Jim Vena Named Innovator of the Year, Celebrates the Union Pacific Team Powering a Historic Transformation

“This honor belongs to the people who run this railroad,” Vena said. “And the leaders who show up every day pushing us toward what’s possible.”

That spirit of innovation is powering Union Pacific’s record-breaking momentum. It starts on the Operating side, where Executive Vice President-Operations Eric Gehringer has set new standards for safety and reliability. His people-first leadership has delivered industry-leading performance and set new standards for operational excellence through engagement and accountability initiatives.

“Eric’s leadership is a major reason we’re delivering the best safety and service performance in our history,” Vena said.

Building on that foundation, customer trust and advocacy continue to strengthen – reflected in the railroad’s Net Promoter Score that’s consistently improved over the past two years. Executive Vice President-Marketing and Sales Kenny Rocker re-centered the commercial team around reliability and possibility. His focus isn’t just selling service – it’s on creating partnerships that anticipate customer needs and deliver convenient, cost-effective access to the U.S. supply chain.

Delivering on that commitment requires financial strength, and over the past five years, Union Pacific has invested $16.4 billion under a strategy shaped by Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Hamann. Her approach ensures every dollar is directed toward long-term stability, keeping the railroad agile and resilient. The results speak for themselves: a strong balance sheet and consistently solid financial performance, paving the way for bold moves that will reshape the industry. 

Union Pacific’s historic agreement with Norfolk Southern is shaping the future of transportation – a deal that will eliminate interchange delays, accelerate coast-to-coast service and create new growth opportunities. Leading this effort is Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Christina Conlin, whose team is not only negotiating the most consequential transportation agreement in modern history but also building the framework to support a unified network, streamlined operations and long-term competitive advantage.

Transformation isn’t driven by agreements alone – technology is powering progress. That’s where Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Rahul Jalali comes in, modernizing core operating systems and integrating tools like NetControl to give customers greater visibility and make operations safer and more efficient.

“Leaning into technology such as NetControl – and seamless integration – has made us stronger and safer,” Vena said. “It’s key to ensuring our industry is not left behind.”

As technology accelerates change, it’s people who sustain it. Union Pacific’s culture and workforce remain vital to its success, a commitment championed by Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Josh Perkes. His team secured top-tier benefits for its unionized 30,000-person multigenerational team while formalizing groundbreaking jobs-for-life agreements with multiple unions – ensuring the talent behind the railroad’s transformation stays engaged and empowered.

“They’re the right team at the right moment,” Vena said. “Innovation takes a team – and this team is rewriting what a railroad can be.”

And yet, Union Pacific’s transformation is inseparable from the leader who set the vision in motion.

Vena’s story is classic railroading grit: nearly 50 years that began not in a boardroom, but on a summer rail gang at age 15, tossing ties out of gondola cars. By 1977, he was a brakeperson at Canadian National, eventually becoming a conductor, locomotive engineer, trainmaster and later a senior executive running the entire operation.

“I take pride in being the only railroad CEO who’s actually run trains,” Vena said. “When you’ve been in those jobs, you understand the challenges – and you listen closely to the people who do the work.”

That perspective defines his leadership today. Since joining Union Pacific in 2019, first as chief operating officer and later as CEO, Vena has injected that frontline experience and sensibility into every corner of the railroad. He’s known for traveling the system, riding trains, walking terminals and challenging crews with rapid-fire questions delivered in his trademark Socratic style: If a train is parked, why? If track is out of service, how long? And always: what is the customer impact?

That engaged teaching style was on full display Nov. 12, when he brought members of the media aboard Union Pacific’s Media Day train in Chicago. Vena didn’t sugarcoat what they saw; he embraced it. As the train rolled past idle cars and busy yards, he narrated the bottlenecks with unmistakable urgency.

As reported by Bill Stephens, the newly appointed editor of Trains magazine who participated on the Media Day trip: “There’s nothing freaking moving,” Vena said as he pointed out one parked train after another. “You wanna ship something across the country? You’ve gotta hand it off to somebody else. And that gets complicated.”

When he spotted a Union Pacific locomotive at Bedford Park, he called out the question: How long has that one been sitting? The answer – more than 17 hours awaiting a handoff – fueled his point.  

To Vena, those scenes underscore exactly why the planned union with Norfolk Southern is essential. Eliminating interchange delays – particularly in Chicago – would strip up to 48 hours off many carload routes. Intermodal traffic would no longer endure eight- to 24-hour handoff delays.

“We’ll just run straight through,” Vena said.

With a unified network, a high-priority Z-train could make a West Coast-to-East Coast sprint without any handoffs, helping to take trucks off America’s congested highways. On any given weekday in Chicago, for example, more than 1,000 trucks are on the roads carrying freight from one railroad to another.

Stephens’ article continued: “Is it good for America to put more trucks on the road for no reason at all? No,” Vena said. “We can do better – and we will.” With the Norfolk Southern union ahead, Vena believes Union Pacific is positioned to reshape the entire freight landscape.

“Together,” Vena said, “we’re building the first coast-to-coast railroad in America – and we’re just getting started.”