# Mike Neal

> Mike Neal is the CEO and co-founder of DecisionNext and a repeat enterprise-software founder whose career has centered on turning mathematical models into practical pricing, purchasing, and supply decisions. After co-founding retail-optimization company DemandTec and food-industry analytics company SignalDemand, he returned to commodity markets with DecisionNext, where human judgment and probabilistic forecasts are designed to work together.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-founder at DecisionNext
- **Organizations:** DecisionNext, SignalDemand, DemandTec, ForwardTrade, Nonstop Logistics, Accenture, Deloitte
- **Education:** BA in Economics with a concentration in Statistics, University of Florida, MBA, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded three enterprise analytics software companies: DemandTec, SignalDemand, and DecisionNext., Named inventor on 15 patents related to econometrics, pricing, promotion, optimization, and heuristic information capture., Built SignalDemand, a SaaS pricing-optimization company later acquired by PROS.

## Career timeline

- **1986-1990** — Worked as a manager at Deloitte.
- **1990-1992** — Worked as a senior manager at Accenture.
- **1995-2000** — Served as vice president of economics at Nonstop Logistics.
- **1999** — Co-founded retail price and promotion optimization company DemandTec.
- **2004** — Co-founded SignalDemand, applying mathematical models to pricing and margins in food manufacturing.
- **2013** — SignalDemand was acquired by PROS; Neal was also publicly identified as CEO of ForwardTrade.
- **2014** — Co-founded DecisionNext to bring forecasting and prescriptive analytics to commodities-driven industries.
- **2019** — DecisionNext announced a $7 million Series A financing.
- **2023** — Published a practical DecisionNext series on building and consuming market forecasts.
- **2024** — DecisionNext added former H-E-B executive Gavin Gallagher to its board, with Neal emphasizing Gallagher's grocery and pricing experience.
- **2026** — Continued leading DecisionNext and publicly highlighting customer partnerships and field visits with the distributed team.

## Achievements

- Co-founded three enterprise analytics software companies: DemandTec, SignalDemand, and DecisionNext.
- Named inventor on 15 patents related to econometrics, pricing, promotion, optimization, and heuristic information capture.
- Built SignalDemand, a SaaS pricing-optimization company later acquired by PROS.
- Helped establish DemandTec, which became a public company and was later acquired by IBM.
- Raised a reported $7 million Series A for DecisionNext in 2019.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — DecisionNext published its August Finished Goods Index, tracking diverging cost trajectories for cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and chicken sandwiches.
- **2026-07** — DecisionNext announced a partnership with Pre Brands for procurement, budget planning, pricing, and sourcing decisions.
- **2026-03** — DecisionNext announced its partnership with Buckhead Meat & Seafood for procurement, pricing, and finished-goods forecasting.
- **2025-04** — DecisionNext renewed and expanded its partnership with Kilcoy Global Foods under a multi-year agreement.

## Links

- Website: https://decisionnext.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-neal-89750
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/DecisionNextHQ
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fh50gnMyHE
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/decisionnext

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/mike-neal
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-25