Cleo Taps Veteran Exec for New Role to Deepen Industry Focus

CHICAGO, IL – January 06, 2026 – Cleo, a global provider of supply chain orchestration software, has announced a significant strategic move with the appointment of Haitham Ghadiry to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Industry & Ecosystem. The appointment signals a deliberate pivot by the company to accelerate growth through deeper industry specialization and an expanded network of technology and reseller partners.

Ghadiry, a 25-year veteran in supply chain technology and B2B software-as-a-service (SaaS), will report directly to Cleo President and CEO Mahesh Rajasekharan and join the executive leadership team. His mandate is to spearhead the company's verticalization strategy and scale its partner-driven revenue channels.

A Strategic Bet on Verticalization and Ecosystems

Cleo's creation of this new executive role is more than a personnel announcement; it represents a strategic response to evolving market demands. In a crowded Integration Platform-as-a-Service (iPaaS) market where Cleo holds a modest but notable 0.95% share, differentiation is paramount. The company is betting that deep, industry-specific solutions—or verticalization—will provide that competitive edge.

The modern supply chain is no longer a linear path but a complex, interconnected web of suppliers, manufacturers, logistics providers, retailers, and customers. Recent global disruptions have underscored the critical need for resilience, agility, and end-to-end visibility. Generic integration solutions are proving insufficient for industries with unique regulatory, operational, and data-sharing requirements. By dedicating a senior leader to "Industry & Ecosystem," Cleo is positioning itself to deliver tailored solutions for sectors like manufacturing, logistics, distribution, and retail.

"Haitham brings the ideal blend of industry depth, ecosystem marketing leadership, and operational scale experience to help Cleo accelerate its next phase of growth," said Rajasekharan in the company's official statement. "His deep understanding of our company and our markets, paired with his proven ability to build vertical solutions and partner-driven revenue engines, makes him a tremendous addition to our leadership team."

This move aligns with broader trends in digital transformation, where businesses are not just adopting new technologies but are seeking to integrate them seamlessly with legacy systems like ERPs and Transportation Management Systems (TMS). Ghadiry's role will be central to ensuring Cleo's Integration Cloud platform becomes the connective tissue that makes this complex integration possible for specific industries.

The Architect of Scale Joins the Team

Cleo's choice of Haitham Ghadiry is a clear indicator of its ambitions. His career is a playbook in scaling B2B SaaS companies, particularly within the supply chain technology space. His 12-year tenure at TrueCommerce is especially noteworthy. There, as SVP of Sales & Marketing, he was a key figure in transforming the company from a startup into a major software business, reportedly helping to grow revenue from $9 million to over $180 million.

During his time at TrueCommerce, Ghadiry was instrumental in building out large-scale partner and channel programs—a core component of his new responsibilities at Cleo. Furthermore, he played a pivotal role in the complex process of integrating 12 acquisitions across North America and Europe, demonstrating a rare skill set in managing growth through both organic and inorganic means. His experience extends to leadership roles at Trimble, where he focused on transportation and logistics solutions, and most recently as Chief Revenue Officer at Nuqleous, an AI-powered retail analytics software company.

This background makes him uniquely qualified to execute Cleo's strategy. He is not just a sales leader but an ecosystem architect with a proven track record of creating partner-driven revenue engines and tailoring go-to-market strategies for specific industry verticals. His prior involvement as a member of Cleo’s Advisory Board also suggests a pre-existing familiarity with the company's products and strategic direction, enabling him to make an immediate impact.

Expanding the Integration Fabric

At the heart of Ghadiry's new role is the expansion of Cleo’s ecosystem, which includes Value-Added Resellers (VARs), Global System Integrators (GSIs), Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), and technology marketplaces. Cleo already has an established partner program with dozens of system integrators, including major players like Cognizant, which have been crucial in helping clients modernize their eCommerce, ERP, WMS, and TMS solutions.

The Cleo Integration Cloud (CIC) platform is designed to provide end-to-end visibility across various integration types, including API, MFT, and the critical EDI transactions that form the backbone of B2B commerce. The platform offers businesses a flexible approach, allowing them to choose between self-service, managed services, or a blended model.

Ghadiry is tasked with strengthening Cleo’s position as the preferred integration partner for major ERP, TMS, and other enterprise technology platforms. This involves more than just signing new partners; it requires creating tightly packaged, industry-aligned solutions that are easy for partners to sell and for customers to deploy. By leveraging pre-built connectors and Cleo’s recently introduced AI-powered features, such as Intelligent Error Resolution, the company aims to simplify what has historically been a complex and resource-intensive process.

In his own words, Ghadiry sees a clear path forward. “Cleo is uniquely positioned to expand in new and powerful ways, including categorically with a multitude of business-value centric supply chain orchestration plays, and vertically through domain-rich solutions for manufacturers, logistics providers, distributors and retailers,” he stated. His focus will be on driving this "vertical-focused innovation and partner-led growth," effectively transforming Cleo’s partner network into a primary engine for market expansion and customer value creation. This strategy is vital for extending Cleo's reach and embedding its technology deeper into the operational fabric of its target industries.