Management Team
Jay Coughlan
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
As chairman and chief executive officer of XRS Corporation, Jay has led the company’s transformation from a hardware-based business to the transportation industry leader in mobile fleet optimization. Since joining the 26-year old company in 2006, Jay realized that hardware dependent, in-cab systems would not be adaptable in an industry that would soon be facing massive regulatory and performance pressures.
Jay was one of the first to realize that four looming forces –information, cloud, mobile and social – would converge on the trucking industry and dramatically reshape the future. As a result, he rebuilt XRS based on a vision of having the best product and most trucks on the road. The strategy was designed around three principals: 1) Making compliance a reality through choice and simplicity, 2) Maximizing efficiency through cloud-based fleet optimization, and 3) Making trucking easier for the driver. The strategy resulted in the launch of a completely new mobile product platform in April 2013 and the transition of three older platforms into a single XRS product while continuing to meet the needs of the company’s current customer.
Prior to joining XRS, Jay was president and chief executive officer of Lawson Software, one of the country’s largest enterprise software companies. Jay began his career at Lawson in 1987 as an account executive. He moved quickly to vice president of the Health Care Business Unit (Lawson’s first vertical market), where he increased market share and oversaw triple-digit increases in license-based revenue and new accounts.
During his tenure as CEO, the company completed a $200 million initial public offering (IPO), while growing revenue from $200 million to $430 million.
Jay is an active regional business advocate and serves on the board of directors for several business and non-profit organizations, including Minnesota Teen Challenge. He is a local and national speaker on a wide variety of business topics. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, and is a resident of Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
Brendan Reidy
President and Chief Operating Officer
Brendan joined XRS in March 2013 as president and chief operating officer. Reidy oversees the development, product management, product marketing, information systems, quality assurance, customer support, supply chain and human resources departments. He reports directly to our CEO, Jay.
Brendan was hired to focus on scalability and growth as XRS launches its new mobile strategy and platform. He came to XRS with a deep background as a leader of technology companies and ventures. Brendan will driver operational improvement and put in place processes and systems that will enable XRS to achieve the scale of growth we expect and aim for.
Brendan is the former chairman and CEO of Clarus Systems in Redwood City, CA. He has held executive-level positions at Qwest Communications/US West, Litton Integrated Automation and Software Alliance Corp. In addition, he has served as a director of several technology companies including eGistics, Arantech, Evolving Systems and Greenbrier & Russel. In addition, he is a venture partner at Trident Capital.
Brendan received an A.B. in Political Science from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Jim DeSocio
EVP, Field Operations
Jim joined XRS in January 2013 as executive vice president, field operations. He oversees the company’s field sales team and serves on the XRS executive committee.
Jim brings more than 20 years of technology, software and communications leadership experience to XRS. Most recently, he served as executive vice president – sales and business development for New Jersey-based Antenna Software. He has a proven track record of driving sales growth for leading high-tech companies. His extensive experience developing, implementing and executing strategic positioning to meet and exceed revenue and profit objectives is an incredible asset to the company.
Prior to his role with Antenna Software, Jim served as chief executive officer of Riskclick, a New York-based company focused on developing cloud-based underwriting solutions for the property and casualty insurance market. Jim also spent 13 years at Lawson Software in a number of positions, including executive vice president of global field operations and the executive vice president of the retail business unit that grew dramatically under his leadership.
Jim holds a business administration degree from Rutgers University. He is active in several community organizations and serves on the board of directors for EIES, a not-for-profit reading service for the homebound.
Scott Meyer
Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer
Scott has provided marketing counsel, business strategy and executive leadership to a broad range of organizations worldwide for more than 30 years. At XRS, Scott manages all aspects of the company’s marketing, brand development and demand generation programs. His previous corporate experience was at Lawson Software where he was Chief Marketing Officer.
Scott’s background includes serving as Chief Executive Officer of Shandwick International, one of the world’s top three public relations firms. At Shandwick, Scott led the integration of 16 separate companies into a unified global brand with 1500 employees in 34 countries and $225 million in revenue.
His former clients at Shandwick included Cargill, General Electric, University of Minnesota, ExxonMobil, Microsoft, MasterCard, Coca-Cola, Northwest Airlines, NCAA, General Motors, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Scott is a graduate of the University of Minnesota.
Christian Schenk
Senior Vice President, Product Strategy & Market Growth
Christian joined XRS in September 2010. Since joining XRS, Christian has been a significant force in building the company’s product marketing, product management, lead generation, partnerships and carrier strategy. His leadership skills, passion, energy, product knowledge and knowledge of both the transportation and wireless industries are all key factors in his success at XRS.
Since he began at XRS, Schenk held the titles of vice president, product marketing & market development. In his current role, Schenk has responsibility for the company’s product roadmap, product marketing, lead generation, inside sales, partnerships, channel marketing and sales enablement.
Before joining XRS, Schenk spent many years in the fleet technology and wireless industries as owner of ELCON Systems, a leading producer of toll collection solutions for the North American and European commercial transportation markets, and as the co-founder of SelectComm Communications, one of North America's largest wireless distributors, which went public in 2008. Schenk was instrumental in the company receiving the Top 100 Fastest Growing Company award for four consecutive years. The convergence of these backgrounds gives Schenk great knowledge and insight when crafting the direction and execution for XRS’ products.
Christian is known in the industry for his extensive knowledge and in-depth, hands-on experience in mobile technology, process management, business development and transportation logistics. He is an active member of many trucking-related associations, including the American Trucking Association, the National Private Truck Council and the International Foodservice Distributors Association. He also sits on several industry advisory panels and advisory committees including the CTIA Alumni and Telematics Americas.
Odell Tuttle
Chief Technology Officer
Odell joined XRS in September 2011 as Chief Technology Officer. Prior to joining XRS, he was the Chief Technology Officer of Healthland, responsible for driving technology and product direction.
Prior to joining Healthland, Odell also held senior developmental positions with Gearworks, Inc. and Digital River, Inc. Odell is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the CIO/CTO Leadership Council, International .NET User Association (INETA) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Odell earned a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree from the University of North Dakota and he attended the post-graduate software engineering program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Mike Weber
Chief Financial Officer
Mike joined XRS in April, 2007 as Director of Finance. He was promoted to V.P. of Finance in April, 2011, and became CFO in October, 2012. He brings more than 25 years of finance expertise to his executive role.
During his tenure at XRS, Mike has been instrumental in leading the successful acquisition and integration of two key acquisitions, GeoLogic Solutions, Inc. and Turnpike Global Technologies, resulting in significant improvement to the company’s strategic positioning in the trucking industry.
Prior to joining XRS, Mike held the role of Director of Compliance and External Reporting, Controller at CNS, Inc. from 2001 to 2007. From 1999 to 2001, he held key financial roles at Schwan’s Sales Enterprises, Inc.
Mike holds a B.S. degree in Accounting/Business from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn. He also holds the designation of Certified Public Accountant (inactive).
