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UPS names AT&T executive to lead digital transformation

Subramanian will be responsible for strategy, design, development and execution of technology

Bala Subramanian will focus on digital transformation efforts at UPS. (Photo: UPS/Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

UPS Inc. said Tuesday that it has named Bala Subramanian, chief digital officer at AT&T Inc., to the position of executive vice president and chief digital and technology officer.

Subramanian, 50, will take over the newly created role on July 18 and report to CEO Carol B. Tomé. UPS (NYSE: UPS) said he will be responsible for the strategy, design, development and execution of UPS’ technology, industrial engineering and digital transformation functions. 

Subramanian will also join the company’s executive leadership team, formerly known as the management committee, which effectively runs UPS’ day-to-day operations.

Subramanian will assume a portion of the duties that had been held by Juan Perez, who left the company on March 1 to become chief information officer at software giant Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM). Subramanian will put more emphasis on digital connections with customers and across the organization than had Perez, a spokesman said.


Perez’s title when he left UPS was chief information and engineering officer.   

Prior to AT&T (NYSE: T), where he spent a little more than four years, Subramanian served as the chief digital officer at consumer electronics company Best Buy (NYSE: BBY). He holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a Master of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Oklahoma. 

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Mark Solomon

Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.