Joan Smemoe is the President and CEO of Railinc. Joan has served as a leader at Railinc for over 20 years, developing a deep institutional knowledge, strong operational perspective, and a long track record of delivering technology solutions that support the safety, efficiency, and interoperability of North America’s freight rail network. She has held a series of senior leadership roles over her tenure, most recently as CIO, where she has overseen the company’s technology strategy, platforms, and infrastructure. She has been involved in a number of important initiatives, including the AskRail mobile application, the Gateway Operations Services program, and moving Railinc’s mainframe infrastructure to the cloud. Under her guidance, Railinc has continued to modernize its systems while maintaining the reliability and security required by the freight rail industry.
A 2020 Triangle Business Journal C-Suite Awards honoree, Smemoe is an influential executive officer who has also been honored with a Supply Chain and Demand Executive’s Women in Supply Chain award, recognized by Railway Age magazine’s Women in Rail awards and Progressive Railroading magazine’s Rising Star awards, in 2022, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Smemoe holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science from the University of Missouri and completed Carnegie Mellon University’s CIO Certificate Program.