Meet Michael Bouari: Leading BR International’s Next Chapter of Transformation and Growth
We’re excited to welcome Michael Bouari as CEO of BR International (BRi). Michael brings a proven track record of leading large-scale transformation in logistics, and a clear view of where our industry is heading.
As he puts it: “The industry competes on the price of that one link, but customers pay for the whole chain.”
At OneStop, Michael led the business from startup to a globally leading supply chain and logistics platform, helping transform a manual, paper-based industry into a data-led, optimised supply chain. The result: more than $1 billion in productivity savings across Australia, and tens of millions of dollars in new revenue for key businesses.
So what drives him, what drew him to BRi, and what excites him most about the future?
The Person Behind the Leadership
Ask Michael how he got here and his answer starts with curiosity. His interest in technology began at school and led to a career as a developer at 3M. He quickly realised the greatest value wasn’t in the code. It was in understanding what a customer was really trying to achieve.
That curiosity shaped his career. At OneStop, he rose from Project Manager to CIO, CPO and CEO. He then went on to MatchBox Exchange and WiseTech Global, where he led growth of a digital platform that helps transport operators reuse and exchange empty containers across Asia Pacific, cutting unnecessary truck trips and costs across the value chain.
Along the way, Michael learnt that the best outcomes rarely come from delivering exactly what’s asked for. They come from asking the right questions, seeing the whole picture and leading teams to solve the real problem.
It’s a philosophy that guides his leadership today: successful transformation starts with understanding the business problem rather than choosing the technology.
Why BRi?
For years, Michael led change in logistics through technology, working with freight forwarders, transport operators, depots and port operators. BRi gives him the chance to lead that change from the inside.
He was drawn to BRi’s story. What began as Barry Rogers, a small customs broking and freight forwarding business, has grown into an international operation with 21 offices and three 3PL warehouses across Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Michael has worked with many founders over the years, and he says the depth of supply chain knowledge at BRi is rare: “You can’t buy that.”
He also saw his own thinking reflected in how BRi’s leaders approach customers: looking at the whole chain, not a single link. Combining that knowledge with Michael’s experience in transforming and scaling supply chains is what makes this the right fit. The opportunity he sees is clear: to evolve BRi from freight forwarder into a recognised end-to-end supply chain partner.
What’s Next for Our Customers, Partners and People?
As BRi enters its next phase of growth, Michael’s priorities centre on the three groups at the heart of our business.
Customers: simplifying complexity and creating shared value. Many customers expect a provider to solve one part of the problem. Michael wants BRi to show that the whole chain can be made simpler, and to share in the value we create together.
Partners: closer collaboration and clear accountability. Supply chains depend on many organisations working together, so everyone needs to be clear on who owns what.
People: ownership, leadership and growth. Michael is building a team that takes clear ownership, steps into stronger leadership and has room to grow, because when our people grow, the business grows with them.
For Michael, success isn’t measured only by how efficiently goods move or how much cost comes out of an operation. It’s measured by what changes in a customer’s business as a result. The goal is for customers to stop seeing their logistics partner as a cost centre and say, as he puts it: “You enable our revenue growth.”
We’re excited to combine Michael’s proven transformation leadership with BRi’s decades of logistics expertise as we take the business into its next phase of growth.
Welcome to BRi, Michael. We can’t wait to see what we’ll build together.
