# Hayden Cardiff

> Hayden Cardiff is an entrepreneur who co-founded Idelic after earlier ventures in music collaboration software and hybrid trucking technology. A Carnegie Mellon MBA and former college football player, he helped commercialize fleet safety software rooted in Pitt Ohio’s operations. Following Descartes’ April 2026 acquisition of Idelic, he is vice president of safety solutions at Descartes. His public LinkedIn profile places him in the Greater Phoenix Area.

- **Role:** Vice President, Safety Solutions at Descartes Systems Group
- **Organizations:** Descartes Systems Group, Idelic, Hyliion, Nebulus Audio, Pitt Ohio, NPTC Institute
- **From:** Morehead, United States
- **Education:** Master of Business Administration, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business, Bachelor’s degree in international business, Nicholls State University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Idelic and helped develop its fleet safety software business through acquisition by Descartes in 2026., Led Idelic as CEO/co-CEO during venture fundraising, including its 2019 Series A and 2021 Series B., James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow, 2014–2015 cohort.

## Career timeline

- **2011–2013** — Played football at Nicholls State; moved from quarterback to tight end in 2013.
- **2014–2015** — Member of the James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows cohort at Carnegie Mellon; also played football at CMU in 2014.
- **2015** — Nebulus Audio team, including Cardiff and Andrew Russell, placed third in the McGinnis Venture Competition graduate track.
- **2015** — Part of Hyliion’s early team when it won the Department of Energy National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition.
- **2015** — Consulted for Pitt Ohio while pursuing his MBA, exploring commercialization of its safety software.
- **2016** — Co-founded Idelic with Nick Bartel and Andrew Russell.
- **2019** — Idelic closed an $8 million Series A led by Origin Ventures; Cardiff was elected to the NPTC Institute Board of Governors.
- **2021** — Idelic announced a $20 million Series B led by Highland Capital Partners.
- **2024** — Idelic publicly identified Cardiff as co-founder and chief innovation officer.
- **2026** — Descartes announced its acquisition of Idelic on April 23; Cardiff subsequently appears as VP, Safety Solutions at Descartes.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Idelic and helped develop its fleet safety software business through acquisition by Descartes in 2026.
- Led Idelic as CEO/co-CEO during venture fundraising, including its 2019 Series A and 2021 Series B.
- James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow, 2014–2015 cohort.
- Member of the early Hyliion team that won the 2015 Department of Energy National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition.
- Nebulus Audio team member for its third-place finish in the 2015 McGinnis Venture Competition graduate track.
- Elected to the NPTC Institute Board of Governors in 2019.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Listed by FreightWaves as VP, Safety Solutions at Descartes for its Enterprise Fleet Summit; also published commentary about predictive fleet safety.
- **2026-05** — Photographed with private fleet award recipients at the NPTC conference in Orlando, representing Descartes.
- **2026-04** — Descartes announced the Idelic acquisition for approximately $28 million upfront plus up to $12 million in contingent revenue-based consideration.
- **2026-04** — Featured on Geena Greguric’s High-Key Growth podcast discussing startup lessons, fundraising and founder visibility.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haydencardiff

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/hayden-cardiff
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22