CEO Kuehne+Nagel Group | Perspectives on global trade, logistics and resilience.
Feusisberg, Schwyz, Schweiz
39.764 Follower:innen
500+ Kontakte
39.764 Follower:innen
500+ Kontakte
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Global trade has always adapted to change. Today, the pace, scale, and complexity of that change demand a new level of resilience from organisations, societies, and economies. Resilience is no longer a contingency plan. It is a strategic capability and a competitive advantage that drives long-term success.
This is where logistics delivers its greatest value. It keeps global trade moving, strengthens supply chains, and helps customers maintain business continuity under changing conditions. At the same time, technology, especially AI, will continue to reshape our industry and, more generally, the way organisations operate. Lasting advantage will belong to companies that combine AI with strong leadership, judgement, and empowered people. Leadership in this context means above all creating clarity and building teams that can adapt, perform, and grow through uncertainty.
Alongside my role as CEO of Kuehne+Nagel, I contribute to international dialogue on trade, competitiveness, and economic development through board and advisory roles, including the Board of Directors of Zurich Airport Ltd., the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, and the International Business Leaders Advisory Council (IBLAC) for the Mayor of Shanghai.
I enjoy exchanging perspectives on global trade, technology, and how organisations can build resilience in a rapidly changing world.
Aktivitäten
39.764 Follower:innen
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Stefan Paul hat dies geteiltToday, I am deeply saddened by the passing of Klaus-Michael Kühne. It is a moment to pause and reflect on the life of an outstanding entrepreneur and the remarkable impact he had on global logistics. His entrepreneurial outlook was always firmly directed towards the future. He challenged Kuehne+Nagel to think internationally, pursue new opportunities and keep moving forward. The milestones captured in this video reflect that ambition and offer a glimpse into the extraordinary journey that helped shape our company. Yet no collection of milestones can fully capture the extent of his influence. It reaches far beyond Kuehne+Nagel and the logistics industry to the broader legacy he created through his foundation and his engagement in business and society. The Management Board and I are deeply conscious of our responsibility to build on what he set in motion: to remain entrepreneurial, embrace change and continue developing Kuehne+Nagel for the future. We will carry this responsibility forward with great respect for our history and the ambition to write the next chapter of Kuehne+Nagel. My thoughts are with his widow, Christine Kühne.
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Stefan Paul hat dies geteiltStrong execution. Higher expectations for the year. Our teams delivered strong half-year results, supporting customers through geopolitical disruption while driving market share gains, productivity improvements and growth in strategic sectors. Based on the momentum we are seeing across the business, we have raised our expectations for the year. The results announced today reflect the commitment, expertise and resilience of our colleagues around the world. Thank you to all our teams for supporting our customers every day, often in increasingly complex circumstances. We are also accelerating the deployment of AI across Kuehne+Nagel, helping our teams get to insights faster, improve customer service and focus on the areas where human judgement, customer understanding, creativity and leadership create the greatest value. We are investing not only in technology, but also in the capabilities that will help our colleagues succeed in a human-led, AI-assisted future. I also had the opportunity to discuss our Q2 performance and the evolving global trade environment on CNBC's Squawk Box Europe. One of the key takeaways is that, despite continued geopolitical uncertainty, global trade remains resilient and continues to evolve. As supply chains adapt, our focus remains on helping customers navigate change and seize new opportunities. #Q2Results #Growth #Logistics
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Stefan Paul hat dies geteilt+9%. Container exports from Asia to Europe grew by 9% in 2025. Not exactly what many would expect from the headlines. Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to speak at the Efficiency Club in Zurich about the future of global trade in a world shaped by geopolitical tensions, shifting trade policies, and technological change. One takeaway: the narrative of disruption is often stronger than the reality. Trade patterns are changing. Compared to 2024, container exports from China to the US declined by around 20 to 25%. At the same time, container exports from the rest of Asia to the US increased by 10%, while China's overall exports still rose by 6%. This means that global trade is not disappearing. It’s being reconfigured. The demand for connectivity, products, and innovation remains as strong as ever. Global trade is finding new routes, new partners, and new centres of growth. For logistics, understanding these shifts early is what enables resilient supply chains. #GlobalTrade #Growth #SupplyChains
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Stefan Paul hat dies geteiltAt the TECH by Handelsblatt Conference, I spoke about how agentic AI is moving from concept to reality. I started writing about this more than a year ago when it still felt early. Today, we know for certain: #AgenticAI is real, and it is no longer optional. We also know that AI is not primarily about technology or control. It is about leadership. It is about understanding where AI creates value and integrating it into how we work and make decisions. Agentic AI will reshape roles. Some tasks will disappear, others will change fundamentally, and competition will intensify. Success will not be defined by who cuts the most. It will depend on making deliberate choices about where to automate, where human judgment matters most, and where new value can be created. Working with and alongside AI will become part of the new normal. And this is exactly where strategy and change management become critical. Our focus is clear: strengthen our people, sharpen our capabilities and unlock untapped potential for customers and partners. #Technology alone will not differentiate companies. What matters are culture, relationships, judgment, and the ability to perform under pressure when conditions are uncertain. I use AI agents in my daily work and continue learning every day. #Leadership means engaging with this shift directly and helping shape it responsibly. Because AI is not a one-way IT process. It is a shared journey with our customers, partners and colleagues. Thank you Handelsblatt for the great conference.
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Stefan Paul hat dies geteiltOnly from crisis do we emerge stronger. This Chinese saying reflects a way of thinking shaped by decades of continuous change. Not as a disruption to overcome, but as a reality to work with. In many Western discussions, the first reaction to change is hesitation. What are the risks? What might we lose? How do we stay in control? In China, the questions tend to sound different. What comes next? What do we need to learn? How do we prepare for it? ▶️ This is not a question of right or wrong. Just experience that shapes how change is understood. Over the past 40 years, transformation has not been the exception. It has been the norm. Economic shifts, technological progress, societal change. Constant, visible, unavoidable. And that leaves a mark on how people think. For global businesses, this is not just a nuance. It directly steers how decisions are made, how risks are assessed, and how fast organisations move. ▶️ Because the questions we are facing are not regional. They are shared. How do we operate in an environment that does not stand still? How do we prepare for what we cannot fully predict? How do we move forward when certainty is no longer the starting point? In logistics, we see these differences early. Supply chains react immediately to disruption. They show where systems hold, where they adapt, and where mindset becomes a competitive factor. Technology plays a role. Systems do too. But the way we interpret change ultimately determines how we respond to it. This is why Kuehne+Nagel is launching the new season of #WhereNext. Not to explain the world. But to better understand how the world is thinking. Because progress does not begin with answers. It begins with the willingness to see the question differently. If we take these differences seriously, we also need to engage with them. The new season is available here: https://lnkd.in/dK_hNP7c #Crisis #Opportunities #China
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Stefan Paul hat dies geteiltTwo months ago, the Strait of Hormuz rarely featured in the news. Today, it dominates headlines worldwide. And with it, a familiar visualisation: a satellite radar image showing a sharp drop in maritime traffic, vessels clustering at the edges while main shipping lanes remain largely empty. ➡️ The immediate question follows quickly: When will it be safe to pass the Strait again? For us as a global logistics provider, the questions are just as direct. What are the alternative routes? Can we shift from air to sea? When will capacity return? The honest answer is: We don’t know how the political situation will unfold. What we do know is how to support our customers in that uncertainty. And it is in these moments when our role as #logistics provider becomes most tangible. When uncertainty rises, supply chains come under pressure. Routes shift. Capacity tightens. Lead times become less predictable. In practice, this means anticipating disruption early, rerouting flows under pressure, securing capacity, managing customs complexity, and executing reliably when margins for error disappear. What often remains unseen is the human effort behind it. Colleagues assessing risks in real time. Applying judgement. Identifying alternatives. Staying focused on what each customer needs in that moment, often beyond standard processes. In situations like these, it is not about having all the answers. It is about helping customers move forward with clarity, even when the environment is not. That #reliability is what customers depend on, especially when conditions are most demanding. ➡️ Nevertheless, this leads me to reflect on a broader question. Not how we ensure that trade continues to function despite war, but how we avoid accepting war as a new normal. That is not a question for logistics or supply chains to answer. It is a question for politics, and for all of us as societies. #GlobalTrade will continue. It will not remain unchanged. It shifts. It adapts. But it finds new routes, just as it always has. We have seen this before, through pandemics, climate disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and technological change. Supply chains adjust. Businesses adjust. People adjust. But war is different. It does not just disrupt flows. It puts people under continuous stress and puts lives at risk. While we can operate in volatility, we should be careful not to normalise the cause of it.
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Stefan Paul hat dies geteiltThank you. Thank you to our colleagues and customers. I am proud to see Kuehne+Nagel once again ranked worldwide No. 1 in both Sea and Air Logistics volumes. The ranking itself is not the point. What matters is what it reflects. 2025 was demanding for all of us. Market conditions shifted quickly. Competition intensified. Expectations rose. Yet our customers continued to place their #trust in the quality and reliability of our services. And across our global organisation, our teams responded with resilience under demanding circumstances, professionalism, and an unwavering focus on customer needs. In both Sea and Air Logistics, our colleagues managed to navigate complexity with both speed and service quality, supporting critical supply chains and ensuring reliability when it mattered most. Our Contract Logistics business delivered a very strong performance, while our Road Logistics activities showed a clear recovery. These achievements are not about being the best or being No. 1. They are about the reasons behind it. Our customers chose us at a time when supply chains and markets were evolving. We invested in being closer to them, understanding their needs, and delivering solutions that support their success. By strengthening every interaction, we made our services more transparent, more seamless, and more supportive. For us, #CustomerExperience is not an initiative, it is a mindset that creates tangible value. And a key reason why customers choose Kuehne+Nagel. #Partnership is what makes the No. 1 meaningful – and above all, powerful. I am grateful for the trust our customers place in us, and for the dedication our colleagues bring every day to earn and keep that trust.
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Stefan Paul hat dies geteiltEveryone is talking about #AI in logistics. Some still believe logistics is simply about moving goods from A to B. And now headlines around the world are asking: Can logistics be replaced by AI-driven software? The answer is both simple and incomplete. ▶️ AI enables us to process billions of data points in real time. ▶️ It anticipates risk before it materialises. ▶️ It increases transparency across global networks. ▶️ It reduces manual errors while accelerating throughput. In short: AI drives efficiency. And further: There is no future for logistics without AI. But here is the real question: Will AI make supply chains more efficient or more human? Yes, you read correctly: human. Because efficiency alone is not the benchmark. #CustomerExperience is. Let me explain this by looking into the status quo. Already today, we use AI to: Predict more reliable ETAs by real-time recalculation. Detect disruptions earlier allowing for proactive route and capacity planning. Automate end-to-end workflows, reducing manual work, errors, and processing time across core operations. This is not theory, it’s no longer experimental, it’s daily practice. And there is a lot more to come. Yet, what matters most is this: The more powerful AI becomes, the more decisive the #HumanExpertise becomes. In an AI-driven world, customers will not differentiate us by who has access to technology. Technology will become mainstream. Customers will differentiate us by: ▶️ Who explains complexity clearly. ▶️ Who takes ownership when disruption hits. ▶️ Who anticipates consequences, not just data patterns. ▶️ Who acts as a strategic partner, not just a service provider. AI allows us to be faster. Customer experience requires us to be better. The real opportunity for our industry is not to automate relationships but to elevate them. AI can process billions of data points. But trust is built through clarity, reliability, and accountability. Kuehne+Nagel’s ambition is simple: Lead in AI. Lead in customer experience. Because the future of logistics will not be defined by algorithms alone but by how intelligently and responsibly we use them to serve our customers. We’ll share further insights into our AI strategy during the Kuehne+Nagel Conference Call on March 3, 2026.
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Stefan Paul hat dies geteiltAs a Swiss company headquartered just an hour from Davos, the #WEF2026 is an important opportunity to connect with customers and industry leaders. In many of these discussions, global trade both today and in the future remains, as you can imagine, a central topic. Yesterday, I had the honour of speaking with Carolin Roth from CNBC to share a brief outlook on global trade and its logistics implications. In 2025, we observed significant shifts in global trade lanes. A reality, “or new normal”, that is likely to continue. Based on ongoing geopolitical tensions and shifting tariffs, companies are diversifying production, adjusting flows, and facing the challenge of staying agile. A good example is that we no longer see a traditional peak season. Instead, we operate in an environment of extreme volatility where demand can change from one day to the next. At the same time, the need for specialised logistics services remains strong, particularly in sectors such as semiconductors and cloud infrastructure. The growing demand from so-called #hyperscalers will continue to shape significant parts of global supply chains. Technology and #AI have become essential for visibility and for enabling faster and better decisions in this dynamic environment. I invite you to watch the video for more insights: https://lnkd.in/e_67WcxuKuehne+Nagel CEO: We can benefit from trade demand of hyperscalersKuehne+Nagel CEO: We can benefit from trade demand of hyperscalers
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Stefan Paul gefällt dasStefan Paul gefällt dasGraduation Day 2026 was filled with smiles, awards, and inspiring words for the next chapter. 🎓 KLU President Prof. Dr. Andreas Kaplan encouraged graduates not to fear making mistakes. Making your own decisions also means allowing yourself to get some of them wrong, and learning along the way. Throughout the ceremony, a special tribute was paid to KLU’s founder and sponsor, Klaus-Michael Kühne. Jörg Dräger, Chairman of the KLU Supervisory Board and Executive Director of the Board of Trustees at the Kühne Foundation, reflected on Kühne’s vision for KLU: not simply a project, but a mission close to his heart—to prepare leaders who will shape the future world. Commencement speaker Stefan Paul, CEO of Kuehne+Nagel, shared personal stories and lessons from his career, encouraging graduates to stay curious and open to new knowledge and experiences. Representing the graduating class, Alex Ocnean expressed his gratitude to everyone who made the ceremony possible. KLU alumna Katrin Pompe, Head of Supply Chain Innovation & Cooperation at Otto Group, closed the speeches by reminding graduates that life does not always follow a linear path. �� Watch all the speeches and get inspired here: https://lnkd.in/e3zjvawq Congratulations once again to the Class of 2026! 🎉 📸Pictures taken by KLU/Christin Schwarzer
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Stefan Paul gefällt dasStefan Paul gefällt dasKühne+Nagel zu Gast bei Rahn+Bodmer Co. 12'700 Container transportieren, 77 Boeing 747 beladen, 92'000 Landverkehrssendungen abwickeln und 900'000 E-Commerce-Sendungen ausliefern – und das an einem einzigen Tag. Im Rahmen unserer Veranstaltungsreihe «Vorstellen Schweizer Werte» durften wir Stefan Paul, CEO von Kuehne+Nagel (AG & Co.) KG, bei uns willkommen heissen. Er gab spannende Einblicke in eine Branche, die wie kaum eine andere von geopolitischen Entwicklungen und globalen Veränderungen geprägt ist. Von Covid über die Blockade des Suezkanals bis zu Verschiebungen der weltweiten Handelsströme zeigte sich dabei immer wieder: «Ware findet immer ihren Weg.» Ein herzliches Dankeschön an Stefan Paul für den spannenden Einblick in die Welt der globalen Logistik und den inspirierenden Austausch.
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Stefan Paul gefällt dasStefan Paul gefällt dasProud, perplexed & hangovered. 'Where Next, Season II' scored big at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards: Silver: Corporate Films Silver: Branded Content Videos Gold: Business, Economy and Finance Gold: Branded Documentaries Gold: Current Affairs + Blue: Agency of the Year 🐬 Incredible grateful for all friends/wizzard/partners enabling this success: Marc Strolz, Sebastian Oehme, Peta Jenkin, Claudia Weingart, Astrid Thomsen, Peter Vollberg, Gerrit Piechowski, Felix Schmerbeck, Moritz Staub, Joran Ost, just to name a few. BigSun, Kuehne+Nagel
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Stefan Paul gefällt dasStefan Paul gefällt dasLast night in #Cannes: Where Next Season 2: Crisis, Hope and Opportunity received five #Dolphins 🐬 at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards 2026: three Gold and two Silver. What an achievement for everyone who brought it to life! Congratulations! The Gold Dolphins recognise the series in Current Affairs, Branded Documentaries, and Business, Economy + Finance. The Silver Dolphins are for Web Documentaries and Films for Screening at Fairs, Shows, Events + Conferences. From climate change and economic volatility to the rapid growth of AI, #WhereNext brings experts, innovators, and thought leaders together to explore the forces shaping business and society. Their conversations do not always provide easy answers. They give us new ways to think about what comes next. Discover more here: https://bit.ly/4xORozh Congratulations also to BigSun, named Agency of the Year with the Blue Dolphin!
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Stefan Paul gefällt dasStefan Paul gefällt dasOver the past few months, I have spent a lot of time listening, learning, and meeting colleagues across Kuehne+Nagel. The recent International Management Meeting (IMM) in Switzerland was a particularly valuable milestone, bringing together around 150 leaders from across the organisation to discuss our priorities, opportunities, and ambitions for the future. Despite all personal change and novelty, some things remain familiar. The fundamentals of #RoadLogistics do not change. Success still depends on operational discipline, network utilisation, and service quality in an industry where margins are tight and customer expectations are high. And while technology is foundational, Road Logistics will always remain a people business. What gives me confidence is the strength of the foundation we already have at Kuehne+Nagel: from technology and business intelligence capabilities to leading #customs expertise, specialised solutions for key industries such as #CloudLogistics, and a strong road network. The discussions at IMM reinforced my conviction that our next phase is about turning these strengths into greater impact and profitable growth, with #CustomerExperience at the centre of everything we do. My main personal insight after about four months in the company? Leadership in a new environment is about pace. Move too quickly, and you risk damaging trust before you fully understand how things work. Move too slowly, and you risk becoming part of the status quo. Like in a marathon, the key is finding the right rhythm and then accelerating where it matters. I'm excited to unlock the opportunities I see together with my team.
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Stefan Paul gefällt dasStefan Paul gefällt dasIch bin seit jeher Apple-Fan. Das Design, die Haptik, die Funktionalität das alles spricht mich an. Umso mehr hat mich 2011 der plötzliche Tod von Steve Jobs geschockt. Auf ihn folgte der vermeintlich „unscheinbare“ Tim Cook. Ich dachte die Party ist vorbei und hab all meine Apple-Aktien verkauft. Wie dumm, so kann man sich täuschen ;-) Doch der „farblose“ Cook strafte mich lügen, er steigerte den Umsatz von 108 auf 416 Milliarden Dollar, den Gewinn von 25,9 auf 112 Milliarden und den Aktienpreis um über 2.000 Prozent. Wie war das möglich? Sicher nicht über die grosse Bühne, Cook hat nie versucht, Jobs zu sein. Er hat anders geführt: leise, werteorientiert und mit einer fast altmodischen Anständigkeit. Im August 2011 trat Jobs schwer krank zurück, sechs Wochen später war er tot. Cook übernahm kein Unternehmen im Aufbruch, sondern eines in Trauer, mit der Frage im Nacken: Was hätte Steve getan? Jobs selbst hat sie ihm verboten: «Ich will nie, dass du fragst, was ich getan hätte. Tu einfach das, was richtig ist.» Genau das hat er getan. Fünfzehn Jahre lang. Er begann fast jeden Morgen mit Mails von Kunden aus aller Welt, für ihn, wie er im Abschiedsbrief schreibt, «das schlagende Herz unserer gemeinsamen Menschlichkeit». Darin steht selten etwas über Technik, da schreibt ein blinder Mensch, dass er sein Telefon zum ersten Mal allein bedienen kann. Cook hat keine KPI`s gelesen, sondern Lebensgeschichten und sich täglich daran erinnert, wofür Apple steht: für Menschen, nicht für Quartalszahlen. Wie ernst es ihm war, zeigte 2014 eine Szene an der Hauptversammlung. Ein Investor forderte, Apple solle nur noch tun, was sich rechnet, keine teuren Funktionen für Menschen mit Behinderung, weniger Arbeitssicherheit, etc. Cook wurde deutlich: «Wenn wir unsere Geräte für blinde Menschen zugänglich machen, denke ich nicht an den verdammten ROI.» Und dann: «Wenn Sie wollen, dass ich Dinge nur aus Rendite-Gründen tue, dann sollten Sie diese Aktie besser verkaufen.» Dazu passt, dass er die Bühne seinem Team überließ, nie drängte er sich auf, nie ging es um ihn, immer ging es um die Sache. Jim Collins nennt das in «Good to Great» Level-5-Leadership: extremer professioneller Wille, gepaart mit persönlicher Bescheidenheit. Die dauerhaft besten Unternehmen werden eben nicht von egozentrischen Charismatikern geführt, sondern von Menschen, die man im Aufzug übersieht. Dasselbe Muster sehe ich in Unternehmen: Die stabilsten Kulturen entstehen selten unter den lautesten Chefs. Wieder geht eine Ära zu Ende und seit heute führt John Ternus Apple. Die große Frage ist: Kann er die Erfolgsstory weiterführen? Denn zur Wahrheit gehört auch, dass Apple unter Cook beim Thema KI zurückgefallen ist? Schafft er trotzdem nochmal eine Wertsteigerung wie sein Vorgänger? Oder ist die Party endgültig vorbei? Wie seht ihr das? Soll ich 15 Jahre später nochmal einsteigen ;-) Herzlichst Euer Wolfgang
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Mike Karcher
Mike Karcher
As Head of Roadfreight & Customs Switzerland, I lead a nationwide organization responsible for road transport and customs services in one of Europe's most demanding cross-border logistics markets.<br><br>With more than a decade of experience within DHL and extensive expertise across transport, customs and supply chain operations, my focus is on sustainable growth, operational excellence and customer-centric solutions.<br><br>I strongly believe that long-term business success starts with people. Building high-performing teams, developing talent and creating an environment based on trust, accountability and collaboration are key elements of my leadership approach.<br><br>I am passionate about connecting strategy with execution and transforming complex challenges into practical and sustainable business solutions.