Austin, Texas-based Pensa Systems, a cloud-based automated perception solution, has appointed technology veteran Tim Whiting as VP of marketing.
In this role, he will help scale the company’s brand and go-to-market efforts to meet growing demand for Pensa’s automated real-world shelf visibility data.
CPG brands and retailers alike are increasingly turning to Pensa to help them address the $1 trillion-plus problem of stockouts. At any given time, roughly one in 10 products – one in five for certain product categories – is missing from the shelf, costing the industry customers and profits.
Pensa’s automated shelf intelligence is powered by advanced AI and video-based computer vision. Its unique data signal closes the gap between retail inventory and POS data, helping brands and retailers minimize stockouts, increase shelf share, optimize product planning and improve the customer experience for the omnichannel world.
Pensa partners with top CPG brands and retailers globally, including Johnson & Johnson, General Mills, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Circle K and Unilever.
Whiting has led growth initiatives and built high-performing marketing functions at several early-stage technology start-ups. Prior to Pensa, he led marketing at Label Insight leading up to its acquisition by NielsenIQ. Prior to that, he led marketing at OpinionLab, which was acquired by Verint Systems. Earlier in his career, he held marketing leadership roles at companies including Motorola Solutions and AT&T.
“It’s a time of profound disruption, competition and change for CPG brands and retailers, with omnichannel growth on the rise, consumer preferences evolving and supply chains in turmoil,” said Whiting. “Pensa has engineered a brilliant solution that digitizes and analyzes the retail shelf more accurately, is fully automated and with continuous readout. I’m thrilled to help the company scale its marketing engine to bring this solution to more brands and retailers around the world.”
Whiting’s appointment follows closely on the heels of the appointment of CPG veteran Mollie DeBrie as VP of sales; the expansion of relationships with customers such as Johnson & Johnson, General Mills and Circle K; and a series A venture funding round, led by ATX Venture Partners with the addition of corporate investor Circle K Ventures, part of Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Pensa’s footprint also has recently expanded across multiple retail formats and regions, including leading grocery, drugstore and convenience channels.
“The pandemic has exacerbated a host of challenges for both CPG brands and retailers and created new urgency to solve those challenges and seize opportunities,” said Richard Schwartz, Pensa president and CEO. “Tim’s experience gives him unique perspective on the intersection of technology and the needs of retailers and brands. I’m thrilled to bring him aboard to help us meet surging demand and drive customer value.”
In August, Pensa announced the appointment of Mollie DeBrie as a senior revenue leader. Click here to read the story.
