diff --git a/cmd/lakectl/cmd/ingest.go b/cmd/lakectl/cmd/ingest.go
index 6897e00a6d2..fe833fb9e4c 100644
--- a/cmd/lakectl/cmd/ingest.go
+++ b/cmd/lakectl/cmd/ingest.go
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/treeverse/lakefs/cmd/lakectl/cmd/store"
@@ -12,6 +15,23 @@ const ingestSummaryTemplate = `
 Staged {{ .Objects | yellow }} external objects (total of {{ .Bytes | human_bytes | yellow }})
 `
 
+type stageRequest struct {
+	repository string
+	branch     string
+	params     *api.StageObjectParams
+	body       api.StageObjectJSONRequestBody
+}
+
+func stageWorker(ctx context.Context, client api.ClientWithResponsesInterface, wg *sync.WaitGroup, requests <-chan *stageRequest, responses chan<- *api.StageObjectResponse) {
+	defer wg.Done()
+	for req := range requests {
+		resp, err := client.StageObjectWithResponse(
+			ctx, req.repository, req.branch, req.params, req.body)
+		DieOnResponseError(resp, err)
+		responses <- resp
+	}
+}
+
 var ingestCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "ingest --from <object store URI> --to <lakeFS path URI> [--dry-run]",
 	Short: "Ingest objects from an external source into a lakeFS branch (without actually copying them)",
@@ -21,51 +41,82 @@ var ingestCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		dryRun := MustBool(cmd.Flags().GetBool("dry-run"))
 		from := MustString(cmd.Flags().GetString("from"))
 		to := MustString(cmd.Flags().GetString("to"))
+		concurrency := MustInt(cmd.Flags().GetInt("concurrency"))
 		lakefsURI := MustParsePathURI("to", to)
 
+		// initialize worker pool
+		client := getClient()
+		var wg sync.WaitGroup
+		wg.Add(concurrency)
+		requests := make(chan *stageRequest)
+		responses := make(chan *api.StageObjectResponse)
+		for w := 0; w < concurrency; w++ {
+			go stageWorker(ctx, client, &wg, requests, responses)
+		}
+
 		summary := struct {
 			Objects int64
 			Bytes   int64
 		}{}
-		client := getClient()
-		err := store.Walk(ctx, from, func(e store.ObjectStoreEntry) error {
-			if dryRun {
-				Fmt("%s\n", e)
-				return nil
-			}
-			key := e.RelativeKey
-			if lakefsURI.Path != nil && *lakefsURI.Path != "" {
-				path := *lakefsURI.Path
-				if strings.HasSuffix(*lakefsURI.Path, "/") {
-					key = path + key
-				} else {
-					key = path + "/" + key
+
+		var path string
+		if lakefsURI.Path != nil {
+			path = *lakefsURI.Path
+		}
+		if !strings.HasSuffix(path, "/") {
+			path = path + "/" // append a slash if not passed by the user
+		}
+		go func() {
+			err := store.Walk(ctx, from, func(e store.ObjectStoreEntry) error {
+				if dryRun {
+					Fmt("%s\n", e)
+					return nil
+				}
+				// iterate entries and feed our pool
+				key := e.RelativeKey
+				mtime := e.Mtime.Unix()
+				requests <- &stageRequest{
+					repository: lakefsURI.Repository,
+					branch:     lakefsURI.Ref,
+					params: &api.StageObjectParams{
+						Path: path + key,
+					},
+					body: api.StageObjectJSONRequestBody{
+						Checksum:        e.ETag,
+						Mtime:           &mtime,
+						PhysicalAddress: e.Address,
+						SizeBytes:       e.Size,
+					},
 				}
+				return nil
+			})
+			if err != nil {
+				DieFmt("error walking object store: %v", err)
 			}
-			mtime := e.Mtime.Unix()
-			resp, err := client.StageObjectWithResponse(ctx,
-				lakefsURI.Repository,
-				lakefsURI.Ref,
-				&api.StageObjectParams{
-					Path: key,
-				},
-				api.StageObjectJSONRequestBody{
-					Checksum:        e.ETag,
-					Mtime:           &mtime,
-					PhysicalAddress: e.Address,
-					SizeBytes:       e.Size,
-				},
-			)
-			DieOnResponseError(resp, err)
+			close(requests)  // we're done feeding work!
+			wg.Wait()        // until all responses have been written
+			close(responses) // so we're also done with responses
+		}()
+
+		elapsed := time.Now()
+		for response := range responses {
+			summary.Objects += 1
+			summary.Bytes += api.Int64Value(response.JSON201.SizeBytes)
+
 			if verbose {
-				Write("Staged "+fsStatTemplate+"\n", resp.JSON201)
+				Write("Staged "+fsStatTemplate+"\n", response.JSON201)
+				continue
 			}
-			summary.Objects += 1
-			summary.Bytes += api.Int64Value(resp.JSON201.SizeBytes)
-			return nil
-		})
-		if err != nil {
-			DieFmt("error walking object store: %v", err)
+
+			// If not verbose, at least update no more than once a second
+			if time.Since(elapsed) > time.Second {
+				Write("Staged {{ .Objects | green }} objects so far...\r", summary)
+				elapsed = time.Now()
+			}
+
+		}
+		if !verbose {
+			Fmt("\n")
 		}
 
 		// print summary
@@ -81,5 +132,6 @@ func init() {
 	_ = ingestCmd.MarkFlagRequired("to")
 	ingestCmd.Flags().Bool("dry-run", false, "only print the paths to be ingested")
 	ingestCmd.Flags().BoolP("verbose", "v", false, "print stats for each individual object staged")
+	ingestCmd.Flags().IntP("concurrency", "C", 64, "max concurrent API calls to make to the lakeFS server")
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(ingestCmd)
 }