Bob Liotta

Enterprise Architecture -
It’s totally my DNA

Professional Profile

Executive Technology Leader | Platform Architect | Digital Supply Chain Innovator

I’m Robert Liotta, a global technology executive with 30+ years of experience architecting enterprise platforms, driving digital transformation, and embedding AI across the logistics and supply chain sectors. Currently SVP, Enterprise Architect at CEVA Logistics and formerly Chief Architect at Kuehne+Nagel, I’ve led multi-year IT strategy roadmaps, steered acquisition integration programs, and delivered cloud-native, AI-enabled, and custom logistics platforms that scale globally and deliver measurable business value.

My leadership spans platform engineering, DevOps, integration architecture, and enterprise rationalization—building resilient, scalable platforms with a focus on operational excellence, innovation, and transformation at scale.

🧠 Leadership & Strategy

Robert is a recognized technology leader known for founding the Americas Architecture Board, a cross-functional governance body that aligns enterprise initiatives with modern architecture patterns, developer enablement, and strategic business priorities. He has led large-scale Agile and DevOps transformations, shifting organizations from waterfall to Agile and establishing CI/CD pipelines that drove a 50% productivity gain in year one. Robert also restructured the Enterprise Architecture function into scalable, domain-aligned teams, mentors architects, and acts as a trusted advisor to executive stakeholders across technology and business.

⚙️ Engineering & Innovation

Robert has consistently delivered impactful engineering solutions that combine open-source strategy, platform modernization, and AI-driven automation at scale.

  • Open Source & Platform Modernization
    Pioneered the transition to open-source Java-based technologies across North and South America, eliminating vendor lock-in and reducing licensing costs. Architected converged platforms using CBD, MDM, and CFAST, and led the migration of legacy systems into secure, cloud-compliant containers.

  • Custom Integration Architectures
    Designed and deployed complex enterprise-grade integrations across A2A, B2B, EDI, WebServices, and JMS. Engineered a custom high-throughput ESB processing over 300K messages per day to support mission-critical workflows.

  • AI & Automation
    Delivered multiple AI-powered solutions, including:
    • An OpenAI Email Assistant for multilingual case handling
    • An IDP automation platform using ABBYY OCR
    • ML-based demand forecasting rolled out across Asia Pacific
    • AI chatbot integrations via partnerships with startup incubators like ZEBOX
  • Infrastructure & Cybersecurity Leadership
    Brings deep expertise in virtualization (VMWare, XenServer), Storage Area Networks (SAN), POD infrastructure, and distributed systems. Played a key role in CEVA’s cybersecurity roadmap, contributing to IAM, IDP remediation, and SSO architecture aligned with global enterprise standards.

Core Strengths

  • Enterprise Architecture Strategy
  • Platform Engineering & Integration
  • AI, ML, and Intelligent Automation
  • DevOps & CI/CD Governance
  • Cybersecurity Architecture
  • Cost Optimization & Tool Rationalization
  • Global Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management

Accomplishment Journal

Architecture & Integration

  • Directed a global enterprise architecture initiative analyzing over 300 technologies to drive rationalized roadmaps for CL, A&O, and Corporate systems.
  • Led the architecture and deployment of a converged A&O solution using MDM and CFAST/CBD frameworks, enabling future integration with CDP.
  • Built governance models for DevOps and CICD platforms across global teams while supporting local delivery autonomy.

AI, GenAI, & Digital Innovation

  • Delivered an AI Email Assistant using OpenAI LLM for Salesforce case handling — automated categorization and multilingual response generation.
  • Enabled delivery of IDP PoC using ABBYY for scanned document automation in A&O operations.
  • Supported a warehouse forecasting PoC using Google Cloud ML to optimize workforce planning across APAC.
  • Engaged in PoC work with Zebox startup on knowledge chatbot benchmarking Microsoft Copilot Studio.

Platform & DevOps Engineering

  • Led transformation from waterfall to agile with CI/CD, boosting development productivity by 50% in year one.
  • Implemented Docker/Kubernetes-based container platform for scalable, cost-effective infrastructure.

Cost Optimization & Rationalization

  • Achieved below-budget delivery across multiple years by consolidating tools, delaying low-impact projects, and enforcing IT spend governance.
  • Led rationalization of DevOps tools and integration frameworks to reduce duplicated systems by 20%.
  • Designed centralized version control and testing platforms adopted across all WebApps.

Cybersecurity & Governance

  • Supported CEVA’s cybersecurity roadmap, including IAM, MDM, and IDP remediation projects.
  • Migrated multiple legacy platforms to cloud-compliant, secure containers and hardened their interfaces for external use.
  • Built security-aligned SSO topology for BLX and Colis Prive while adhering to CEVA and Group standards.

Leadership & Strategy

  • Founded the Americas Architecture Board to mentor teams and ensure platform consistency across regions.
  • Reorganized EA into functional and technical domains with added leadership coverage per COE.
  • Served as technical governance lead for MyCEVA and led cross-functional integration with Ground, Rail, Air, Ocean, and Contract Logistics.

Work History and Education

Work History

CEVA Logistics, Jacksonville, Florida
2016–Present
Senior Vice President, IT Enterprise Architect

Kuehne+Nagel, Naugatuck, Connecticut
1996–2016
Chief Architect, NAFTA (1999–2016)
Director, Internet Services (1997–1999)
Manager, UNIX Services (1996–1997)

Nextel Communications, White Plains, New York
1994–1995
UNIX Systems Programmer

General DataComm Industries, Inc., Middlebury, Connecticut
1988–1994
Principal Systems Programmer (1992–1994)

Education and Training

Waterbury State Technical College, Waterbury, Connecticut
1983–1985
Associates Degree in Computer Science

TANGRAM University – AI Training
2025
Advanced curriculum focused on applied Artificial Intelligence concepts and enterprise use cases.

Climate Training
2024
Corporate sustainability and environmental awareness certification.

Annual Compliance and Ethics Training
2017–Present
Ongoing training covering corporate compliance, data protection, ethical standards, and regulatory obligations.

Leadership I – October 2014
Kuehne+Nagel and external partner

Leadership II – November 2015
Invite-only, limited to 100 individuals per year
Kuehne+Nagel and external partner

Technology Profile Summary

As an enterprise architect and technology leader, I bring decades of experience driving complex digital transformation, platform modernization, and systems integration across global organizations. My technical portfolio spans cloud-native infrastructure, DevOps automation, full-stack development, enterprise integration, identity and access management, and custom platform engineering. Below is a categorized breakdown of the technologies I’ve deployed and led in production environments.

Cloud-Native & Containerization

  • Kubernetes – Container orchestration platform used for automating deployment, scaling, and operations.
  • Docker – Container engine that simplifies application packaging and portability.
  • Containerd – Lightweight container runtime optimized for use with Kubernetes.
  • Helm – Package manager for Kubernetes applications supporting templated configurations and versioning.
  • Velero – Tool for backing up and restoring Kubernetes clusters.
  • Rook-CephFS – Cloud-native storage orchestration using Ceph integrated with Kubernetes.
  • Ceph – Distributed, software-defined storage system supporting block, file, and object storage.

CI/CD & DevOps Tooling

  • Jenkins – Automation server for building and deploying CI/CD pipelines.
  • GitLab – DevOps platform combining source control with integrated pipelines and issue tracking.
  • Artifactory – Universal artifact repository manager for build artifacts and containers.
  • SonarQube – Code quality and security analysis platform.
  • Kanboard – Visual project management tool using the Kanban methodology.

Monitoring & Observability

  • OpenTelemetry – Observability framework for collecting distributed traces and metrics.
  • OpenSearch – Open-source search and analytics engine for operational data and logs.
  • Prometheus – Metrics collection and alerting toolkit.
  • Grafana – Visualization platform for observability dashboards.
  • Centreon – Infrastructure and service monitoring for IT operations.
  • Jaeger – Distributed tracing system used with OpenTelemetry.

Big Data & Messaging

  • Kafka – Distributed event streaming platform for building real-time data pipelines.
  • Pulsar – Scalable pub-sub messaging platform with native stream storage.
  • Cassandra – Highly scalable NoSQL database for large-scale time-series or wide-column data.
  • ElasticSearch – Distributed search and analytics engine.
  • Confluent – Commercial platform extending Apache Kafka with enterprise features.
  • PostgreSQL – Advanced open-source relational database with enterprise-grade features.
  • Dataiku – Visual platform for data science workflows and machine learning.

Frontend Frameworks & Libraries

  • React – Component-based JavaScript library for building user interfaces.
  • Next.js – React-based framework supporting server-side rendering and routing.
  • PrimeReact – UI component library for React-based enterprise applications.
  • PrimeFaces – JSF-based UI library for Java web applications.
  • Apollo – GraphQL client library for integrating APIs and managing front-end data.

Security, Identity & Integration

  • JWT – Token format used for stateless authentication between parties.
  • OAuth2 – Authorization framework enabling third-party access delegation.
  • LDAP – Directory protocol used for user and access management.
  • Camunda – Workflow and decision automation engine using BPMN/DMN standards.
  • ServiceNow – IT service management platform for workflow automation.
  • Choreo Connect – API gateway supporting throttling, security, and monitoring.

Business & Productivity Platforms

  • Monday.com – Visual collaboration and work management platform.
  • Qlik Sense – Business analytics platform for data visualization and reporting.

Infrastructure & Virtualization

  • VMWare – Enterprise virtualization platform for server workloads.
  • XenServer – Hypervisor for hosting virtual machines on enterprise-grade hardware.
  • Storage Area Networks (SAN) – High-performance, centralized storage systems.
  • POD Technologies – Modular, scalable hardware deployment model.
  • Firewalls – Core security layer for network perimeter defense and traffic control.

Application Development & Integration

  • Java (Open Source) – Primary development language for custom enterprise applications.
  • LEX – Proprietary localization framework enabling regional customization.
  • WebServices – Standards-based approach to integrating distributed systems.
  • JMS – Java messaging middleware for asynchronous communications.
  • EDI – Standardized electronic document exchange used in logistics and supply chain.
  • A2A / B2B – Architecture patterns enabling internal (A2A) and external (B2B) system integration.

DevOps & SDLC

  • Continuous Delivery Pipeline – End-to-end automation for build, test, and deploy cycles.
  • Release Management – Governance and execution of software deployments.
  • Revision Control – Version control and source code change tracking systems.
  • QA Practices – Defined quality assurance processes integrated into delivery pipelines.

Monitoring & Ops

  • Custom Monitoring Systems – In-house platform providing real-time observability of infrastructure and application health.

Enterprise Applications (Custom Built)

  • Virtual Logistics Network – WMS for managing 120+ depots supporting SUN Micro-Systems SLAs.
  • Logistics Dashboard – Customer portal for real-time inventory, order, and receipt visibility with PDF report generation.

Legacy & OS Expertise

  • UNIX – Deep experience in systems programming, performance tuning, and shell environments.
  • SUN Micro-Systems – Supported high-availability systems for mission-critical logistics platforms.

Proprietary / In-House Platforms

  • CJF (CEVA Java Framework) – Internal Java microservices framework with built-in observability, security, and service contracts.
  • CAL (Communication Abstraction Layer) – Integration layer enabling dynamic service orchestration across distributed systems.
  • SSO Management – Internal single sign-on solution supporting RBAC and identity federation.
  • Authorization Service – Policy-based access control engine managing user permissions.
  • DocAPI – Document management API enabling secure data exchange across services.
  • EMB (Enterprise Message Bus) – High-throughput message broker powering asynchronous event-based architecture.
  • MySSO – CEVA-branded identity gateway supporting OIDC and SAML authentication.
  • Gainceva, Fabriq, Semarchy, COSY, LBR, Dyson – Specialized CEVA-built platforms supporting logistics, HR, and operations.
  • Digital Gemba, Doc Logistics, MyHR, MyCEVA – Front-line and customer-facing tools integrated with core enterprise systems.