Chief Strategy and Innovation OfficerArun Rajan

Arun Rajan serves as the Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer (CSIO) at C.H. Robinson. In this role, Arun oversees Robinson’s enterprise strategy and innovation process, from creation to implementation, and measures the company’s performance against strategic goals. He also leads research, analysis and competitive intelligence to inform major company decisions related to the portfolio, mergers and acquisitions and organizational transformation.

In his prior position as Chief Operating Officer, Arun focused on accelerating digital transformation and delivering financial outcomes. He led the Product, Technology, Data Science and Analytics organizations with a mission to align business strategy, technological innovation, and execution to surpass the expectations of customers, carriers and shareholders by empowering employees with purpose-built technology.

Arun joined C.H. Robinson in September 2021 as Chief Product Officer. Prior to joining Robinson, he held technology and operating leadership roles at innovative, digital-first companies that have transformed entire industries. Arun was the Chief Technology Officer of Whole Foods Market, part of Amazon, where he led the creation and execution of the technology strategy for a large-scale transformation from a legacy technology landscape and ways of working to modern engineering practices and a technology landscape that heavily leveraged AWS/Amazon technology.

Arun also held leadership positions at customer-obsessed Zappos, through its acquisition by Amazon, serving as Chief Operating Officer from 2014 to 2019 and Chief Technology Officer from 2009 to 2013. As Zappos Chief Operating Officer, Arun was accountable for the financial performance of Zappos and was responsible for creating and operationalizing business strategy across all major functions including merchandising, marketing, technology and fulfillment with a focus on sustainable and profitable long-term growth. During his time as Zappos CTO, Arun led the creation and execution of Zappos’ technology and data strategy in the context of rapid business growth and scalability. Arun has been building and operating Internet based solutions since the mid- ‘90s. His earlier career included roles as the CTO of One Kings Lane in San Francisco, Co-founder and CTO of New York City’s Intent Media, CTO of Travelocity Europe and LastMinute.com in London, and Co-Founder and CTO of ITRadar.com in Minneapolis.