Samsara is opening a new route for customers to use fleet and operational information through third-party artificial intelligence platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude and Microsoft Copilot.
The software provider announced on Sept. 22 that its new Samsara Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables authorized users to query live information from their Samsara accounts directly through external AI applications. The system is designed to eliminate the need for customers to create individual custom integrations between Samsara and each AI platform.
At launch, MCP offers more than 40 read-only tools. These allow AI applications to retrieve information covering vehicles, drivers, safety events, hours of service and other operational data. Developers can also use the same tools as part of their own AI agents.
A FreightWaves report published on Sept. 23 highlighted one example of how the technology can be used in day-to-day fleet management. Pam Polyak, owner of Wisconsin-based Polyak Trucking, used Claude to examine information from her Samsara system and identify drivers who were spending more than 30 minutes on duty without driving while at the company’s terminal.
The analysis took roughly three minutes and found that one driver was spending more than 110 minutes per shift in the yard without driving. Polyak said the company was able to recover $53,000 in labor costs after addressing the issue.
She also said she used Claude to compare toll expenses among drivers operating the same lanes. That analysis revealed a difference of $50 per load.
Access to the data remains tied to the permissions each individual user already has within Samsara. A user who is not authorized to view specific information in Samsara will not be able to retrieve that information through a connected AI application.
Samsara said every MCP request is associated with the individual user making it. The system does not depend on shared API keys or service accounts.
The tools available through MCP are strictly read-only. AI applications can retrieve information from Samsara, but they cannot modify records through the protocol.
Samsara also said customers can combine its operational information with data from other business systems. The company highlighted potential use cases involving human resources, finance and procurement.
Examples include comparing drivers’ hours-of-service records with time-and-attendance information, examining fuel spending alongside mileage and idle time, and evaluating equipment utilization against rental agreements.
The move is intended to make fleet data more accessible across different parts of a company by allowing operational information to be brought into AI workflows already used elsewhere in the organization.
“Our customers are building AI into more of their business, and decisions in areas like finance and HR need to reflect what’s happening in the field. Samsara provides that operational understanding. With MCP, customers can bring their own Samsara data into the systems and AI tools those teams already use, connecting the work of running their operations with the work of running their business,” O’Driscoll said.
Samsara said its wider ecosystem includes more than 400 integrations, APIs and developer tools. MCP uses the same live operational data layer that powers Samsara Assistant.
The company also introduced Agent Studio during its Beyond 2026 customer conference. Agent Studio enables customers to build AI agents directly within Samsara, while MCP is designed to connect Samsara data with third-party AI applications and custom agents.
“With MCP connections already in place across our other major business systems, we can now bring Samsara’s operational context into those same workflows. That lets our operators focus on solving business problems instead of maintaining yet another custom integration,” said Ken Apple, CTO at Mariner Logistics.
Samsara MCP is currently available to customers at no additional charge. The company said pricing for MCP in the future will be based on monthly usage.
Why this matters
AI platforms can already analyze fleet information when companies develop their own workflows, but those systems may require custom integrations. Samsara’s MCP provides a standardized way to connect live fleet data with third-party AI applications, giving fleet operators and business teams another way to incorporate operational information into AI workflows they already use.
