Zūm, a U.S.-based modern student transportation company, announced the appointment of three key executive hires: the company’s first Chief Product Officer, Rohit Jain, along with Jay Kim, who joins as Chief Financial Officer, and Shiva Nagabushanaswamy, who joins as Vice President of Engineering.
Jain will oversee product strategy, development, design and innovation, utilizing his expertise in logistics and tech to usher in a new chapter of transformation as Zum continues to work toward its vision to reimagine student transportation, a statement said.
Kim will be responsible for overall financial management of the company, including financial planning and analysis, accounting, treasury, corporate development and capital formation, it said.
Nagabushanaswamy will be responsible for building and scaling the engineering organization at Zum, bringing in his years of technical expertise, best engineering practices, and experience in building and leading teams to deliver mission-critical large scale complex technology platforms.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rohit, Jay, and Shiva to Zum as we continue to build the future of safe, reliable, and sustainable student transportation,” said Ritu Narayan, CEO and founder at Zum. “These three exceptional leaders amplify our executive team with the insight, perspective, and skills we need to support Zum on our journey to improve how our kids get to and from school.”
Jain joins Zum after nearly seven years at Walmart Labs, where he established and led a team of more than 200 product managers, designers and product analytics experts building and scaling Walmart’s e-commerce technology, and nearly a decade at Amazon working across a number of areas, including mobile shopping and international payments. With a distinguished background in logistics and technology, Jain will lead product development at Zum, while scaling the team to reimagine student transportation for a safer, more sustainable, and more equitable future powered by Zum technology, the statement said.
“From the moment I first met Ritu and her leadership team, I was struck by their vision and commitment to the mission,” said Jain. “Student transportation is an industry built to move our most precious cargo safely and securely, yet it hasn’t changed in decades. I am looking forward to being part of this journey – building technology and scaling a team that can have a real impact on our kids, communities and the planet.”
As Zum’s new CFO, Kim brings more than 20 years of experience in financial management and capital markets, most recently serving as the CFO of Carbon Health Technologies, where he helped to significantly scale that company’s footprint and operations. Earlier in his career, he spent 13 years as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank Securities. Kim will bring these experiences to bear in providing critical financial leadership as Zum continues to expand and serve students, families, and drivers in districts across the U.S, the company said.
“Zum is on an incredible trajectory in a market desperate for transformation. I am excited and inspired to join a team with such impressive growth and momentum alongside disruptive technology and a compelling vision and mission,” said Kim. “We are on a path to fundamentally change the student transportation status quo and make a meaningful difference in the lives of parents, kids, and educators. I can’t wait to see where it takes us.”
Nagabushanaswamy brings 20 years of engineering experience to his new role of Vice President of Engineering at Zum. He most recently served as Head of Engineering – Ads at Uber and Director of Engineering – Personalization at Netflix. Before Netflix, Shiva spent more than 12 years in senior engineering roles at Microsoft. Nagabushanaswamy brings to Zum his years of experience building and scaling engineering teams to deliver highly complex and scalable technology platforms, the statement said.
“Kids are the future! Making sure that every kid has accessibility to education is a noble mission. Getting kids from home to school is one of the critical pillars to achieve this broader mission. I like solving real world problems with the infusion of technology and data,” said Nagabushanaswamy. “Modernizing student transportation with building great reliable products for our parents, kids, school districts, drivers, and fleet managers is a fulfilling mission. This is a real world problem with all kinds of real complexities. I’m privileged to join them to take this to the next level.”
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