Innovation with Intention: Inside the Tech Culture at ITS Logistics

June 19

by Lindsay Fuller

Innovation at speed isn’t luck. It’s enabled by clear purpose and robust architecture.

At ITS Logistics, we move fast—but that’s not the headline. Any business can move fast, but are they moving mostly in a straight line towards their own due north? Often, “speed” is just code for chaos: unclear strategy, non-scalable platforms, and lack of will to complete through to value.

The story is how we move—by balancing innovation with prudent cost control. We sat down with Peter Weis, CIO at ITS Logistics, to talk about what powers ITS's speed—and why it's not just about moving quickly, but doing so with intent.

“When innovation starts with intention—backed by a lean IT infrastructure and a DevOps mindset—you create the space to invest in what matters without risking your day-to-day operations or sacrificing margins,” Weis explains. “We don’t rely on shortcuts. We make deliberate choices that tie together innovation, cost-efficiency, and purposeful execution.”

A tech culture is lean by design and focused on what matters most: empowering people to do their best work. “We’ve intentionally created an environment where developers aren’t just writing code—they’re solving real problems on the front lines, based on real user feedback, with the autonomy to make change happen quickly“ said Weis. “This culture creates meaning for our tech employees, and when they thrive, innovation follows.”

How We Achieve Innovation at ITS Speed

That purpose-driven culture operates on what Weis describes as the architectural underpinnings required for sustainable innovation at speed, our “magical pillars of tech” for ITS—four attributes that enable ITS to innovate more quickly and less expensively than its competitors.

Our own cloud-based TMS: At the core of our velocity are ITS Drive—our proprietary AI-enabled transportation management system that manages over 90% of ITS’s volume and revenue—and ITS Engage—our platform for collaborating even more closely with shippers, carriers and supply chain partners.

We own the code, so we’re not beholden to third party software providers, their roadmap priorities and their increasing subscription costs. Every update, improvement, and user-driven change happens on our timeline. And because it’s all one holistic platform, we are simply faster than our competitors.

“Because we own the tech,” Weis explains, “we’re limited only by our own creativity, energy and commitment to excellence. We can listen, respond, and build at the speed of innovation, not at the speed of our providers.”

Our services to customers are not commoditized, nor is our tech. We innovate from the inside out, from ITS Drive to ITS Engage, for our operations and for our customers and partners.

A unified, AI-enabled data platform: We’ve built a unified, AI-enabled platform where every piece of operational and customer data lives in one place. No more silos. No more stitching together reports across disconnected systems. This foundation powers real-time insights—but more importantly, it fuels what comes next: predictive intelligence. “We’re embedding AI directly into the TMS and across our operations,” says Weis. “From sourcing and costing to trailer allocation, our models now help us anticipate what’s coming—not just react to what’s happened.”

“With machine learning running under the hood, we can optimize trailer placement, predict demand shifts, and surface better recommendations for the business—faster than traditional planning cycles ever allowed,” continued Weis. “It’s not just about faster answers. It’s about smarter decisions.”

DevOps Discipline: DevOps isn’t just a process we follow. It’s a mindset we live. At ITS, it's the engine behind our innovation velocity that allows us to more quickly launch a 70% solution—one that’s grounded, usable, and ready to learn. And then we iterate quickly. Why? Because the remaining 30%—smarter workflows, deeper automation, and faster performance—comes faster and more affordably after the system is live and learning.

“It reflects how humans actually think about technology,” says Weis. “Heuristically. Iteratively. In motion.”

This DevOps discipline is how ITS closes the gap between idea and execution without friction and waste. By training our senior engineers and dev managers to take full-cycle ownership. That mindset eliminates many of the usual silos, handoffs, and layers of approval. Change management is embedded in how we operate, so momentum isn’t lost at go-live—it’s accelerated.

That’s how we scale without overengineering, how we stay aligned with the business's needs day after day, and how we make innovation happen at ITS speed.

An organization built to execute: Innovation at speed doesn’t happen in silos. Every layer—tech, data, infrastructure, and operations—has to work as a system. Each plays a distinct role within our DevOps mindset, and each is aligned to the same goal: execute with clarity, purpose, and pace. We’ve aligned all three to move at ITS speed: fast and human.

“We’ve given great thought to how our organization is set up—culturally, structurally, and in terms of skill sets,” says Weis. “It’s built into how we work. The number of sprints we run concurrently for a company our size is best in class.”

At ITS, we don’t rely on isolated teams, stove piped approvals, or disconnected workflows. We’ve built an environment that moves as one, with fewer handoffs, fewer mundane tasks, and more time spent on meaningful, high-impact work. It’s how we remove friction, reduce costs, and drive real productivity.

None of this is magic. It’s hard work, done right.

Because when you align strategy with structure—when you empower the right people with the right tools—everything accelerates. Innovation gains momentum. Teams do their best work. And the results speak for themselves.

"There’s only the journey,” says Weis. “We try to make that journey as meaningful as possible for our tech employees, where they do great work, feel ownership, and see the impact of what they build.”

Meet Peter Weis, CIO & SVP of Supply Chain Services

Since joining ITS in 2023, Peter has been integral in the development of ITS’s proprietary technology ecosystem, leading teams across Reno, India, and San Francisco’s Silicon Valley. His human-centric approach drives AI adoption in a way that empowers teams to continuously provide better solutions for customers.