Integration Takes Discipline, and We’re Built For It
Author: Union Pacific | April 20, 2026
Key Takeaways:
● Integration readiness is already operational. Years of foundational work — aligned platforms, stable datainfrastructure and shared accountability between technology and business leaders — means the groundworkfor the combination is already in place rather than still on the drawing board.
● The operating plan leads. Technology supports. Union Pacific's approach sequences integration aroundthe business and the customer. Technology is deployed to serve the operating plan, not replace it. Thisdiscipline protects service continuity throughout any combination.
● Shared accountability removes single points of failure. Every major technology effort at the railroad isco-owned by technology and business leaders. That same model will govern integration, keeping decisionsclose to the people who operate the network every day.
● Integration readiness is already operational. Years of foundational work — aligned platforms, stable datainfrastructure and shared accountability between technology and business leaders — means the groundworkfor the combination is already in place rather than still on the drawing board.
● The operating plan leads. Technology supports. Union Pacific's approach sequences integration aroundthe business and the customer. Technology is deployed to serve the operating plan, not replace it. Thisdiscipline protects service continuity throughout any combination.
● Shared accountability removes single points of failure. Every major technology effort at the railroad isco-owned by technology and business leaders. That same model will govern integration, keeping decisionsclose to the people who operate the network every day.
A new CIO Magazine case study shows how Union Pacific is operating the kind of technology andworkforce discipline required to bring two networks together the right way: With its team at the center of it all.
Union Pacific has spent years building the technology platforms, operating discipline and workforce culture that will support a seamless integration with Norfolk Southern to create America’s first transcontinental railroad.
A new CIO Magazine case study highlights how Chief Information Officer Rahul Jalali is preparing the company for that work – not because it’s being pushed for, but because it’s already the way Union Pacific chooses to operate.
The case study profiles a railroad that has been quietly preparing for years for a different kind of future, one built on a deliberate sequence of foundations. Clear vision. Aligned teams. Platforms and data capabilities that can scale across the network. A culture where the people closest to the work own the outcomes.
That framing is directly relevant to a question regulators, customers and communities are right to ask about any large network combination: Can two complex systems come together without putting service at risk? Jalali's answer, as laid out in CIO.com, is that the answer begins with the operating model, not the software.
At Union Pacific, AI isn’t treated as an IT initiative. Technology and business leaders share accountability for outcomes in what Jalali describes as a two-in-the-box model, where every tool is tethered to a specific business problem and measured against a specific result. Progress over perfection. Minimally viable solutions refined in the field by the people closest to the work. No technology deployed for its own sake.
Union Pacific has spent years building the technology platforms, operating discipline and workforce culture that will support a seamless integration with Norfolk Southern to create America’s first transcontinental railroad.
A new CIO Magazine case study highlights how Chief Information Officer Rahul Jalali is preparing the company for that work – not because it’s being pushed for, but because it’s already the way Union Pacific chooses to operate.
The case study profiles a railroad that has been quietly preparing for years for a different kind of future, one built on a deliberate sequence of foundations. Clear vision. Aligned teams. Platforms and data capabilities that can scale across the network. A culture where the people closest to the work own the outcomes.
That framing is directly relevant to a question regulators, customers and communities are right to ask about any large network combination: Can two complex systems come together without putting service at risk? Jalali's answer, as laid out in CIO.com, is that the answer begins with the operating model, not the software.
At Union Pacific, AI isn’t treated as an IT initiative. Technology and business leaders share accountability for outcomes in what Jalali describes as a two-in-the-box model, where every tool is tethered to a specific business problem and measured against a specific result. Progress over perfection. Minimally viable solutions refined in the field by the people closest to the work. No technology deployed for its own sake.
“The biggest risk is thinking technology by itself creates value.”
Rahul Jalali, Chief Information Officer, Union Pacific | via CIO Magazine
That philosophy sits on top of a workforce strategy that treats generational breadth as a competitive advantage. Experienced railroaders work alongside early-career technologists. Institutional knowledge of yards, interchanges and operating plans informs the platforms being built. Cross-functional exposure is deliberate. Field visits that build credibility and ensure technology is shaped by real operations instead of added afterward.
That foundation will support the integration of two complementary networks into America’s first single-line transcontinental railroad, connecting more than 50,000 route miles across 43 states and linking approximately 100 ports.
The case study does not argue that integration is simple. It argues that the discipline to do it well is already operating inside a workforce that’s fully prepared to reshape the future of American freight rail.
Click here to read the full case study in CIO Magazine.
That foundation will support the integration of two complementary networks into America’s first single-line transcontinental railroad, connecting more than 50,000 route miles across 43 states and linking approximately 100 ports.
The case study does not argue that integration is simple. It argues that the discipline to do it well is already operating inside a workforce that’s fully prepared to reshape the future of American freight rail.
Click here to read the full case study in CIO Magazine.