Ottawa's tech scene has a new name to watch in the corner office: Herb Yeh has been appointed Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Kinaxis, the Kanata North-based supply chain management software company, according to a report from the Ottawa Business Journal.
A Familiar Name in Ottawa's Tech Corridor
Kinaxis has long been one of the anchor companies in Ottawa's Kanata North tech park, a stretch of the city that's home to some of Canada's biggest names in telecom and enterprise software. The company builds cloud-based supply chain planning tools used by manufacturers and retailers around the world to forecast demand, manage inventory, and respond to disruptions — the kind of software that quietly keeps global supply chains running.
Yeh steps into a dual role, overseeing both the financial operations of the company and its long-term strategic direction. Combining the CFO and chief strategy officer titles under one executive is a signal that Kinaxis wants tighter alignment between its books and its big-picture growth plans, whether that means new market expansion, acquisitions, or product investment.
Why This Matters for Ottawa
For a city that's worked hard to position itself as more than just a government town, Kinaxis is a point of local pride. It's one of the relatively small number of homegrown Ottawa tech companies that has scaled into a genuine global player, competing with much larger supply chain software firms while keeping its headquarters — and a significant chunk of its workforce — right here in the capital.
Executive hires like this one matter beyond the boardroom. Kinaxis employs hundreds of people in Ottawa, and leadership changes at companies of this size can ripple through the local economy, from hiring patterns to the broader reputation of Kanata North as a hub for high-growth tech talent. A strong, stable executive team at a company like Kinaxis helps reinforce Ottawa's case as a serious alternative to Toronto or Waterloo for tech talent and investment.
What's Next
While the Ottawa Business Journal report doesn't detail Yeh's full background or start date specifics beyond the appointment itself, the addition of a combined CFO/chief strategy officer role suggests Kinaxis is preparing for its next phase of growth. Companies often make this kind of leadership move ahead of major strategic pushes — whether that's expanding into new verticals, pursuing acquisitions, or doubling down on AI-driven supply chain forecasting, an area where Kinaxis has been investing heavily in recent years.
For Ottawa residents keeping an eye on the local tech economy, Kinaxis remains one of the names worth watching. As global supply chains continue to face disruption from everything from tariffs to climate events, the demand for the kind of planning software Kinaxis builds — right out of its Ottawa offices — isn't going away anytime soon.
Source: Ottawa Business Journal
