On the operational side, Groenewoud underlined that reality rarely matches the plan. Planning is less a static timetable and more “continuous re-planning” across multiple constrained resources: paths, locomotives, wagons, driver duties and repositioning. A disruption on one axis quickly cascades across the rest. Back-office systems face different pressures. Here the litmus test is throughput with a lean team. Feature completeness and ease of use matter most, while a brief outage is inconvenient rather than catastrophic.

Single-wagon load: the toughest digital puzzle

Not all freight is equal from a software perspective. Block trains on simple A–B lanes are well served by many vendors. The difficulty rises sharply with single wagonload (SWL). Few tools tackle this well, Groenewoud noted, describing it as a genuinely complex multi-resource puzzle. The business challenge compounds the technical one: SWL flows are often less profitable, yet shippers expect providers to handle both block and SWL traffic. Operators that cherry-pick only the straightforward work risk losing the entire account.

Why non-functionals now outrank features

Compared with 20 years ago, Groenewoud argued that non-functional requirements — reliability, performance, scalability and especially cyber security — are now “more dominant than the functional requirements”. Generative coding assistants can spin up basic business applications quickly, but turning them into mission-critical systems remains hard because the craft lies in meeting those non-functionals at scale. “A generative ‘programmer on your shoulder’ can build features. It cannot, by itself, deliver the non-functional part,” he said.

AI’s role: three stages of impact

Ab Ovo is already experimenting with voice-to-process tooling that converts spoken descriptions of workflows into business process models and starter applications. The company is working to embed safeguards for security, scalability and performance from the outset, and to align outputs with “green software” principles.
Energy, data centres and ‘green software’

As AI scales, energy use in data centres will grow. Policymakers are likely to constrain capacity in some locations, making software efficiency a strategic concern. Groenewoud advocates for “green software principles” and notes that language choice at runtime matters: carefully engineered low-level implementations can reduce consumption in production environments. “You’d better make sure mission-critical applications are extremely efficient for using less space in a data centre,” he said.

People, knowledge and the adoption curve

Despite the hype, AI will not replace locomotives, wagons or cargo. Value will accrue around the surrounding processes, where the business case remains decisive. A near-term priority is knowledge retention as experienced staff retire. Here AI can act as a persistent memory layer for procedures, constraints and best practice, shortening analysis cycles for new routes or customers and reducing reliance on large external consulting teams.

Bottom line

For rail freight operators, the software brief is crystallising. Keep trains moving through robust, cyber-secure platforms engineered for reliability and performance. Use AI to compress cycle times, predict needs and simplify interfaces — but don’t mistake fast feature generation for mission-critical resilience. And build with energy efficiency in mind, because scarcity in the data centre could soon be a competitive factor.

We all focus on using IT to reduce waste and, or mileage but never think about the environmental cost of IT in itself. Introducing himself and his company Groenewoud said: “Ab Ovo strives for energy-efficient software and reduced CO2 impact. To reach these goals, Ab Ovo is working with three platforms: the Eco Logic Platform, the DELMIA Quintiq Platform and the SAS Viya Platform”

Eco Logic Platform

The groundbreaking Eco Logic Platform is used to digitize any operational process, from ERP to mission critical systems to run your operations. What is unique about this platform as Groenewoud explained: “it is the first Green Coding Platform measuring and reducing continuously the energy consumption of all executed processes. This platform is designed to reduce the CO2 impact of IT throughout the complete lifecycle of the software. From fast development to continuous deployment.”

DELMIA Quintiq Platform

Ab Ovo leverages the DELMIA Quintiq Platform to optimize the most complex planning and scheduling across all operational resources within many industries. The goal is to increase utilization and efficiency and minimize waste. Within the RailFreight industry, this is done primarily by optimizing trains, locomotives, railcars, yards and the entire workforce supporting running the trains.

SAS Viya Platform

As Groenewoud continues the SAS Viya Platform is used by Ab Ovo to assist their customers to adhere to the increasing reporting guidelines on sustainability in general.

Partnership with Gysev Cargo

The path forward to become truly sustainable lies in forging partnerships across the entire chain of operations. This is a priority of Ab Ovo, Groenewoud emphasized. Following his remarks Mr. Zoltan Zentai of Gysev Cargo joined the stage to explain the benefits of Gysev’s partnership with Ab Ovo on their sustainability journey and mentioned that through Ab Ovo’s Eco Logic Software Platform, they not only use their resources more efficiently, but their IT solutions are also more sustainable.