Erry Hardianto, an Indonesian national, joined the Ayala Group on July 1, 2024 as president and CEO of AC Logistics Holdings Corp., bringing with him more than 23 years of industry experience, including senior leadership roles at Maersk.
His appointment comes at a time when logistics — long considered an invisible cog in global supply chain — has emerged as a strategic industry amid geopolitical disruptions, trade tensions and post-pandemic supply chain realignments.
Hardianto, who previously worked in the Philippines during his stint at Maersk, was tapped to sharpen Ayala’s logistics strategy and reposition AC Logistics for long-term growth.
One of his key mandates was to steer the company away from its original focus on last-mile delivery toward becoming an asset-light, integrated logistics solutions provider. Under the new strategy, AC Logistics expanded into cold chain operations, contract logistics and warehousing.
Addressing structural gaps
Ayala’s entry into logistics was a departure from its traditional businesses and, in many ways, an effort to identify where the conglomerate could contribute to a critical but underserved sector.
The COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the war in Ukraine and rising global trade tensions, exposed vulnerabilities in supply chains worldwide and underscored the importance of logistics infrastructure.
The Philippines faces particularly steep logistics costs, which account for about 27 percent of product prices — among the highest in the region.
Hardianto said Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, faces similar challenges.
He pointed to remote communities in eastern Indonesia where poverty persists despite abundant natural resources because of weak supply chain connectivity.
“I refuse to believe that the people in Indonesia, the eastern part are poor. But I think they are poor because we made them poor because the cost of goods, the price of the coffee, the price of the banana, the price of one sack of cement is 3 or 4 times more expensive than India. And why is that? It’s logistics,” he said.
He also cited price disparities in agricultural products. Hardianto recalled buying Cavendish bananas in Makati for PHP156 per kilogram, while similar bananas sold in the Netherlands for about one euro per kilogram only.
Even bananas transported from Mindanao to Luzon can end up costing more than bananas sold in Europe, highlighting inefficiencies in domestic logistics.
While infrastructure deficiencies remain largely a government concern, Hardianto said private companies also play a critical role in improving efficiency and reducing costs.
“Logistic companies, like us, we play roles, basically, about providing them connectivity, by providing that option, providing a solution to the customers that will cut down the numbers of layers in the supply chain,” he said.
He stressed the need for stronger collaboration between government and the private sector to streamline logistics systems and improve market access.
Nation-building
For Hardianto, logistics is more than a commercial enterprise. “Solving the nation’s problem is what moves me,” he said.
That perspective, he said, aligned closely with Ayala’s long-standing nation-building philosophy.
“There is no business that the group joined in that is not contributing to nation building,” he said.
His move to Ayala, he added, was driven by that shared vision. “Ayala only wants to be in the business where it’s basically solving the nation’s problem. And they are not in the business that is not solving nation’s problem,” he said.
Hardianto recalled discussions with Ayala Chairman Jaime Zobel de Ayala on the group’s broader mission.
“I’m very impressed on the vision that Ayala has and their commitment to nation building. And logistics is one of the problems the Philippines has,” he said.
In fact, his transition into the Ayala Group has been seamless.
“Surprisingly, very little adjustment,” he said. “Ayala is a company that holds value and integrity. And which is very much the way I was being raised in my previous company for the last 23 years.”
Having lived in the Philippines from 2013 to 2016 while working for Maersk, Hardianto said the country already feels familiar to him.
“It’s my second home. I’m familiar. I have a lot of old friends in the country,” he said.
He joked that blending in further would only require one thing: “I just need to speak a little bit more with Filipino accent.”
Investing in talent
Beyond infrastructure and operations, Hardianto believes talent development will determine the future of the logistics industry.
AC Logistics has started building what it hopes will become the next generation of Filipino logistics professionals.
Hardianto noted that Filipinos are already well represented in logistics and supply chain operations globally, particularly in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector and maritime industry.
“You look at the logistics people that handle FMCG, anywhere you go. You were Singapore, you went to Bangkok, someday you go to Europe, you see a lot of Filipino logistics workers there,” he said.
“As I’ve said, a lot of talent in logistics come from the Philippines. So I deal with a lot of Filipinos in my past life as customers, as my suppliers,” he added.
He also pushed back against the notion that logistics careers are limited to engineering graduates.
“It’s basically what I call major agnostic,” he said, noting that he himself came from a finance background.
Last year, AC Logistics launched what Hardianto described as the company’s first management training program dedicated to logistics professionals. The pilot batch included around 12 fresh graduates undergoing two years of structured training across various operational functions.
“We also have a dedicated classroom training,” he said.
The program is intended not only to attract young talent into logistics but also to build a long-term leadership pipeline for the company.
“So this is one way for us to create excitement among young talents and encourage them to enjoy logistics,” he said.
At the same time, succession planning remains a priority. “So we don’t have to import people from Indonesia to run our logistics,” he said.
Expansion phase
After spending the past 18 months strengthening its operational foundations, AC Logistics is now entering its next phase focused on growth.
“I think the next five years, I envision AC Logistics to become a bit more prominent in the logistics industry,” said Hardianto.
For Hardianto, prominence means becoming a credible industry player with a stronger voice in a sector once considered outside Ayala’s traditional core businesses.
With the Ayala brand behind it, he believes AC Logistics has the potential to emerge as a major force in Philippine logistics.
“Ayala can also make it big in this industry,” he said.
