WiseTech turns AI savings into a bigger FY27 growth opportunity

Record growth arrives with a heavier balance sheet

WiseTech Global Limited (ASX:WTC) more than doubled its scale in FY26, but the price of that expansion is now visible in both its accounts and its workforce. Revenue rose 79% to USD 1,395.9 million, helped by 11 months of contribution from e2open, while underlying EBITDA climbed 56% to USD 644.5 million.

The result was strong on the underlying measures, though statutory profit moved in the opposite direction. Reported NPAT fell 11% to USD 178.7 million, reflecting acquired amortisation, restructuring costs and the financing burden from the e2open transaction. Net finance costs jumped to USD 131.7 million from USD 3.5 million a year earlier, while borrowings reached USD 2,187.4 million at 30 June.

WiseTech said it complied with its debt covenants, reporting leverage of 2.7x and interest cover of 5.3x. It expects net leverage to fall to approximately 2.2x by the end of FY27 and below 2.0x during FY28, supported by cash generation, cost savings and disciplined capital management.

e2open adds scale, but integration remains unfinished

The e2open acquisition contributed USD 541.2 million of FY26 revenue and lifted WiseTech’s network to more than 500,000 connected enterprises. The integration delivered approximately USD 64 million in annualised run-rate cost synergies, ahead of the original USD 50 million FY27 target.

That progress has not yet removed the operational friction. WiseTech reported continued subscription revenue attrition at e2open and an expected reduction in professional services revenue as the business shifts towards recurring revenue and a product-led operating model. Group recurring revenue consequently fell to 95% from 98%, while gross margin declined to 77% from 86%, largely because of e2open’s higher professional-services mix.

AI transformation is producing savings and disruption

The annual report puts hard numbers around WiseTech’s AI push. More than 75% of employees were using AI in their daily work, over 90% of code was written or assisted by AI, engineering productivity increased 45%, and customer-service tickets were completed 22% faster. The company also reported approximately USD 34 million of annualised savings from its AI Transformation program, alongside USD 17 million from earlier efficiency initiatives.

Those gains came with approximately 1,700 roles removed during FY26, including more than 500 positions in the first half and a further 1,200 mainly across Product and Development and Customer Service. WiseTech reported voluntary attrition of approximately 10%, but the next test is whether a leaner organisation can maintain product delivery and customer service while the company expands its AI-enabled offering.

CargoWise model gains traction as new products approach

More than 95% of CargoWise customers had moved to the CargoWise Value Pack model by year-end. New SME signings rose approximately 55% over the comparable period, overall new signings increased about 30%, and CargoWise customer attrition remained below 1% for the 14th consecutive year. CargoWise revenue itself grew 11% to USD 756.9 million.

The report also confirms the next layer of the strategy: agentic AI within CargoWise, Container Transport Optimization, government-facing BorderWise products and VerifyWise. The latter was accelerated by the FRDM.ai acquisition, completed after year-end for expected upfront and contingent consideration of USD 24.3 million net of cash acquired.

FY27 guidance relies on adoption, execution and deleveraging

WiseTech is guiding to FY27 revenue of USD 1.48 billion to USD 1.54 billion, representing growth of 6% to 10%, and underlying EBITDA of USD 725 million to USD 780 million, up 12% to 21%. The expected margin of 49% to 51% implies a further 3 to 5 percentage points of expansion.

The company’s assumptions are demanding rather than automatic: CargoWise revenue is expected to grow 12% to 20%, e2open revenue is forecast to remain flat while integration continues, and additional savings of approximately USD 40 million in annualised run-rate terms are targeted by the end of FY27. The report also flags customer dependencies around Value Pack conversions, agentic AI and VerifyWise adoption.

Governance repairs continue alongside unresolved investigations

WiseTech says ASIC has concluded its governance investigation with a no-action letter, but an ASIC investigation involving share trading by four employees remains open. The ACCC is also investigating alleged contraventions of the Competition and Consumer Act, with no findings made against the company or any individual. A shareholder class action relating to 2019 disclosure remains before the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The board has moved to a more conventional structure, with Raelene Murphy as independent chair and five independent non-executive directors. It also decided not to pay any carried-forward FY25 performance equity despite the relevant conditions being satisfied, following the 49.47% vote against the previous remuneration report. Yet the board has approved a higher FY27 package for CEO Zubin Appoo, including a maximum remuneration opportunity of AUD 4.8335 million. That combination will put shareholder confidence in the new governance settings to a fresh test at the November AGM.