CHARLOTTE, NC - Acuitive Solutions, which provides cloud-based software for complex international transportation management to the world's best-known retailers, announced today that James R. "Jim" Watkins, a 25-year veteran of the transportation and information technology industry, has joined the company as Chief Operating Officer.
"Jim is a seasoned transportation technology executive who throughout his career has been a driving force for IT operational and organizational effectiveness," said Phil Marlowe, Acuitive's founder, president and chief logistician. "His proven leadership, technology development skills and deep management experience are a strategic addition to Acuitive's team at a time when our global, cloud-based TMS portal is experiencing accelerating growth with premium fashion, retail, home improvement, apparel, and home and office decor companies."
As Acuitive's COO, Watkins will be responsible for strategic planning, platform operations, system architecture and deployment, product development and customer service.
His career has included increasingly responsible executive management and operational roles with leading software, transportation and retail consumer goods companies. Previously, Watkins co-founded and was chief technology officer for NeoModal.com, a start-up technology portal providing ocean TMS software. When NeoModal was later acquired by Descartes Systems, Inc., Watkins joined Descartes as vice president of the transportation management group, where he lead the development and expansion of Descartes' TMS platform from ocean into functionality for truck and other transportation modes.
Earlier, he served as chief information officer for Sea-land Service, Inc., heading a 750-person IT team and managing a $100 million technology budget for this ocean transportation, trucking and intermodal services provider. He joined Sea-Land from Pepsi-Cola International, where he was director of information technology. He started his career with Electronic Data Systems as an engineer, later working for Peat Marwick and McKinsey & Co. as a management consultant.
Watkins is a graduate of New York State University where he earned his bachelor of science degree in Finance.
