Drayage Tech Leader welcomes new CTO and CPO to build out the next generation of technologies to disrupt the logistics industry
NEXT Trucking, a FreightTech pioneer that connects shippers and carriers through a digital marketplace, has announced the addition of Vipul Shah as Chief Product Officer and Bo Tao as Chief Technology Officer. These strategic hires bring deep technical expertise in automation, machine learning, and analytics to drive efficiency in the supply chain. Tao and Shah will drive improvements within the comprehensive NEXT Trucking platform, to enhance carrier and shipper experience across the spectrum of activities required to move a container, from delivery order processing and load matching to shipper billing and driver payout.
“There is a lot of friction and lack of predictability in the supply chain today, diminishing earnings for drivers and wreaking havoc in shipper working capital,” said Lidia Yan, CEO, NEXT. “We believe strongly that technology has a key role to play in reducing this waste and creating economic opportunity. Vipul and Bo have the technical skills and expertise, including experience in scaling large platforms, to fuel NEXT’s growth.”
A twenty-year FinTech veteran, Shah previously led the development of global payments platforms at PayPal and Google. “I’ve always been drawn to visionary efforts to create economic opportunity with technology,” said Shah. “NEXT’s mission to empower drivers and shippers, and to reduce friction in freight, really resonated. A platform isn’t just great code, it’s relationships and collaboration with key players in the ecosystem. I’m humbled to continue the great work of our founders Lidia and Elton, bringing together shippers, carriers, terminals, ports, and other technology innovators on the NEXT platform.”
Tao led engineering for Google’s image and food search and brings over twenty years of engineering, product development, and management expertise to NEXT. “Matching shippers and carriers through a marketplace can greatly improve the efficiency of transportation, similar to what we have witnessed in consumer industries,” said Tao. “NEXT is a leading provider of such products and services with a proven market fit and a long runway ahead of it. I am extremely excited to join this market disruptor to improve the efficiency and economics of drayage, and to reduce the burden that drivers and shippers face today.”
