Luis Cupajita Turns Problems Into Progress

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Luis Cupajita came to Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas in November 2022 to salvage a failing SAP S4/Hana deployment for the Canadian portion of Toyo’s American operations, which comprise about 10 percent of its overall annual revenues. It would have been a relatively easy lift for Cupajita if that had been the only challenge facing him. But for a tech and IT leader who has served in chief leadership roles since 2001, the current chief information officer at Toyo knew there was always more to the story.

“Whatever you get told in the interview, that’s usually the tip of the iceberg,” Cupajita says with a weary laugh. “It’s not ever intentional. But after you get a handle on what’s going on, that usually leads to figuring out just how many other parts of your organization are being affected, and you start seeing ways in which you can help the rest of the business from where you’re sitting.”

That’s become Cupajita’s calling card over the years: finding ways to turn an obstacle into a revenue generator. While serving as CIO and CTO at QLogic in the mid- and late-2000s, Cupajita generated 5 percent gross revenue growth across the company by collaborating with Qlogic engineering on a license key enabling solution for Qlogic-branded products. The license key upsell and cross-sell project on Qlogic’s B2B website allowed its customers the convenience and ease of use to expand product functionality anytime, anywhere. This resulted in an IT project that ultimately contributed $30 million in top-line revenue growth in its first eighteen months of operation.

After being recruited by Goldman Sachs to tackle change strategy at K&N Engineering, Cupajita and his team once again implemented ecommerce overhauls. These changes increased online revenue by 30 percent to a total of $15 million annually.

Given his record, there should be little surprise at how quickly Toyo recruited Cupajita. Longtime friend and mentor Ashwin Rangan called Cupajita, letting him know a recruiter had a role he might be interested in. By the time Cupajita got home, the recruiter had laid out the entire prospect via email. It was Saturday. Could he interview on Monday?

There were nine candidates to interview, but Cupajita was bumped to the top of the list. Leadership never met any of the other candidates. Cupajita came aboard with a significant challenge ahead of him: to rescue the implementation of SAP S/4 for Toyo’s Canadian operation. This was first and foremost on his list of priorities.

“Fixing the Canadian implementation would be a small part of the puzzle but would also be a proof of capability,” the CIO says. “Unfortunately, they had a real misfire with their first partner, and the implementation with their second partner was going sideways. I was brought in to salvage things.”

The success of the Canadian SP S4/Hana implementation has set the stage for the larger US S4 deployment, which is part of an overhaul and upgrade to a standard SAP S4/Hana ERP landscape across the entire organization. Toyo’s US market accounts for approximately 70 percent of its global revenue and 100 percent of its profitability. But the team never would have made it to a US implementation without the earlier Canadian effort.

“Whatever you get told in the interview [about an IT problem], that’s usually the tip of the iceberg.”

Luis Cupajita

At the same time, Cupajita and his team delivered a complete overhaul of its NITTO brand online dealer portal, which is now instrumental to the brands future growth as new dealer registrations have accelerated since the new Enthusiast Dealer Portal went live. They also completed a successful systems transition of its OE sales and distribution facility from a wholly owned manufacturing and fulfillment operation in Kentucky to a large-scale import-based logistics and fulfillment center in Tennessee.

Cupajita’s professional success is underpinned by a community-focused upbringing. He arrived in the US when he was just five years old from Bogotá, Colombia. But he’s about as close to a native Californian as they come, growing up in the shadow of Disneyland, translating for his family, and ultimately beginning his career as a graphic design artist before going back to school to pursue tech.

The CTO with over twenty-five years of technology innovation and leadership on his résumé is always looking for ways to give back to his community. Cupajita is an active member of his church. A ministry-based organization he and fellow ministry partner Carlos Vaca along with Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s launched in the mid-2000s called Champions Against Violence has sought to reduce youth violence in nearby underserved schools and communities.

“We care about the kids around here,” the leader says. “We care about their families. We want to work with them so they know the love of God. We’re trying to work with as many schools and communities that will have us, and I believe in the work that we’re doing.”

Cupajita understands that the “main” problem, the tip of the iceberg, is almost always part of something deeper, more complex, and more challenging. But he’s made his reputation by tackling those challenges head-on and coming out the victor in the process. It might be easier in business and tech than in disadvantaged communities, but it’s the kind of thinking that prompts meaningful change, and violence deterrence efforts are all the better for having Cupajita on their side.

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