Saia Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Rohit Lal has been named a finalist for the 2020 Georgia CIO of the Year® ORBIE® Awards. For more than two decades, the awards have sought to recognize technology executives for leadership, innovation and excellence in the CIO-led national professional association.

“Rohit would be the first to point out that although this is an individual recognition, this is really reflective of the efforts of his team,” said Saia President and Chief Executive Officer Fritz Holzgrefe in a congratulatory email. “We all recognize that we operate in a demanding business and have collectively performed well in this pandemic environment. An important component of this success has been our ability to pivot and effectively work remote in a matter of days. This was only one outstanding example of this team’s success. Please join me in congratulating Rohit and his team.”

Lal was recognized as part of the “Large Enterprise” group from companies that have over $1.5 billion in revenue. Currently, Saia ranks as the 37th largest public company in Georgia so his selection is from a large, competitive group.

Lal was named Saia's new vice president and chief information officer in 2017. In his role, he is responsible for ensuring that Saia's information technology (IT) enables and supports the company's key business objectives in advanced analytics, deployment and optimization of technology, and expansion. With more than 20 years of experience in IT within the manufacturing and distribution sector, Lal primarily worked at The Coca-Cola Company in positions of increasing responsibility before joining Saia. Prior to Coca-Cola, he served as the managing principal for AceTrack, Inc. in Duluth, Georgia. Lal possesses a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India.

All finalists will be recognized on Oct. 7 at a virtual event, and ORBIE winners will be announced at the virtual Georgia CIO Awards on Nov. 6.