Theodosiou on maritime’s 2026 shift to a smarter, more innovative industry

From ship design and voyage optimisation to electronic bills of lading and AI-assisted safety and compliance, maritime leaders featured in this special column agree on one thing: data, automation and connectivity must now work together, seamlessly and at scale.

Efficiency has emerged as the industry’s most immediate lever. It sits at the intersection of tightening regulation, rising fuel and carbon costs, and the longer-term ambition of net-zero shipping.

Just as importantly, experts stress that technology must simplify operations, reduce crew workload and strengthen safety, rather than introduce new layers of complexity.

Against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, market volatility and fragmented regulation, there is nonetheless a shared optimism that 2026 can mark an inflection point.

A year in which collaboration replaces silos, integration replaces patchwork systems, and digital tools deliver measurable impact, from lower emissions and safer voyages to more predictable operations.

Put simply, industry leaders increasingly see 2026 as the moment maritime moves from experimentation to execution, aligning people, purpose and technology to shape a more competitive, connected and sustainable future.

It is within this context that ‘Industry Voices: A Maritime Wish-List for 2026’ brings together perspectives from across the global maritime ecosystem, outlining how smart technologies, when aligned with people and purpose, can drive real change.

For Maria Theodosiou, managing director of GenPro, that transition will depend not only on innovation at sea, but on a fundamental rethink of procurement and supply-chain practices ashore.

As the industry pushes towards execution, she argues that supply chains must be built on substance rather than surface-level digitalisation.

“We should continue to build procurement and supply-chain ecosystems that prioritise accuracy, transparency, and responsible cost control, not just digital gloss,” she said.

At the same time, Theodosiou points to a deeper cultural issue.

Procurement, she noted, can no longer be treated as a transactional back-office function. The industry, she added, “must stop tolerating fragmented data, unverified supplier claims, and ‘good enough’ practices that introduce hidden risk,” particularly as ESG scrutiny, compliance demands and cost pressures intensify.

She sees the opportunity to establish a uniform, fully traceable and data-driven supply chain, where performance is assessed holistically.

In such a model, “ESG, compliance, commercial value, and operational reliability” are measured together, she said, and suppliers are viewed as partners in performance rather than interchangeable vendors.

Crucially, she places people at the centre of that transition. “We can succeed by investing in people first, digital frameworks second, and AI third, in that order,” Theodosiou concluded, linking long-term progress to disciplined data governance, cross-industry collaboration and leadership that rewards evidence-based decisions over tradition.