Digital innovator and business entrepreneur Jess Hurwitz is championing “meaningful solutions” to transform maritime operations by catering to the needs of end-users in his new role as Chief Strategy Officer of OrbitMI, a NYC-based SaaS company with a mission to help each voyage become more profitable, safer for seafarers and less damaging to the planet.

Best known for being a growth architect and digital solutionist, Hurwitz has held many executive positions during a diverse 35-year career, but he developed his expertise in maritime during a 12-year stint as executive vice president of global sales & marketing and chief technology officer managing FleetWeather Ocean Services and Accuritas Global Solutions, and working with hundreds of shipowners, fleet operators, charterers, and pool managers worldwide.

He has remained connected with the industry as a recent four-year board member of the Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA). He is also an active member of many industry organizations including the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) as one of its early and longtime male members and proud supporters.

Building understanding, gaining trust

Hurwitz explains his decision to join OrbitMI as its first CSO was motivated by his view that it is “one of the few companies with the ability and potential to have a significant impact on the shipping industry over the next few years”.

“There is a lot of great technology and innovation out there, but there is a need for greater interaction with end-users to understand their daily challenges so that technology can truly transform how work is done to drive industry decarbonization and operational efficiency,” he says. “Building understanding and gaining trust with clients is key to developing new solutions that can help them perform more effectively and make a difference to their operations.”

This is being achieved, says Hurwitz, by integrating multiple APIs from diverse software vendors into the Orbit suite of maritime solutions to form highly efficient intelligent connected workflows.

“OrbitMI is taking a different approach by embracing collaboration and forging partnerships with providers of well-known industry applications to generate value for both individual users and their company as a whole. Its flexible plug-and-play solutions also work well with existing systems, eliminating the need for new hardware and rapid changes in the environment.”

‘Wealth of industry experience’

OrbitMI chief executive Ali Riaz says: “Jess has amassed a wealth of experience across different industries and his expertise straddling business and technology will be invaluable in navigating our path forward towards further growth. We are delighted to have him onboard.”

Hurwitz says: “I am honored and excited to join such an intelligent, dedicated and innovative group of people at OrbitMI, and proud to be part of its world-class management team. Together with our partners, we are thinking differently to create great solutions that bring real change to our industry. We start with trust and true commitment to helping our clients succeed and then let the technology do the rest.”