Kinaxis – Employer of the Year 2025

Algonquin College is proud to honour Kinaxis as the Employer of the Year in the Alumni of Distinction Awards 2025. Kinaxis is an innovative, global leader in supply chain orchestration, powering complex global supply chains and supporting the people who manage them. Kinaxis has been a pillar in creating excellent co-op opportunities for Algonquin College learners at their headquarters in Kanata, Ontario.

Since Fall 2016, Kinaxis has hired 87 co-op students from a wide range of programs at Algonquin College. Today, the company ranks as the third-largest private sector employer of the college’s co-op talent. Kinaxis is also committed to hiring AC graduates.

Kinaxis has a robust onboarding of co-op students every term, ensuring a smooth transition into their roles, enhancing efficiency, growing engagement and ensuring student employee awareness of policies, procedures and compliance requirements.

Students that do their internships or co-ops at Kinaxis work directly with experienced, supportive Kinaxis team members from around the world.

“People matter at Kinaxis. Our teams like what they’re doing and who they’re working with. Since the start of our co-op and intern program, we’ve consistently found Algonquin College students to be intelligent, engaged and hardworking. Their dedication and enthusiasm make them valuable contributors to our team, with many going on to become full-time employees. We have team members who started as co-op students from Algonquin College that are now celebrating 25 years at the company,” shared Gelu Ticala, Chief Technology Officer at Kinaxis.

The co-op program is designed to provide mentorship to students. “Our co-op program is built around mentorship and growth. For example, in engineering, we pair students with experienced developers and encourage them to dive into complex challenges. Time and again, they impress us not only by keeping up but contributing meaningfully to high-impact projects with aggressive timelines,” said Ticala.

Ticala shared the story of two former co-op students from Algonquin College who are now full-time employees at Kinaxis. The first student “made a lasting impression with her work ethic and alignment with our company values. She showed up every day, fully engaged and ready to learn and contribute to the team. After she graduated, managers stayed in touch as they do with all our co-op students and when an opportunity opened, she was the first person we thought of for the role. Today, she is a key member of our design team.”

Another former co-op student “demonstrated exceptional attention to detail while working on improvements for our user interface,” said Ticala. “He thoughtfully considered how users of all abilities would interact with the software, helping to create a more accessible interface experience. Today he plays a key role in our front-end localization efforts, ensuring our platform is accessible in multiple languages and markets.”

With the increase of artificial intelligence, Ticala advises students and graduates to learn the technical skills in software engineering. “It’s critical to build that solid foundation with the traditional skills that you require, while embracing new technologies. Think of AI tools as teammates and leverage them to work for you and achieve more,” he said.

Regardless of industry, Ticala reiterated that a strong work ethic is essential for students and graduates. “Show up, show you’re interested, and demonstrate learning and progress – these qualities will open doors. Without these traits, you end up on the periphery, and that’s not how you grow. To be part of the most impactful projects and teams you need to build a solid foundation, tackle challenges head-on, and be flexible and adaptable especially as technology evolves,” Ticala shared.

Kinaxis and Algonquin College look forward to continued collaboration in creating meaningful opportunities for learners and graduates.

Discover more 2025 Alumni of Distinction award recipients.