A Mark Cuban-backed vegan cheese company trained AI to scrutinize cardboard boxes. It’s saved $400,000

A Mark Cuban-backed cheese company found an unlikely place to cut costs using AI: the cardboard boxes carrying its vegan wheels. Austin-based Rebel Cheese maintains a lean team. But after a busy holiday season, CEO Kirsten Maitland realized the firm’s shipping partners were overcharging $250,000, by her estimate. Baffled by the sheer cost of these charges, she took to AI, devising an agent to audit invoices and compare them line by line against the firm’s contract with its shipping partners to flag discrepancies. The agent also processes photos of boxes, looking for bulging by as little as an eighth of an inch, which can trigger massive shipping overcharges. All in all, the agent has saved Maitland $400,000, a massive amount for a young firm—in which Shark Tank star Mark Cuban invested $750,000—that’s estimated to reach a $20 million valuation by year’s end. “As a small business owner, I do feel like AI gives us advantages similar to what large companies have,” Maitland told Fortune. “It levels the playing field and gives us similar opportunities.” AI models today are advancing at a breakneck pace. And while a growing number of Americans shudder at the idea of an AI job apocalypse, others are diving headfirst into the technology, leveraging it to improve efficiencies and to answer complex questions. How the AI saves $40,000 a month Rebel Cheese’s AI agent works like this: Maitland has her executive assistant upload weekly invoices into the AI tool alongside a version of the company’s contract that specifies rates based on shipping specifications, such as zones, weights, and dimensions. The agent then flags every discrepancy, providing proof and data which Maitland then uses to dispute charges and secure credits from shipping partners. The agent can also inspect boxes for physical abnormalities that might trigger price hikes, while auditing package dimensions and weight. Once it flags discrepancies, Rebel Cheese can make changes before shipping orders to avoid