Kevin Barnes

Kevin Barnes is a seasoned executive who excels at creating enterprise value at the intersection of technology and the business. He has successfully led numerous IT modernization programs in complex enterprises and has expertise on navigating corporate environments effectively to facilitate the implementation of new technologies. Kevin has demonstrated the ability to successfully partner with the Startup ecosystem to access outside innovation and effectively leverage new capabilities at the corporate level.

Kevin Barnes is a collaborative business executive with 30 years of cross-functional experience in the CPG and Construction / Home Improvement industries. He is a proven champion and enabler of the strategic role that technology, information, and data capabilities play to drive increased corporate performance.  Kevin also excels at organizational change management.  He leverages his unique background stemming from senior leadership positions in IT and line of business roles including; sales, customer development, business analytics, innovation, and corporate venture capital to position his teams to deliver sustainable positive business outcomes.

Most recently Kevin was at Ferguson Enterprises, a $18.5b US company and the largest distributor of plumbing and home improvement supplies & services. His most recent role at Ferguson was to establish the company’s Corporate Venture Capital and Innovation division. During the first 2 years the new CVC division made 9 investments, conducted 28 POC’s, and established 5 commercial agreements with Startups. Prior to this role Kevin was Ferguson’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) and a member of the Executive committee for 2.5 years.  Kevin joined Ferguson from the E. & J. Gallo Winery where held various senior Business & IT leadership roles during his 13+ year tenure, with his last being the company’s CIO.  Before joining Gallo in 2002, Kevin spent 11.5 years at Mars, Inc. in various sales strategy, customer development, sales technology & field sales roles.

Kevin received his bachelor’s degree in business finance from California State University – Sacramento.