Mark Balte

The Babson Center for Global Commerce welcomes Mark Balte, C ‘85, the Humphreys Entrepreneur in Residence and Vice President of Product at ketteQ, on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at 4:30 PM in the duPont Torian Room. Please join us for a discussion on “Planning the Unplannable: AI and Supply Chain Strategy”. This event is presented in collaboration with the Department of Math, Computer Science, and Data Science. 

KetteQ is an AI-powered platform designed to help companies move beyond traditional supply chain management to smarter, more adaptable operations, enabling clearer trade-offs and successful execution amid changing market dynamics. Balte is the supply chain executive and product strategist. He focuses on developing supply chain software solutions to optimize operations across industries, including Consumer Goods, Retail, Service Parts, and Food and Beverage. Balte held two positions early in his career before joining ketteQ. First, he served as a business consultant at American Software Inc., working to provide AI-powered supply chains. Then, he spent over eight years at Logility, where he advanced from Director to Executive Vice President, leading Supply Chain Research & Development and Innovation while driving product innovation, business strategy, and supply chain transformation initiatives. 

While studying at Sewanee, Balte’s love of math continued to grow, and he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. Later, Balte earned his Master of Science in Operations Research from Georgia Tech. He was equally as passionate about soccer as he was about math. At Sewanee, he participated in Varsity Soccer and coached a youth soccer team. Additionally, he was a dorm proctor and a member of the SAE fraternity. Balte says that his experiences at Sewanee taught him leadership, resilience, curiosity, and problem-solving skills that have served him well over the course of his career. Throughout his career, Balte has embodied the core values of a Sewanee liberal arts education: curiosity and a commitment to the pursuit of continual discovery. 

Please join Mark Balte for an insightful discussion on leadership, decision-making, and how a liberal arts foundation can play a role in driving innovation and success in business. The Humphreys Entrepreneur in Residence program is made possible by a gift from Debra and David Humphreys, C’79, and brings outstanding and innovative business leaders and entrepreneurs to the University to provide experiential perspectives to undergraduates.