Shekar Natarajan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Chandrashekar Natarajan July 23, 1979 |
| Nationality | Indian-American |
| Education | Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad Georgia Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard Business School |
| Occupation(s) | Supply chain executive, engineer, entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Known for | Innovations in logistics, automation, and supply chain management |
| Spouse | Hima Venkata (m. 2007) |
Shekar Natarajan (born Chandrashekar Natarajan; July 23, 1979) [1] is an Indian-American supply chain executive and engineer. He is the founder and CEO of Orchestro AI.
Natarajan was born in Secunderabad, India. He earned a Bachelor of Technology degree in Mechanical Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, and a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2003. [2] [3] He completed an Executive Certificate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Transportation and Logistics and an Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. [2] [4]
Natarajan began his career as a Corporate Development Specialist at Alliance Rubber Company, working on process optimization [5] before joining Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated as a Senior Supply Chain Network Manager. [5] [3] In 2006, he became Director of Supply Chain Planning at PepsiCo [6] [7] and later joined Anheuser-Busch as North American Senior Director of Supply Chain Planning. [2] [8]
Natarajan joined The Walt Disney Company as Vice President of Business Process and Technology in 2013. [2] [3] In 2014, he joined Walmart as Vice President of Last Mile & Emerging Sciences, where he worked on autonomous drone technology and supply chain automation. [9] [10] [11] [12] In 2016, he became Senior Vice President of Network Planning and Operational Design at Target Corporation. [10] [9] [13] [14]
Natarajan joined American Eagle Outfitters in 2018 as Senior Vice President of Global Supply Chain, Logistics, and Services. [2] [15] [16] [17] [18] He was later promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer and served as President of Quiet Platforms, an AEO logistics subsidiary, before resigning in 2023. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]
In 2013, he joined the Corporate Board of Advisors at Cloudleaf, Inc., and as a member of the Technical Committee of the Project Production Institute (PPI). [24] [4]
Natarajan is the founder and CEO of Orchestro AI, a company focused on integrating artificial intelligence into logistics and supply chain automation. [25] [26]
Natarajan has filed over 300 patent applications, with 50 patents issued, covering autonomous systems, AI-driven logistics, and supply chain automation. [3] [4] His patents include developments in autonomous vehicles, predictive buying, and IoT-driven inventory management. His work on "CoolLift" technology focused on reducing workplace injuries and improving transportation efficiency. One of his patents, U.S. Patent 10733444 B2, was issued on August 4, 2020, for "Systems and Methods for Automated Assessment of Physical Objects," assigned to Walmart Apollo LLC. [27]
He co-authored the paper "Design Considerations for a Reusable Medical Database," presented at the 19th IEEE Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems in 2006, which examines reusable database components for medical imaging systems. [28]