The wait is over.  We finally know who will lead Transact + CBORD ... and what we will call the merged company. Greg Brown, a seasoned SaaS leader who served as prior CEO for Udemy and Reflektive, will take the reins on January 5. Illumia will be the new name following an official brand reveal at the company’s annual conference in March.

According to the press release, “Brown is a veteran SaaS leader with more than 25 years of experience guiding technology companies through hypergrowth and major strategic milestones.”

Illumia sits at the intersection of mission-critical operations and meaningful human experiences – dining halls, campus access, patient care, tuition payments; moments that shape how people feel about the brands they're part of.

Most recently as CEO of Udemy he grew the company into a $750M+ enterprise learning platform, integrating generative AI across its learning products. Previously, he was CEO of Reflektive and held senior leadership roles at Blackhawk Network, Achievers, and WebEx.

"Illumia sits at the intersection of mission-critical operations and meaningful human experiences – dining halls, campus access, patient care, tuition payments; moments that shape how people feel about the brands they're part of," says Brown. "My career has been built on helping software and payments organizations deliver for their customers through technology, and Illumia is a unique opportunity to do both at scale.”

Harold Flynn, Group Executive at Roper Technologies, served as interim CEO for Transact + CBORD.

On the appointment of Brown, he says, "Greg’s deep commitment to customer success, combined with his track record of scaling SaaS businesses and driving operational excellence, makes him the ideal leader for this next chapter."

Describing the launch of the new brand, the release states, “the businesses [Transact and CBORD] now share a unified identity bringing formerly separate platforms and teams under a single, shared innovation strategy.”

In an "Introducing Illumia FAQ” on the Transact website, there were several questions of interest to Transact or CBORD transaction system clients. Examples include:

• Will the products or platforms I use change?
  No immediate changes will occur. You’ll continue using the platforms you rely on today. Over time, you’ll see enhancements and more unified experiences across our solutions.
• Will partner integrations with our products change?
  We have no immediate plans to change partner integrations. If changes occur in the future, we will notify partners, clients, and employees in advance.
• What will happen to URLs and portals like commerce.cashnet.com, transactcampus.com, and cbord.com?
  All URLs will eventually transition to illumiatech.com – but over an extended period. You’ll be provided with ample notice should any changes occur that impact operations.
• Will there be changes to customer support?
  No. Your support team remains the same. Clients will continue receiving the same level of dedicated service and access to technical support throughout and after the rebrand.

Stay tuned as we learn more and get to know more about Greg and his plans for Illumia. And I apologize in advance for our team struggling to stop saying “Transact, CBORD, or Transact + CBORD,” (we still slip up and say Blackboard now and then).