(Updated 11 p.m. ET)
FedEx Corp. on Tuesday named Vishal Talwar, who until recently was chief growth officer of Accenture Technology, to be chief digital and information officer and president of FedEx Dataworks, effective Aug. 15. He will replace Sriram Krishnasamy, who stepped down suddenly in mid-July.
The hiring announcement came one day before FreightWaves published a commentary from parcel industry guru Satish Jindel, who argued Dataworks hasn’t made money because potential customers don’t view it as a neutral data analytics provider for optimizing e-commerce logistics. He recommended FedEx (NYSE: FDX) sell Dataworks to a fulfillment company, e-tailer or other party that can win the trust of interested users and fully harness its promise.
Talwar was at Accenture for nearly 11 years. Before that, he held executive and management positions at Wipro, Dell Services and IBM. For nearly two years, he has been heavily engaged with FedEx’s digital transformation efforts through his advisory work at Accenture.
FedEx said Talwar brings deep expertise in data science, digital infrastructure, and enterprise-scale transformation. In his roles, he helped businesses leverage technologies to increase business resiliency and accelerate digital adoption.
Talwar will be responsible for developing digital solutions powered by data and AI, advanced technology, robust enterprise architecture, and comprehensive cybersecurity measures.
“As a seasoned leader in the technology sector, Vishal has a proven track record in accelerating business growth through forward-thinking strategies and transformative digital solutions. His institutional knowledge and industry expertise will be instrumental as we continue to advance our long-term strategy and harness the full potential of FedEx intelligence to deliver even greater value to our customers and stockholders,” said CEO Raj Subramaniam.
Krishnasamy also held the title of chief transformation officer and played a key role in the Drive strategy that eliminated $4 billion in structural costs over two years. It’s unclear who has taken that responsibility.
Tech simplification
Management has said that a key part of its Network 2.0 strategy, which involves integrating its express and ground networks, is simplifying the technology applications.
“We’re moving everything to a data-first technology stack, but we are simplifying the entire operational IT infrastructure. That is a big part of what will be the next wave of Drive. There will be some cost savings there but more importantly, speed to market because previously, every time we built a product around the world or had a change, picture proof of delivery, we had to interface with regional and operating company systems. It was not as efficient as it could be,” Chief Commercial Officer Brie Carere said on an earnings call in June. “That’s a big part of what Sriram is working on,” as well as digital twins and other innovations.
“We’re going to have one dispatch system, one sort system. It sounds obvious. But when we look back at the last 50 years, how do we get as big as we were? We let everybody run, and it worked. And now we’ve got some cleanup to do. It made sense previously,” she added.
CFO John Dietrich, speaking Wednesday at Deutsche Bank’s annual transportation conference, wants to take its information management capabilities to the next level.
“How can we leverage AI and how can we leverage technology not only to help our operations, but how can we monetize and unlock the value of the significant data that we collect on a daily basis” from 3 million customers and 17 million packages? “And who’s shipping? Where are they shipping to?”
Krishnasamy remains on FedEx’s payroll as an advisor until Oct. 31. FedEx said his departure was a mutual decision. His separation deal includes a $3.3 million cash payment and accelerated stock vesting, according to a FedEx securities filing this week. As part of the deal, he agreed not to seek employment again at FedEx.
(Correction: FedEx announced Talwar’s appointment on Tuesday, Aug. 12, not Wednesday.)
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
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