Kinaxis appoints former Plainview head Razat Gaurav as CEO

Ottawa-based supply chain management company Kinaxis has appointed Razat Gaurav as its new CEO, just over a year after the retirement of longtime leader John Sicard.

“I will champion the next generation of AI-driven decision making and supply chain orchestration.”
Razat Gaurav, Kinaxis

Gaurav, who will officially take over on Jan. 12, comes to Kinaxis after nearly five years as CEO of Austin, TX-based Planview. He also brings experience as the former CEO of supply chain management platform Llamasoft (now Coupa). Planview said in a LinkedIn post that the company doubled its annual recurring revenue and expanded globally under Gaurav’s leadership, and that he will remain a board member at the company.

Founded in 1984 as the Cadence Computer Corporation, Kinaxis offers a software-as-a-service platform that helps manufacturers and distributors monitor and plan around the supply and demand in their supply chain. In October, the company launched its AI agent, Maestro, to analyze live supply chain data, flag issues, and recommend the best course of action.

In a statement, Gaurav said he is excited to return to his “roots in supply chain.”

“Building on Kinaxis’ rich legacy of concurrent planning, I will champion the next generation of AI-driven decision making and supply chain orchestration, using the Maestro platform,” Gaurav said.

Alongside his appointment, Gaurav will also gain a board seat and return interim CEO Robert Courteau to the role of non-executive board chair. Courteau has been leading Kinaxis since Sicard retired at the end of 2024. Sicard spent 30 years with the company, including eight as president and CEO.

“Razat’s twenty-five years of experience in supply chain solutions, his proven track record in advancing innovation-driven growth, and his passion for developing high-performing cultures make him uniquely qualified for this role,” Courteau said in a statement.

By the end of Sicard’s tenure in 2024, Kinaxis said it had quadrupled its revenue, more than tripled its valuation, and grown its workforce by 400 percent under his leadership.

Sicard announced his intent to retire in August 2024, just a few months after laying off six percent of the Kinaxis workforce. A few weeks later, Daventry Group, an investment firm with a 1.4 percent stake in Kinaxis, urged the company to seek a sale due to perceived underperformance.

When Sicard retired, the company said it was shifting its focus from building to scaling as it aimed to become a $1-billion revenue company. In Kinaxis’ Q3 2025 earnings report, released in November, the company reported that its annual recurring revenue was $407 million USD ($565 million CAD), representing a 17 percent year-over-year rise.

Images courtesy Kinaxis.