Kia Behnia brings 28+ years of enterprise systems management, data platforms, AI product, and go-to-market leadership experience, including 4 successful exits and 2 IPOs, with leadership roles at Splunk, BMC Software, IBM/Tivoli, and Marimba.

He has a proven track record of growing pioneering software companies in emerging technology markets. Today, Kia applies that experience to agriculture as the Co-Founder and CEO of Scout, an AI-powered farm management and agronomic intelligence platform for vineyards.

Scout helps growers, wineries, and vineyard management companies use high-resolution field imagery, computer vision, and plant-level data to improve vineyard performance, fruit quality, yield outcomes, and operational efficiency.

Innovation Leadership in the Wine Indusry

Kia is also the proprietor of KIATRA Estate and award-winning NEOTEMPO Wines in Napa Valley. Since 2011, Kia and his wife Tracy have owned and operated KIATRA Vineyard, combining organic and biodynamic farming practices with precision agriculture technologies to improve fruit quality while reducing environmental impact and the use of critical natural resources.

In 2022, Kia and Tracy launched NEOTEMPO Wines, produced from the best estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon from KIATRA Vineyard. NEOTEMPO was created as a modern luxury wine brand with a commitment to innovation from “dirt to glass,” including sustainability, climate resilience, regenerative farming, and lower-carbon packaging.

With its inaugural 2021 vintage, NEOTEMPO introduced an industry-first patented hexagonal bottle design made from 100% recycled glass. The lightweight 540g bottle was designed to reduce carbon footprint, improve packing density during transport and storage, and deliver greater structural strength. The design was recognized as a finalist and wine category leader in the prestigious Formes de Luxe wine and spirits packaging awards.

KIATRA Vineyard is farmed by Phil Coturri and the Enterprise Vineyards team, combining decades of organic and regenerative growing experience with precision farming practices, smart irrigation, AI-based computer vision, and electric Monarch tractors. In 2023, KIATRA became one of the first vineyards in Napa Valley to be farmed using an all-electric tractor program.

Technology Leadership

Before entering wine and agriculture, Kia held senior executive roles across enterprise software, IT operations, cloud platforms, systems management, enterprise mobility, and digital transformation.

At Splunk, Kia served as Vice President of IT Markets, where he led strategy and product direction for Splunk’s IT portfolio and helped shape the company’s observability strategy. As CEO of PowWow Mobile, he brought to market an enterprise mobility platform designed to help organizations modernize and mobilize business applications and workflows.

At BMC Software, Kia served as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, leading technology and solution strategy across cloud computing, mobility, social enterprise, and business service management. Earlier in his career, he was Chief Technology Officer at Marimba and a senior member of the technical team at Tivoli Systems, which was acquired by IBM.