes that truly matter.
Another memory that stands out was when I was visiting an automotive hub in Europe. GreyMatter orchestrated multiple robotic systems to handle complex inventory challenges. Seeing our platform’s intelligence in action—adapting in real-time to shifting priorities—was a testament to the power of automation at scale.
During my visits this peak season, I was struck by the adaptability of our omnichannel warehouses. At one site, I witnessed how our systems seamlessly flexed between e-commerce and retail priorities. In the weeks leading up to Black Friday, the focus was on retail—ensuring stores received winter and Christmas collections on time. As Black Friday approached, operations pivoted to handle the surge in e-commerce demand, enabling record-breaking fulfillment rates.
Then, just as quickly, our systems transitioned back to retail in preparation for the Christmas and New Year rush. Seeing this adaptability firsthand reinforced the power of GreyMatter’s dynamic orchestration. It’s not just about meeting the demands of today but anticipating and preparing for the complexities of tomorrow. Moments like this exemplify the balance of technology and strategy that defines our success.
This peak season deepened my appreciation for the interplay between technology, people, and strategy. As a CTO, I celebrated innovation. As a CEO, I’ve come to understand that leadership is about empowering teams, forging global partnerships, and setting a vision that inspires.
Having gone through this journey, I’m filled with gratitude – for the incredible teams at GreyOrange, for our customers who trust us to deliver year after year, and for the partners who push us to be better. This year’s achievements weren’t just milestones; they were stepping stones towards a future where impossibilities become possible as we continue to work together.
The retail and supply chain industries are on the cusp of transformation, and GreyOrange is proud to have front-row seats to the grand unveiling. I invite all industry leaders to join us in shaping a future where technology and collaboration drive new benchmarks for success in an omnichannel future.