Xeneta: Transforming an industry on a global scale?

Xeneta calls upon former Amazon and MSC logistics technology experts to join the ocean and air freight data revolution.

How do you harness the power of data and technology to transform the way ocean and air freight is bought and sold around the world?

That is the task facing Fabio Brocca after being appointed Chief Product Officer at Xeneta – the leading ocean and air freight rate benchmarking platform.

Brocca, however, has the inside track on global transformation after helping to scale and run one of the largest transportation networks on earth in his previous role as Head of Product for Global Transportation Technology at Amazon.

He said: “Amazon showed me the importance of working backwards from the customer and how a best-in-class tech company is run.

“When you are transforming an industry, you must think long term. What we think is needed today may not be what’s needed tomorrow, so it is a continuous pursuit of innovation.

“There is a beautiful quote from Jeff Bezos where he says, ‘we are stubborn on vision, we are flexible on details’.”

Brocca’s role will see him further develop Xeneta’s platform, which already calls upon more than 400 million crowdsourced datapoints on ocean and air freight shipping rates to bring transparency to an otherwise opaque market.

What is the problem Xeneta is trying to solve? Brocca has first-hand experience having also held the position of Director of Business Transformation at MSC – the world’s largest ocean freight shipping company.

He said: “I have witnessed first-hand businesses across the freight industry with slow and inefficient processes, tendering departments working overtime every day for three months and still taking weeks to close a tender - then doing this again and again over multiple rounds.

“There is a lack of visibility in the market on how much businesses should be paying for ocean and air freight.”

Xeneta is set to launch the next generation of the platform in 2024 with previews being showcased at the TPM24 industry summit in Long Beach, California in 10 days’ time. How does Brocca believe it will solve customers’ problems, both now and in the future?

“The Xeneta platform is already providing tremendous value to customers, which is a great position to be in as a product leader.

“The long-term journey for the Xeneta platform is about insights and further personalization of the experience for customers. We want to display relevant data with the right context so that we can shorten the time it takes for customers to identify the most relevant insights for their business.

“I see my job as bringing clarity and focus on how the products we are launching today are supportive of the longer-term vision to change the way freight is bought and sold.”

Brocca’s addition follows the appointment of Tonia Luykx as Chief Revenue Officer and Hugo Grimston as Chief Finance Officer in the past 12 months, with Xeneta CEO Patrik Berglund believing he has found a ‘needle in a haystack’.

He said: “I knew we needed a global talent who brings a unique understanding of the Xeneta platform, the problems we are trying to solve for customers and our vision for the future.

“Fabio has an extremely relevant background having worked within the shipping and freight industry at MSC while also having been a product leader in a global, market-leading logistics company like Amazon.

“Fabio also fits seamlessly into the special Xeneta culture so it feels like we have found a needle in a haystack and I am delighted to welcome him onboard.”