Private Equity
International
International
Operating Partners Technology Forum San Francisco 2023
8 June 2023,
Hotel Nikko San Francisco
Unlocking the next frontier in digital value creation
On day two of the San Francisco Forum, PEI’s Operating Partners Technology Forum gathers an elite crowd of tech value creators in PE and VC portfolio operations.
In an increasingly digital world, our community of operating partners will discuss and debate strategies and actions at a critical time in the economic cycle to deliver growth through technology.
Get a firm grasp on tech transformation and innovation initiatives, and discuss the best digital strategies in impacting returns with a concentration of digital operating partners, C-level executives, suppliers, and resources.
“As a serial CTO turned Operating Partner, I really enjoyed meeting and hearing from my peers who have had a similar career journey.”
David Rowley
Technology Operating Partner, Diversis Capital
Carve your niche in technology operations
Hear first-hand perspectives on how to further develop your operational skill set.
Learn key technology strategies to create value
Find the right tools and knowledge to deliver successful cross-portfolio initiatives.
Network with top PE
and VC tech value creators
Meet with the largest community of technology operational experts all in one place.
2023 agenda highlights
- Digitally enabled commercial effectiveness and transformations
- AI as a key element of value creation
- Tech value creation playbooks in the current economy
- Uncovering future trends in tech and how they will impact PE portfolio operations
- What makes a great digital/tech operating partner?
- IT strategic roadmaps: preventing roadblocks and sharing initiatives across the investment lifecycle
- And much more…
Connect with the leading tech operating partner network:
True Wind Capital
TSG Consumer Partners
Upwork
Vector Capital
Veritas Capital
Warburg Pincus
Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe
West Monroe Partners
Zscaler
Accel-KKR
Accordion Partners
Acertitude
AEA Investors
AlixPartners
Altamont Capital Management
Alvarez & Marsal
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
American Pacific Group
Angeles Equity Partners
Apollo Global Management
BCI
Bloom Equity Partners
Blue Point Capital Partners
BluWave
Bregal Investments
Cerberus Capital Management
Charlesbank Capital Partners
Chief Outsiders
Clayton Dubilier & Rice
Cold Bore Capital Management
Consero Global
CoreTrust
Corsair Capital
Costanoa Ventures
CPE
Davidson Kempner Capital Management
Deloitte
Diversis Capital
Entromy
EQT Partners
FFL Partners
Frazier Healthcare Partners
FTV Capital
General Atlantic
Generation Capital
Genstar Capital
GI Partners
Goldman Sachs
Graham Partners
Grain Management
Grant Thornton
GrowthCurve Capital
H.I.G. Capital
Hellman & Friedman
Highview Capital
Huron Capital Partners
Incline Equity Partners
Insight Partners
Kelso & Co
KKR
Luminate Capital Partners
Mainsail Partners
Maple Street Advisors
Marlin Operations Group
Mercury Partners
Mubadala
New Harbor Capital
Newlight Partners
New Mountain Capital
NGP Capital
Norwest Venture Partners
Oaktree Capital
OGCI Climate Investments
ORIX Capital Partners
Palladium Equity Partners
ParkerGale Capital
Parthenon Capital Partners
Peak Growth Consulting
Permanent Equity
Plandek
Pollen Street Capital
Portfolio Advisors
PPC
PwC
Rackspace
Resurgens Technology Partners
RKON
Roark Capital Group
RSM
Sage Intacct
Sagemount
Salesforce
Saragossa
SaxeCap
Searchlight Capital Partners
Serent Capital
Shamrock Capital Advisors
Silver Lake
Simon-Kucher
SkyKnight Capital
SoftBank
Southfield Capital
Strattam Capital
Sumeru Equity Partners
Sumitomo Corporation of Americas
Summit Partners
Sunstone Partners
Symphony Technology Group Partners
TCG
TELEO Capital
Telstra Ventures
Teneo
The Sterling Group
Tipalti
TowerBrook
TPG
True Wind Capital
TSG Consumer Partners
Upwork
Vector Capital
Veritas Capital
Warburg Pincus
Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe
West Monroe Partners
Zscaler
Accel-KKR
Accordion Partners
Acertitude
AEA Investors
AlixPartners
Altamont Capital Management
Alvarez & Marsal
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
American Pacific Group
Angeles Equity Partners
Apollo Global Management
BCI
Bloom Equity Partners
Blue Point Capital Partners
BluWave
Bregal Investments
Cerberus Capital Management
Charlesbank Capital Partners
Chief Outsiders
Clayton Dubilier & Rice
Cold Bore Capital Management
Consero Global
CoreTrust
Corsair Capital
Costanoa Ventures
CPE
Davidson Kempner Capital Management
Deloitte
Diversis Capital
Entromy
EQT Partners
FFL Partners
Frazier Healthcare Partners
FTV Capital
General Atlantic
Generation Capital
Genstar Capital
GI Partners
Goldman Sachs
Graham Partners
Grain Management
Grant Thornton
GrowthCurve Capital
H.I.G. Capital
Hellman & Friedman
Highview Capital
Huron Capital Partners
Incline Equity Partners
Insight Partners
Kelso & Co
KKR
Luminate Capital Partners
Mainsail Partners
Maple Street Advisors
Marlin Operations Group
Mercury Partners
Mubadala
New Harbor Capital
Newlight Partners
New Mountain Capital
NGP Capital
Norwest Venture Partners
Oaktree Capital
OGCI Climate Investments
ORIX Capital Partners
Palladium Equity Partners
ParkerGale Capital
Parthenon Capital Partners
Peak Growth Consulting
Permanent Equity
Plandek
Pollen Street Capital
Portfolio Advisors
PPC
PwC
Rackspace
Resurgens Technology Partners
RKON
Roark Capital Group
RSM
Sage Intacct
Sagemount
Salesforce
Saragossa
SaxeCap
Searchlight Capital Partners
Serent Capital
Shamrock Capital Advisors
Silver Lake
Simon-Kucher
SkyKnight Capital
SoftBank
Southfield Capital
Strattam Capital
Sumeru Equity Partners
Sumitomo Corporation of Americas
Summit Partners
Sunstone Partners
Symphony Technology Group Partners
TCG
TELEO Capital
Telstra Ventures
Teneo
The Sterling Group
Tipalti
TowerBrook
TPG
True Wind Capital
TSG Consumer Partners
Upwork
Vector Capital
Veritas Capital
Warburg Pincus
Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe
West Monroe Partners
Zscaler
2023 speakers
Join the two-day value creation event
The leading West Coast value creation event
Day 1
Unlocking the next frontier in digital value creation
Day 2
2023 agenda
Agenda
Day 2 - Thursday 8th
07:30 - 09:15
Registration and breakfast
07:45 - 08:30
Technology deep dive breakfast discussion (for operating partners only) — Digitally enabled commercial effectiveness and transformations: operating partners share strategies and perspectives
Yale Kwon,
Hoyoung Pak,
Saurabh Singh
This deep dive discussion designed solely for operating partners will allow the audience to join an interactive discussion with designated facilitators:
- Innovative approaches for working with portco leadership to maximize value creation and returns
- Best practices for operating partners to build Al/ML capabilities focused on digitally enabled commercial effectiveness, including hiring digitally savvy leaders, and implementing effective change management programs to embrace digital commercial innovation
- Case examples of tools and success stories of digitally enabled commercial transformation
Facilitators:
Yale Kwon, Director, AlixPartners
Hoyoung Pak, Partner and Managing Director, AlixPartners
Saurabh Singh, Director, AlixPartners
3 Speakers
08:30 - 09:15
Think tanks for full-time operating partners — tech value creation war rooms (for operating partners only)
Geoffrey Baird,
Misha Logvinov,
Milo Sprague
Invitation-only think tanks for full-time PE and VC operating partners. This closed-door discussion will allow you to learn and share value creation practices of successful operating partners. Please select one of the two rooms:
Room 1: Tech value creation playbooks in the current economy
Facilitator:
Geoffrey Baird, Independent Operating Executive, Palladium Equity Partners
Room 2: Future trends in tech and how they will impact PE/VC portfolio operations
Facilitators:
Misha Logvinov, Director, Mubadala Performance Partners, Mubadala
Milo Sprague, Chief Technology Advisor, FTV Capital
3 Speakers
09:15 - 09:30
Chairman’s welcome
Tim Sanders
Tim Sanders, Vice President of Client Strategy, Upwork
1 Speaker
Plenary Sessions
09:30 - 10:10
Operating partner perspectives: tech trends to optimize business performance in a recessionary climate
Mike Cochran,
Raj Kushwaha,
Chris Satchell ,
Carsten Weber
- Operating partners: what does your tech scorecard look like in a downturn? How is your tech playbook changing/evolving in the current macro climate?
- What can tech and tech operations do to protect EBITDA? What measures and initiatives are most effective? What can and should be automated? How can tech drive more efficiency across functions in your companies to preserve and deliver value in the current environment?
- Understanding cost optimization and bringing down your tech debt with better processes and new technologies
- Sharing tech war stories in the current downturn as well as previous downturns to maximize value in the years to come
Moderator:
Mike Cochran, Managing Director, Head of CFO Tech Services, Accordion Partners
Panelists:
Raj Kushwaha, Co-Head of Value Creation and Chief Digital Officer, Warburg Pincus
Chris Satchell, Operating Principal Technology and Digital, Clayton Dubilier & Rice
Carsten Weber, Technology Director, The Sterling Group
Raj Kushwaha
Managing Director & Partner, Co-Head Value Creation and Chief Digital Officer, Warburg Pincus
Read bio
4 Speakers
10:10 - 10:50
AI/ML as a key element of value creation: what does the future hold for PE?
Declan Morris,
Cory Eaves,
Lucia Soares,
Michael Todd
- How to differentiate between AI and ML
- Examples where AI/ML have been put to the test along with outcomes
- With the advent of ChatGPT, what are the risks/challenges with generative AI that PE should consider
- How to measure the value of AI/ML
- What kind of impact will AI/ML have on the PE operating model
Moderator:
Declan Morris, Private Equity Transformation Advisor, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Panelists:
Cory Eaves, Operating Partner, General Atlantic
Lucia Soares, Managing Director and Chief Information Officer, The Carlyle Group
Michael Todd, Operating Executive, Silver Lake
4 Speakers
10:50 - 11:30
Leveraging zero trust security in PE to improve cyber resiliency, increase EBITDA and enhance business agility
Akshay Grover,
Deron Grzetich,
Marcus Tonsmann,
Carsten Weber
This panel discussion will focus on key tenets of zero trust, highlight approaches to embrace zero trust in PE portfolio companies and financial benefits of cyber resiliency:
- Zero Trust: Is it a new cyber security industry buzzword? How to separate noise from true zero trust? What should operating partners and portfolio company CIO/CISOs know?
- Improve Cyber Resiliency: How to reduce cyber risk, prevent cyber-attacks and drive secure digital transformation at portfolio companies? Where and how to start the journey with portfolio company CIO/CISOs?
- Increase EBITDA: How a cloud native cyber security platform contributes to both top and bottom line? How can PE portfolio companies reduce infrastructure, network and security costs while providing better user experience?
- Enhance Business Agility: How zero trust drives accelerated time to value for add-on or carve-out acquisitions?
Moderator:
Akshay Grover, Managing Director – Global Private Equity Practice, Zscaler
Panelists:
Deron Grzetich, Senior Partner, National Cyber Leader, West Monroe
Marcus Tonsmann, Cybersecurity Program Manager, Hellman & Friedman
Carsten Weber, Technology Director, The Sterling Group
4 Speakers
11:30 - 12:00
Leveraging cloud infrastructure to improve performance, reliability, and scalability
Sachin Satija ,
Misha Logvinov,
Jeffrey Malcolm,
Milo Sprague
- Uncovering cloud transformations success stories at your companies
- Leveraging cloud to meet business challenges and improve performance, scalability, and reliability
- Meeting customer requirements to scale as their requirements scale
- Understanding the shift in looking at cloud spend
- Public cloud vs private cloud vs. hybrid cloud
- Multi-cloud vs. single cloud
Moderator:
Sachin Satija, Partner, KPMG
Panelists:
Misha Logvinov, Director, Mubadala Performance Partners, Mubadala
Jeffrey Malcolm, Value Accelerator Operating Advisor, Technology, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Milo Sprague, Chief Technology Advisor, FTV Capital
Jeffrey Malcolm
Value Accelerator Operating Advisor, Technology, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Read bio
4 Speakers
12:00 - 12:20
Networking break
Interactive Working Groups Series 3
12:20 - 13:00
Interactive Working Group 7 (for operating partners only) — Cybersecurity operating partner workshop: dos and don’ts in the modern landscape
Chris Hueneke ,
Matt Hollcraft
This deep dive discussion designed solely for operating partners will allow the audience to join an interactive discussion with designated facilitators:
- Cybersecurity in today’s world: how do you define good cybersecurity and what is enough security? How prescriptive are you on cybersecurity?
- Sharing views on: virtual risk, governance, risk, & compliance, incidence response plans and dealing with breaches, security policies
- Looking at security starter packs, security programs and controls
- How to protect new companies and their functional areas of business?
- Cyber assessments and resource allocation: how is security diligence changing
- Cost effective portfolio security measures and risk management
Facilitators:
Chris Hueneke, Chief Information Security Officer, RKON
Matt Hollcraft, Operating Partner – Cybersecurity, H.I.G. Capital
2 Speakers
12:20 - 13:00
Interactive Working Group 8 (for operating partners only) — PE-leadership team alignment in delivering digital value creation and digital transformations across sectors
Ketan Awalegaonkar,
Vikram Mahidhar
This deep dive discussion designed solely for operating partners will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- Understanding how to interact with lower mid-market management teams and other management teams that are generally not sophisticated with tech/new tech: how to handle objections due to what is foreign to them
- What are some of the roadblocks that you encounter and how do you resolve them?
- How is the C-suite evolving to deliver digital transformations? How do sectors differ? How will CEOs adapt and what does the next generation CEO look like in a more digital world?
- What skills do you look for in management teams in their ability to effectively lead digital value creation?
- Sharing war stories in getting management teams up to speed to deliver digital value creation in the current environment and years to come
- What are you primarily focusing on in achieving alignment with leadership, strategy, and IT teams?
- Uncovering dos and don’ts in different stages of the lifecycle: what does your digital roadmap for execution look like?
Facilitators:
Ketan Awalegaonkar, Chief Data & Analytics Officer, PwC
Vikram Mahidhar, Data and Digital Transformation Operating Partner, Apollo Global Management
Vikram Mahidhar
Data and Digital Transformation Operating Partner, Apollo Global Management
Read bio
2 Speakers
12:20 - 13:00
Interactive Working Group 9 (for operating partners only) — The evolution of digital operating partners: comparing models, networks, and structures
Cory Eaves,
Nick Maglaris
This deep dive discussion designed solely for operating partners will allow the audience to join an interactive roundtable discussion with designated facilitators:
- Discussing the breadth and depth of your roles as digital/tech operating partners today and what the role/model will look like in future
- Sharing how tech operating partners drive value creation: comparing models, networks, teams, structures, and technologies
- How can tech operating partners drive more efficiency across functions in your companies?
- How can you improve your value creation process in looking at the overall ecosystem?
Facilitators:
Cory Eaves, Operating Partner, General Atlantic
Nick Maglaris, Vice President – Midmarket Strategic Initiatives, SAP
2 Speakers
Lunch
13:00 - 14:00
Networking lunch
Breakout Series V
14:00 - 14:40
Track 12 | Value creation for SaaS companies: keys to success
Shaz Mian,
Ryan McMullin,
Josh Rogers,
Ken Yagen
- PE operating partner-CEO dynamics: uncovering engagement models that lead to growth and greater value creation
- Working with and supporting SaaS MRR/ARR growth in the current economy
- What are your top optimization initiatives, and will AI be a lever? How do you approach transformative technology investment considerations?
- How can SaaS companies monetize their data to scale or to create multiple revenue streams?
- Sharing war stories and exposing the biggest challenges in the sector and how to overcome them
Moderator:
Shaz Mian, Equity Principal, RSM US
Panelists:
Ryan McMullin, Operating Principal Accel-KKR
Josh Rogers, CEO, Precisely
Ken Yagen, Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy and Innovation, Warburg Pincus
4 Speakers
14:00 - 14:40
Track 13 | Making your tech investment count: how to track and drive R&D ROI
Will Lytle,
Jane Moran
- How important is tech delivery in overall value creation in the current low growth/high cost of capital environment?
- Understanding R&D ROI, the size of the prize, and the benefits of getting it right – why the focus on R&D ROI?
- How can operating partners and CTOs concerned about tech ROI in the current low-growth environment get started?
- How do you track and communicate value created? How does culture drive value creation?
Presenters:
Will Lytle, Chief Operating Officer, Plandek
Jane Moran, CTO, Benevity (Hg portfolio company)
2 Speakers
Breakout Series VI
14:40 - 15:20
Track 14 | Reshaping value creation from tech due diligence to the first 100 days
Ben Cao,
Neil Roseman,
Ercan Ucak,
Brit Yonge
- Reframing your tech diligence: how is tech due diligence changing in the current climate?
- As a digital/tech-focused operating partner, when and how are you engaging with deal teams in the diligence phase?
- What gaps/challenges are you finding in the first 100 days and how are you filling them?
- Sharing war stories in measuring/uncovering tech debt in looking at costly old technologies and other risks
- What is most critical to accurately understand about a company’s technology capabilities pre-deal and what is most critical to plan for after integration?
- Data for due diligence: assessing the investment through data in looking at potential returns
Moderator:
Ben Cao, Chief of Staff, Symphony
Panelists:
Neil Roseman, Technologist-in-Residence, Summit Partners
Ercan Ucak, Vice President, Cerberus Capital Management
Brit Yonge, Operating Partner, Corsair Capital
4 Speakers
14:40 - 15:20
Track 15 | The next frontier in data science and advanced analytics in private equity
Roy Nicholson,
Tye Howell,
Sajjad Jaffer,
Miles Rowland ,
Cathy Tanimura
- Modern data strategies for portfolio value creation: how to go about developing a data strategy, data governance, what does good look like, how are you getting good data?
- What do you see as the most influential change in data and analytics in the PE space?
- Where is the most value being delivered from data/analytics initiatives for your companies in different phases of the lifecycle?
- How are you working with management teams to adopt analytics and data science? Are you working with data scientists?
- What are some mistakes/lessons learned that you can share when implementing analytics/ data science with portfolio companies?
Moderator:
Roy Nicholson, National Managing Principal, Digital Transformation, Grant Thornton
Panelists:
Tye Howell, Managing Director, Data and Digital, Blue Point Capital Partners
Sajjad Jaffer, Head of Data, Analytics and Machine Learning, GrowthCurve Capital
Miles Rowland, Head of Data and Analytics, Searchlight Capital Partners
Cathy Tanimura, Vice President, Analytics and Data Science, Summit Partners
5 Speakers
Plenary Sessions
15:20 - 16:00
The future CIO/CTO: working with PE to deliver value creation
Rory Gaston,
Greg Kegeles,
Julio Palacio,
Eli Potter ,
David Rowley
- Sharing PE operating partner-CIO/CTO dynamics and engagement models
- How the CIO and CTO role is evolving: looking at responsibilities within an organization
- How can CIO/CTOs add value and work with internal teams to drive change
- Uncovering the importance of discovering and integrating new technologies within portfolio companies
- Looking at best practices in working with companies in different sectors
- Buy vs Build – CTO vs CIO
- Discussing the impact of M&A on technology plus integrating and aligning tech
Moderator:
Rory Gaston, Director, Saragossa
Panelists:
Greg Kegeles, Operating Partner, Digital Transformation, Newlight Partners
Julio Palacio, Chief Technology Officer, Mainsail Partners
Eli Potter, CIO as a Service, Insight Partners
David Rowley, Technology Operating Partner, Diversis Capital
5 Speakers
16:00 - 16:40
What makes a great digital/tech operating partner?
Rohini Williams,
Gilad G. Amir ,
Sebastien Bilodeau,
Vikram Mahidhar,
Lee McCabe
- Building out tech operating teams: how operating partners add value in working with other partners throughout the lifecycle
- What are the top tech trends you believe operating partners should be paying close attention to, and why?
- Uncovering success stories in partnering with the deal teams and engaging with management teams
- Looking at reasons for success and failure in the tech operating partner role
- How will the tech operating partner role evolve over the next 5 years? What will the tech operating partner of the future look like?
- How tech operating partners work differently in different markets
Moderator:
Rohini Williams, Global Head – Private Equity, Infosys
Panelists:
Gilad G. Amir, Digital Operating Partner, Pollen Street Capital
Sebastien Bilodeau, President, Cerberus Technology Solutions, Cerberus Capital Management
Vikram Mahidhar, Data and Digital Transformation Operating Partner, Apollo Global Management
Lee McCabe, Operating Partner, AEA Investors
Vikram Mahidhar
Data and Digital Transformation Operating Partner, Apollo Global Management
Read bio
5 Speakers
16:40 - 16:45
Closing remarks and end of conference
Explore our exclusive operating partner only networking
Expand your relationships and build your network with our operating partner exclusive networking events taking place throughout the Forum. Join our community of the brightest leaders in value creation that will help you in your day-to-day operations.
Pre-conference reception
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Operating Partners San Francisco and Technology Forum Welcome Reception (invitation-only)
5:30 – 8:00 pm
Venue: Hotel Nikko Main Lobby, 222 Mason Street
Join the operating partners attending the San Francisco and Technology Forum at our opening reception in the main lobby of Hotel Nikko. Exchange valuable insights with your peers in a relaxed setting and build your connections before the conference kicks off.
Hosted by:
Pre-conference dinners
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Women in PE and VC Portfolio Operations Dinner (invitation-only)
7:30 – 9:00 pm
Venue: KANPAI Lounge, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street
Join us as we welcome the women in PE portfolio operations attending the San Francisco and Technology Forum for a private sit-down dinner to facilitate networking before the conference. Increase your connections and exchange ideas with women leaders in value creation.
Technology Operating Partners Dinner (invitation-only)
7:30 – 9:00 pm
Venue: Restaurant Anzu, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street
Join us as we welcome the digital and tech operating partners attending the Forum for a private sit-down dinner to facilitate networking before the conference starts. Increase your connections and exchange ideas with tech leaders in value creation.
Hosted by:
Day 1 lunch and reception
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Women in PE and VC Portfolio Operations Lunch (invitation-only)
12:50 – 1:50 pm
Venue: Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street
This closed-door lunch discussion will explore what it’s like being a woman in PE and VC portfolio operations.
Hosted by:
Operating Partners San Francisco Forum Day 1 Networking Reception
5:30 – 6:30 pm
Venue: Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street
Our grand reception will allow you to chat and get to know your operating partner peers at the end of the first day of the Forum. Hear what is on everyone’s mind after a full day of valuable insights.
Day 2 breakfast and lunch
Thursday, June 8, 2023
Technology Deep Dive Breakfast (operating partners only)
7:45 – 8:30 am
Venue: Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street
This breakfast deep dive discussion designed solely for operating partners will focus on key strategies in digitally enabled commercial effectiveness and transformations.
Hosted by:
Featured interactive discussions & networking opportunities
Think Tanks
The closed-door session led by operating partners for operating partners only will allow you to engage in lively discussions with your peers. The thinks tanks will also allow you to submit topics to be covered in looking at the best value creation practices.
Interactive Working Groups
These exclusive deep dive discussions only available to operating partners allow you to participate in interactive roundtable discussions with designated facilitators to learn from experts in functional areas of value creation.
Pre-Event Resources
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Operating Partners San Francisco and Technology Forum 2023 Attendees
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2023 speakers
For speaking opportunities, contact Marc Mele at marc.m@pei.group or call +1 646 581 9295.
Raj Kushwaha
Managing Director & Partner, Co-Head Value Creation and Chief Digital Officer, Warburg Pincus
2023 sponsors
Sponsorship and Engagement Opportunities:
The Operating Partners forums and events are the most efficient and effective way to connect directly with private equity operating partners and value creation experts. To learn more about ways to create a customized program that maximizes your desired impact and to engage with PEI’s operating partners community, please contact Lawrence Dvorchik by email Lawrence.d@pei.group or call +1 646 545 4429.
2023 venue and hotel
Hotel Nikko
222 Mason St
San Francisco, CA 94102
Ketan Awalegaonkar
Chief Data and Analytics Officer, PwC
Ketan leads PwC’s Data, Analytics and AI practice, and the capability across PwC’s Global Network. He has worked with CEO’s and BOD’s of Global 2000 companies on driving market capitalization growth by 1-3X through digital transformations. Ketan also serves Private Equity firms and their PortCos in D/A.
Relevant experience:
•Coached 200+ CIO/CDO/CAIO/CTO actively on their data-driven transformation
•Served 100+ clients across Consumer, Industrial, Auto, Travel, and Telco/Media across data strategy, cloud migrations, opmodel, talent, and digital factories
•Helped transform one of the largest consumer companies across 130+ countries into a digital enterprise, with market cap increase from $50B to $150B
•Scaled the largest low-cost carrier over a period of 5 years from 300 aircraft to over 800 aircraft across commercial & operations through Data and Analytics
•Drove a digital transformation for a $300B auto maker across electric, shared and autonomous vehicles, resulting in market cap growth of 100%
•Served 5+ of the largest PE firms by AUM on PortCo digital/ D/A value capture
Ketan has also served as a Chief Data and Analytics Officer at a Fortune 25 client and teaches AI at Northwestern University's MBA and MS program.
PwC's private equity professionals provide integrated solutions to challenges at every level of our clients' businesses, from deal strategy through value creation. We leverage our experience and cutting-edge technology to timely identify and resolve issues encountered throughout the transaction and portfolio company lifecycle, as well as issues unique to the private equity fund. We help make the complex world of private equity feel a little simpler.
Gilad G. Amir
Digital Operating Partner, Pollen Street Capital
Gilad joined Pollen Street in May 2018 as an EIR and came on board as Digital Operating Partner in September 2020 with a focus on supporting the digital transformation of the portfolio companies and supporting the Private Equity team with the pre/post deal tech-related activities.
Prior to PSC, Gilad was the Head of Fintech at Lloyds Banking Group. Prior to joining Lloyds, Gilad worked in a variety of roles as a founder, CEO, CFO, Board member and advisory board member in multiple fintechs and cyber including EZBOB, Satago, Paze, Insightix and others.
Gilad is a Chartered Accountant and an E/Y alumni (hi-tech and M/A practice).
Pollen Street is an independent alternative investment management company, focused on accelerating the progress of the financial, business services and technology sectors. It was established in 2013 and manages over £3bn AUM across private equity and credit strategies on behalf of investors including leading public and corporate pension funds, insurance companies, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Endowment and Foundations, asset managers, banks, and family offices from around the world. Pollen Street has a team of over 70 professionals with offices in London and New York City.
Geoffrey Baird
Independent Operating Executive, Palladium Equity Partners
Geoff Baird is a Senior Operating Executive partnering with Palladium Equity in the technology sector. Working as an independent consultant he leverages extensive PE experience assisting sourcing of new investments and driving growth in their technology portfolio businesses.
Geoff is the Chairperson of Source Logistics, a Board Advisor and Operating partner at Envoy Global, a Board Member of Propeller Industries and an advisor to Fora Financial. Previously, Geoff was the Senior Managing Director of Value Creation at LLR Partners where he built a functional expert team of 12 people. Prior to joining LLR, Geoff was an operating executive at Tailwind Capital where he assisted in sourcing, evaluating and performing due diligence on investment opportunities. He served as a board member and active advisor to Tailwind portfolio companies Stratix Corporation (Chair), Diversified, AST and CoreBTS. In addition, Geoff was a board director at Worldaware, an LLR portfolio company. He also invests in early-stage technology companies as an angel investor and advisor.
Geoff’s leadership background is highlighted by several executive roles in the mobile, Internet of Things (IoT) and communications sectors. He previously served as President of the Product & Technology Group at AGT International, CEO of 3i-MIND, and Vice President and General Manager of the Small Medium Business Unit and the Communications Appliances Business Unit at Avaya. Earlier in his career, Geoff was the CEO of mobile technology firms Commtag and Xtempus, and COO of Psion Computing.
He received his MBA with distinction from the London Business School and a BSc in Cybernetics and Mathematics from the University of Reading, UK.
Since its founding in 1997, Palladium has invested in more than 220 companies (41 platforms and more than 180 add-ons). With over $3 billion in AUM, the firm focuses primarily on buyout equity investments in the range of $50 million to $150 million. Palladium seeks to acquire and grow companies in partnership with founders and experienced management teams by providing capital and strategic guidance. The partners of the firm have meaningful experience in consumer, services, industrials, and healthcare businesses, with a special focus on companies they believe will benefit from the growth in the U.S. Hispanic population. For more information, visit www.palladiumequity.com.
Sebastien Bilodeau
President, Cerberus Technology Solutions, Cerberus Capital Management
Sebastien Bilodeau is the President of the Cerberus Technology Solutions (CTS) group at Cerberus. He is a highly qualified and driven executive with leadership and value-added skills. He has extensive experience in digital, eCommerce, data, offline customer acquisition, marketing, sales, ideation, and product development across many industries.
Ben Cao
Technology Advisor, Seacoast Capital and Vice President, Head of PE & VC, Symphony
Ben is currently a technology advisor at Seacoast Capital and the Head of PE and VC at Symphony. Previously, he was a private equity investor and operator at various growth stage companies and a product and engineering leader at Rokt, Google and IBM where he led a group of product managers, helped to scale a 15-person team to a 300+ organization, and filed 150+ patents.
Symphony is a global software engineering and design firm with more than 700 full time engineers, product leaders and experienced UI/UX designers across the world (Europe, Latin America and the US). Symphony is a trusted partner for many PE firms and we offer end to end solutions starting from tech DD to building out complex software solutions. Symphony was co-founded by a Stanford GSB grad and has built a team of experienced ex PE investors, operators, and consulting leaders to refine our PE offerings.
Mike Cochran
Managing Director, Head of CFO Tech Services, Accordion Partners
Mike is a Managing Director and head of Accordion’s CFO Tech Services Practice with more than 25 years of experience delivering transformational financial solutions through the enablement of technology. He specializes in Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Analytics, and Cloud Enablement.
Before joining Accordion, Mike spent the better part of his career advising clients and overseeing the delivery of technology enabled financial solutions. In this capacity, he deployed solutions ranging from Strategic Planning/Forecasting, Profitability Analysis, Statutory/Management Reporting, and Analytics and Data Visualization – all in the context of empowering organizations with the ability to make both meaningful and actionable business decisions.
Being well versed in the unique informational needs of various industries including health/life sciences, financial services, hospitality, high tech and utilities, Mike partners with organizations in the realization of vertically aligned business solutions through the application of best-in-class technologies.
With a focus on prioritizing high value-add projects, Mike assists clients in the articulation of comprehensive IT and Business strategies with associated implementation/program roadmaps. Consequently, by combining finance and accounting experience with his systems expertise, he successfully guides complex, multi-faceted organizations in the application of technology to address financial challenges and opportunities.
Having spent his entire career configuring technical solutions to meet his client’s business needs, Mike has functioned in every capacity from Application Developer and Technical Architect to Project and Program Director. This breadth of experience enables him to be as relevant in technical conversations as he is in functional/business process conversations. As a result, clients are assured the delivered solution strikes a balance between the organization’s functional needs and the ability to deliver, support, and scale the deployed system.
Mike graduated from Miami University (Ohio) with a B.S. in Applied Science, Systems Analysis and is a frequent orator on the topic of Technology Enablement Best Practices.
Accordion is a private equity-focused financial and technology consulting firm. Working at the intersection of sponsors and management teams, Accordion partners with clients at every stage of the investment lifecycle. The firm’s services span the entire CFO function within the private capital sector, including operational and technical accounting, strategic financial planning and analysis, CFO-driven transformation, CFO technology, transaction execution, public company readiness, interim leadership, and turnaround and restructuring. With a focus on hands-on, results-oriented execution, Accordion is widely recognized as the go-to PE consultancy and the premier digital-enablement partner for portfolio CFOs. In addition, Accordion has been recognized as an employer of choice for pioneering a better way to work in finance. Accordion has a total of 10 offices including its headquarters in New York and locations in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and South Florida.
Cory Eaves
Operating Partner, General Atlantic
Cory A. Eaves is an Operating Partner at General Atlantic, providing strategic support and advice to the firm’s investment teams and portfolio companies with a focus on technology, operations, and digital transformation. Before joining General Atlantic in 2009, he was Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Information Officer at Misys plc. Earlier in his career, Cory also served as Chief Technology Officer of SSA Global, one of the world’s largest enterprise software providers and a former General Atlantic portfolio company.
General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon, and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build market-leading businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 175 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Stamford. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com.
Rory Gaston
Group Managing Director, Saragossa
Rory’s professional credentials have been built entirely within financial services technology delivery. His work has primarily focused on offsetting the inefficiencies created by the increasing gap between supply & demand in technology talent markets.
Recognizing that great people are central to the best business outcomes, Rory harnesses his Psychology background to create and implement tailored people-led solutions for Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies. This produces qualitative and quantitative efficiencies to technology delivery capability.
Recognizing the inherently unique demands of each firm Rory has been central in defining Saragossa products & services extending to; Project based Consultancy, Search & Selection and IT offshoring.
With an uncompromising dedication to delivering clear quantifiable improvements to business outcomes Rory has established a reputation as the trusted advisor to Technology leaders globally.
Saragossa is a Technology Solutions organisation with a proven track supporting Private Equity businesses, accelerating their portfolio companies. For nearly a decade we have provided support leading Private Equity organisations to maximise returns through rapid, specialised technology solutions. Providing strategic support alongside all of our core services: Project Delivery Consulting, Technology Outsourcing, Staffing, Executive Search, and 3rd party Talent Acquisition.
Having developed a reputation for unparalleled Private Equity domain expertise, we fully grasp the unique challenges presented managing an evolving technology business portfolio, responding rapidly to changing priorities and goals in a fiercely competitive landscape.
Our core values; Fearless, Uncompromising and Human underpin everything we do. We are brave, working outside of conventional methods to achieve agreed objectives, we do not compromise in our commitment to creating brilliant customer experiences, believing that great people are at the heart of every successful outcome.
Akshay Grover
Global Private Equity Practice Lead, Zscaler
Akshay Grover serves as the Global Private Equity practice leader at Zscaler. Akshay has 20+ years of results-driven and forward-thinking transformational leadership experience in Private Equity, M&A, Divestitures consulting, SaaS GTM strategies, partnerships & alliances and value creation with cloud technologies across Americas, EMEA, APAC and LATAM. Prior to joining Zscaler, Akshay co-led the Global Go to Market M&A Integration and WW M&A, Divestitures and PE practice at Salesforce. Akshay was responsible for developing new routes to market with alliance and PE partners and driving GTM M&A integration strategy, planning and execution for 15+ Salesforce acquisitions. Prior to joining Salesforce, Akshay held leadership roles at PwC, HCL Tech, Deloitte Consulting, and Tata Motors.
Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) accelerates digital transformation so that customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange protects thousands of customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location. Distributed across more than 150 data centers globally, the SSE-based Zero Trust Exchange is the world’s largest in-line cloud security platform. Learn more at zscaler.com or follow us on Twitter @zscaler.
Deron Grzetich
Senior Partner, National Cyber Leader, West Monroe
With over 20 years of experience in cyber security, Deron has developed expertise across diverse industries, including oil & gas/energy, healthcare, financial services, and legal/professional services firms. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois-Chicago and an MS in Computer, Network, and Information Security from DePaul University. Deron currently serves as a Senior Partner in the technology practice of West Monroe Partners, where he is the National Cyber Leader for the firm's digital consulting services.
In addition to his professional work, Deron is also passionate about giving back to his community. He volunteers as a Solar System Ambassador (SSA) for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, collaborating with NASA mission scientists to share space science with local communities. He also teaches graduate-level courses on information and network security at DePaul University, helping to prepare future professionals for success in this rapidly evolving field.
When he's not working or volunteering, Deron can often be found coaching youth hockey for the Chicago Stallions at the 12U level. As a certified USA Hockey coach, he enjoys using his skills and experience to help young players develop both on and off the ice.
West Monroe is an international advisory firm that works with 25 of the top 50 PE firms to drive value across the portfolio through digital value identification, data engineering and cost optimization. The team specializes in cyber security, transaction advisory, digital due diligence, post-merger integration, value creation, and complex carveouts, and possesses a wide range of capabilities and industry expertise.
Matt Hollcraft
Operating Partner – Cybersecurity, H.I.G. Capital
Matt Hollcraft is Operating Partner – Cybersecurity with H.I.G. Capital, a $60B AUM firm with 27 funds. The Firm has a middle-market investment focus and Matt’s role encompasses management of cybersecurity and privacy strategy, operations and compliance for the Firm’s 170+ companies ranging from $50M to $1B+ EBITDA.
Prior to H.I.G., Matt spent three years as CISO, Portfolio Operating Executive with Hellman & Friedman, a $60B AUM firm, as well as earlier strategic and operational technology executive roles with global household brand names within financial services, regulated data services, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and high-tech. Early in his career, he was a special agent investigator in financial and electronic crimes with State of Indiana.
Matt lives in the San Francisco area and enjoys Formula 1 racing, restoring classic and muscle cars, traveling, skiing and exploring California’s beautiful outdoor spaces, trying new restaurants and visiting Napa, Sonoma, Carmel and other California wine growing regions.
Tye Howell
Operating Partner, Rubicon Technology Partners
Tye Howell is an Operating Partner at Rubicon Technology Partners, a PE firm focused on middle-market enterprise software companies. When not working across disciplines with his dedicated portfolio companies, he leverages his specialty in CIO-related topics across the portfolio (e.g. Data Analytics, Systems, Cybersecurity, Digital Transformation). Prior to Rubicon, Tye was an Operating Partner at Blue Point Capital Partners specializing in Digital Transformation. Prior to Blue Point, Tye worked for Accenture helping middle market and megalithic software clients envision and deliver digital and data-based transformations across most corporate functions. Tye holds an MBA with a concentration in Finance and a BA with a concentration in Statistics.
Chris Hueneke
Chief Information Security Officer, RKON
Chris Hueneke leads the Security Practice at RKON responsible for Security Advisory and Security Operations services. He is currently the virtual Chief Information Security Officer for several Private Equity portfolio companies adding value by protecting organization’s in financial services, manufacturing, retail, and non for profit. He has over 25+ years of experience leading international security and risk programs and teams global organizations such as Arthur Andersen, Marsh & McLennan, Zurich/Farmers Insurance, United Airlines, Ace Hardware, and Cottingham & Butler. His extensive professional experience has provided him with the vision to build out his OnPAR (Preparedness, Assurance, Response) framework integrating proactive security, governance, risk, and compliance disciplines to protect the business and IT objectives. Chris’ global leadership expertise includes building IT risk and security teams from ground up and consulting on improvements in threat protection, vulnerability management, identity and access management, and security monitoring. He is an engaging leader able to communicate technology strategy, architecture, and critical risks effectively to key stakeholders, executive leadership, and boards of directors. Chris earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Information Systems and Minor in Economics from Clarke University and holds several certifications including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundations, and ISO 27001 Information Security Management System (ISMS) Auditor. His work has been recognized by being awarded with various accolades such as the Arthur Andersen Managing Directors’ Award, Ace Hardware Pinnacle Award, nominated for CIO Magazine’s Ones to Watch, and nominated for Chicago CISO of the Year.
RKON is a US based IT firm focused on providing IT solutions from strategy to execution for mid-market, high-growth, Private Equity owned businesses. With over 25 years of experience specializing in carve-outs, roll-ups and platform build strategies, we have hundreds of clients that rely on us for design, implementing and running their IT systems. We also help our clients mitigate and manage cyber security risks and achieve and maintain compliance including HIPAA, PCI and others. We help Private Equity firms directly with our investment thesis based Diligence or helping assess their portfolio via our Diagnostic Assessments. With a service offering from Diligence to Exit, RKON can ensure that IT is aligned to the business and thesis.
Sajjad Jaffer
Head of Data, Analytics and Machine Learning, GrowthCurve Capital
Sajjad is the Head of Data Analytics and Machine Learning and a member of the Investment Committee at GrowthCurve Capital. He joined GrowthCurve at its inception in 2021 as part of the founding Senior Leadership Team.
GrowthCurve Capital is a private equity firm focused on building world-class businesses by leveraging data, analytics, and machine learning, combined with a comprehensive approach to human capital, to accelerate growth and drive value creation. Founded by Sumit Rajpal, former Global Co-Head of the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, the firm focuses on control private equity investments primarily across the financial and information services, healthcare, and technology sectors.
Prior to joining GrowthCurve, Sajjad co-founded Two Six Capital, the Silicon Valley firm that pioneered Data Science for Private Equity. Sajjad’s arc at Two Six began as a startup entrepreneur in 2012 when he found 25 years of Ph.D. research developed at Wharton. He launched Two Six in 2013 building a team of Data Scientists and Data Engineers that applied this research to private equity investing. The company evolved into a technology platform as the team deployed large-scale engineering and data science models to over $30 billion of global private equity deals closed across industry sectors. This technology platform was acquired in 2020 as an AI asset by West Monroe Partners and Sajjad concluded his Two Six tenure through its successful exit.
Sajjad’s work and Two Six have been profiled by Private Equity International, Mergers and Acquisitions magazine, Knowledge@Wharton, Private Equity Technology podcast, Forbes, FT Fundfire, Institutional Investor, and Business Insider.
He holds a B.A. from Bowdoin, where he double majored in Computer Science and Government and minored in Economics, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School. He serves on the Board of Analytics at Wharton.
Greg Kegeles
Operating Partners, Digital Transformation, Newlight Partners
Greg has been with Newlight Partners since 2021. He has over 15 years of technology and operational leadership experience in both start-ups and publicly traded companies. He is responsible for supporting portfolio companies in their data & technology needs.
Greg resides in Harlem, New York, with his wife and two children.
Newlight Partners LP is a growth-focused middle market private equity firm that builds businesses in partnership with exceptional founders and management teams. The Newlight team has been investing together since 2005, originally as the Strategic Investments Group at Soros Fund Management LLC, and now as Newlight after the team's spin-out in 2018. Newlight’s thematic investment approach focuses on identifying and addressing marketplace opportunities in rapidly growing subsectors. Newlight currently has over $4 billion in capital commitments and assets under management.
Raj Kushwaha
Managing Director & Partner, Co-Head Value Creation and Chief Digital Officer, Warburg Pincus
Raj Kushwaha joined Warburg Pincus in 2012 and serves as Co-Head of the Value Creation team and is a member of the firm’s Operations Management Group. In addition, as Chief Digital Office of the firm, his work with portfolio companies is focused on identifying opportunities to leverage AI/ML and LLM enabled digital strategies that create new growth platforms and disruptive business model opportunities. He is a Director of Arise. He also serves on the Board of Nutrien, and the Information Technology Committee of the Boards of Trustees of Mount Sinai. Raj brings over 30 years of experience in leading large-scale digital transformations, building commercial grade SaaS software platforms, and managing technology operations in Fortune 500 companies and late stage ventures. Prior to joining the firm, he held senior management positions at Zimmer Holdings Inc., Dell Computer Corporation, PepsiCo, First Data Corporation (FDC), Cummins Engine Company, and Safway, Inc. He has been recognized as one of the top 100 IT innovators in the automotive/manufacturing industry, is the recipient of a CIO 100 innovation award, is a noted industry author Financial Services & Payments, and has numerous patents in the field of disruptive services technologies. Raj holds an MS in Management of Technology from MIT, an MBA from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and ISU, a BS in Electrical Engineering from India, and completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) from Harvard University.
Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $60 billion in private equity assets under management. The firm’s active portfolio of more than 200 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 19 private equity funds, which have invested more than $90 billion in over 930 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information please visit www.warburgpincus.com.
Yale Kwon
Partner, AlixPartners
Yale has almost 20 years of consulting and industry experience in the high-tech, telecommunications, automotive, and retail industries. He specializes in large-scale transformation programs, and clients benefit from his functional expertise in turnaround initiatives focused on commercial transformation, sales effectiveness, go-to-market (GTM), and commercial and operational due diligence. Moreover, Yale’s consulting experience is considerably broad because of his service to various clients in North America and Asia. Prior to joining AlixPartners, Yale worked as a senior manager at a top-tier consulting firm serving hi-tech & telecom clients and began his post MBA career as a corporate strategy manager at LG Electronics where he developed go-to-market strategy focused on B2B solutions business which included LG’s core products and services. Yale has an MBA in strategy, finance and marketing from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a bachelors degree in engineering from the University of Toronto.
For nearly forty years, AlixPartners has helped businesses around the world respond quickly and decisively to their most critical challenges – circumstances as diverse as urgent performance improvement, accelerated transformation, complex restructuring and risk mitigation.
These are the moments when everything is on the line – a sudden shift in the market, an unexpected performance decline, a time-sensitive deal, a fork-in-the-road decision. But it’s not what we do that makes a difference, it’s how we do it.
Tackling situations when time is of the essence is part of our DNA – so we adopt an action-oriented approach at all times. We work in small, highly qualified teams with specific industry and functional expertise, and we operate at pace, moving quickly from analysis to implementation. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients until the job is done, and only measure our success in terms of the results we deliver.
Our approach enables us to help our clients confront and overcome truly future-defining challenges. We partner with you to make the right decisions and take the right actions. And we are right by your side. When it really matters.
Misha Logvinov
Managing Director, MGX
Misha Logvinov is a Managing Director at MGX, a leading AI and advanced technology investor. Misha’s responsibilities include advising the MGX’s investment teams and portfolio companies on digital strategy and value creation. Prior to MGX, Misha was a senior operating partner at Mubadala, a sovereign investor with $302 Billion AUM, and Managing Director and Head of Technology Strategy at EQT Group where he helped establish their digital and GTM operating practice. Previously, he was Group Vice President of Cloud Customer Success at Oracle, where he helped lead the company's transition to cloud and directly oversaw product adoption, customer retention, and growth of the Oracle's Cloud Infrastructure business in North America. Prior to Oracle, Misha served in various senior executive roles at Lithium Technologies (a cloud software company acquired by Vista Equity Partners and rebranded as Khoros), including Chief Information Officer, Chief Customer Officer, and SVP of Business Development. During his tenure, Lithium grew its revenue 6x and scaled its digital platform to support over 100 million users across hundreds of leading brands. Misha also has over 20 years of experience in technology leadership roles developing, scaling and advising venture-funded startups in Silicon Valley. Misha has a Bachelor's degree from Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
Will Lytle
Chief Operating Officer, Plandek
Will Lytle is the COO of Plandek, a SaaS platform that provides intelligent insights throughout the product and software delivery process. In addition to leading their Customer Success, Product and Engineering areas, Will works closely with and advises Private Equity operating partners and portco senior executives on how organisations can measure and optimise R&D ROI and build a sustainable data-driven product engineering culture. Prior to joining Plandek, Will worked at Deloitte technology consulting, where he helped clients shape and deliver technology-enabled business transformations and build high-performing delivery capabilities.
Plandek is an intelligent analytics platform to enable technology teams to deliver quality software, faster and more predictably. Plandek provides critical delivery and capability insights to enable technology teams to better understand and accelerate the delivery of valuable software and improve R&D ROI.
Plandek works with Operating Partners (and portco CTOs) to help them become more data-driven in their technology delivery so that they can: track where technology resources are spent, drive efficiency improvements, accelerate value delivery, and share understandable KPIs with stakeholders.
Plandek is used by enterprise customers in all sectors globally and across many PE-owned portcos, (including Hg, Permira and Silverlake). Plandek is recognized by Gartner and Forrester as a ‘leading global vendor’ in the fast-growing area of DevOps known as ‘Value Stream Management’.
Nick Maglaris
Vice President - Midmarket Strategic Initiatives, SAP
As head of the Midmarket Strategic Initiatives team, Nick is responsible for managing innovative strategic routes to market by developing new business models across the North America Midmarket influencer ecosystem. Along with leading the North America Midmarket strategy for Private Equity, Selection and Advisory Firms, Nick successfully launched a complete transformation of the Go-to-Market partnership with Hyperscalers, the Technical Advisory Program and the SAP Mergers and Acquisition Ambassador Program.
Previously as Vice President of North American Solution Extensions, Nick leveraged his extensive knowledge and experience in global sales and alliance strategies to interlock SAP and SAP Partner relationships to generate demand and drive execution for customer revenue growth and development.
SAP Company Information -
As the market leader in enterprise software, we’re helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run better by redefining ERP and creating networks of intelligent enterprises that provide transparency, resiliency, and sustainability across supply chains. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables our customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference worldwide.
Vikram Mahidhar
Data and Digital Transformation Operating Partner, Apollo Global Management
Vikram Mahidhar is Private Equity Operating Partner at Apollo Global Management. He focuses on investments and creating value for the funds and portfolio companies at the intersection of Data, AI and Digital. Vikram is also a Board member.
Prior to Apollo Vikram lead a ~ 300 mm business at Genpact for cloud-native clients focused on digital advertising, payments, and digital commerce. Among other leadership positions at Genpact, he led global digital transformation business. His team was responsible for creating transformation solutions in large scale managed services deals, which includes Artificial Intelligence, Experience, Automation, Analytics and Cloud. Prior to this role he also created Artificial Intelligence Business at Genpact, overseeing products and services offered across verticals including manufacturing, retail, pharma, insurance and banking.
Based in Boston, Vikram was an entrepreneur, he built the AI solutions business at RAGE Frameworks that was acquired by Genpact in 2017. Prior to RAGE Vikram spent a decade at Deloitte in various leadership roles including – building an advanced analytics products and services business; led digital transformation for multi-billion audit business; established strategy and operations in emerging markets; consulted C-suite at several fortune 500 companies.
His thoughts on AI are frequently published in HBR, MIT SMR, WSJ etc. Also, he is currently an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at UMASS Amherst, College of Computer Science. Vikram holds graduate degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, and undergraduate degree in engineering from University of Pune.
Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. In our asset management business, we seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three investing strategies: yield, hybrid, and equity. For more than three decades, our investing expertise across our fully integrated platform has served the financial return needs of our clients and provided businesses with innovative capital solutions for growth. Through Athene, our retirement services business, we specialize in helping clients achieve financial security by providing a suite of retirement savings products and acting as a solutions provider to institutions. Our patient, creative, and knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees, and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of September 30, 2022, Apollo had approximately $523 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.
Jeffrey Malcolm
Value Accelerator Operating Advisor, Technology, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
A former CIO with a passion for driving next-generation vision and strategy by leveraging technology to make meaningful contributions to organizations on issues that drive revenue. His experience focuses on Cloud Migration, Digital Transformation, Unified Digital Experience, and Data-Driven Decision Making. Jeffrey has implemented technology solutions across verticals such as CPG, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Banking. Before Goldman Sachs, Jeffrey honed his experience at the companies such as Accenture, Coca-Cola, and Randstad Technologies. He’s calm under pressure and acts with courage and grace under fire. Jeffrey is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he honed his problem-solving skills. Married with two boys, his hobbies are golf (he’s no Tiger Woods), dancing, and fishing.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals.
Lee McCabe
Operating Partner, AEA Investors
Lee joined AEA Investors in 2019 and serves as an Operating Partner. In addition to providing oversight for the digital value creation function, Lee is also responsible for digital diligence with prospective investments as well as ongoing work with the firm’s existing portfolio companies. He is primarily focused on working with portfolio companies to assess, develop and identify opportunities to build value creation via digital initiatives.
Prior to AEA, Lee most recently served as Vice President of North America at Alibaba Group, leading the company’s North American initiatives. Prior to Alibaba, Lee was the first Global Head of Travel at Facebook, where he was responsible for developing the company’s monetization and growth strategy. Previously, Lee held various executive positions at Expedia, including overseeing APAC and North America where he led many supply optimization initiatives. Earlier in his career, Lee was part of the start-up office for eBay UK, where he helped drive eBay’s market penetration with several initiatives across supply, product, digital payments and platform trust and safety. Lee started his career with Warner Music in London.
Lee studied at Warwick Business School where he earned an MBA. He also earned an MA from Sheffield Hallam University in Media Production.
AEA Investors LP was founded in 1968 by the Rockefeller, Mellon and Harriman family interests and S.G. Warburg & Co. as a private investment vehicle for a select group of industrial family offices with substantial assets. AEA has an extraordinary global network built over many years which includes leading industrial families, business executives and leaders; many of whom invest with AEA as active individual investors and/or join its portfolio company boards or act in other advisory roles. Today, AEA’s approximately 100 investment professionals operate globally with offices in New York, Stamford, San Francisco, London, Munich and Shanghai. The firm manages funds that have nearly $15 billion of invested and committed capital including the leveraged buyouts of middle market companies and small business companies, growth capital and mezzanine and senior debt investments.
Ryan McMullin
Operating Principal, Accel-KKR
Ryan McMullin is an Operating Principal at Accel-KKR Consulting Group.
Prior to joining Accel-KKR’s Consulting Group, Ryan was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, where he specialized in serving private equity portfolio companies and privately held businesses across B2B commercial topics including growth strategy, go-to-market, sales excellence, and pricing. Prior to business school, he was a public sector consultant at Deloitte & Touche based in Washington, DC.
Ryan received an M.B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, received an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.S. in Information Systems Management, magna cum laude, from Auburn University, where he was a letterman on the track & field team.
Accel-KKR is a technology-focused investment firm with $14 billion in capital commitments. The firm invests in software and IT enabled businesses well-positioned for topline and bottom-line growth. At the core of Accel-KKR’s investment strategy is a commitment to developing strong partnerships with the management teams of its portfolio companies and a focus on building value through significant resources available through the Accel-KKR network. Accel-KKR focuses on middle-market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions from minority-growth investments to buyouts, recapitalizations, divisional carve-outs and going-private transactions. The firm has offices in Menlo Park, Atlanta, London and Mexico City.
Shaz Mian
Equity Principal, RSM US
Shaz is a Principal in our Data & Digital Consulting Practice based in Dallas, TX. Shaz has 14+ years of planning and consolidation SaaS technologies, data & analytics, and operational experience across a business functions, focused mainly on the mid-market. His main responsibility is private equity fund and portfolio company management.
To date, he has worked with clients to bring an objective evaluation of options and the identification of the most cost-effective solution that focuses on providing seamless integration. He has had exposure to a variety of industries such as technology, industrial/manufacturing, construction and real estate.
Before RSM, Shaz worked for a private SaaS FP/A company where he drove efficiency through automation and process improvement for the office of the CFO.
RSM is the leading provider of professional services to the middle market. The clients we serve are the engine of global commerce and economic growth, and we are focused on developing leading professionals and services to meet their evolving needs in today’s ever-changing business landscape. Our purpose is to instill confidence in a world of change, empowering our clients and people to realize their full potential.
RSM US LLP is the U.S. member of RSM International, a global network of independent assurance, tax and consulting firms with 57,000 people in 120 countries. For more information, visit rsmus.com, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and/or connect with us on LinkedIn.
Jane Moran
CTO, Benevity (Hg portfolio company)
In the role of CTO, Jane leads the charge in delivering Benevity’s bold and innovative ESG-tech solutions as more companies around the world recognize the critical importance purpose brings to attracting, retaining and engaging employees and customers. Working with Scott Lee, Benevity’s Chief Product Officer, Jane helps propel Benevity’s growth and enable more companies, from mid-market to enterprise, engage stakeholders in ESG, purpose and social impact initiatives.
Prior to joining Benevity, Jane was Senior Vice President, Data and Technology at AIR MILES/Loyalty One where she was responsible for leading a team of technologists who specialized in front-end mobile and web development, back-end systems and platform development, API development, architecture, UX research and design, DevOps, security, production systems, IT support, project management, and data science and analytics.
Jane completed her Ph.D. in astrophysics with the initial intention of becoming a physics professor. However, her skills in decoding complicated data, along with her ability to lead with empathy and authority, landed her in data science where her work has spanned the full range of understanding customer behavior and applying that understanding to data-driven solutions in targeted marketing and optimized digital experiences.
Benevity, a certified B Corporation, is the leader in global corporate purpose software, providing the only integrated suite of community investment and employee, customer and nonprofit engagement solutions. Recognized as one of Fortune’s Impact 20, Benevity offers cloud solutions that power purpose for many iconic brands in ways that better attract, retain and engage today’s diverse workforce, embed social action into their customer experiences and positively impact their communities. With software that is available in 22 languages, Benevity has processed more than $12 billion in donations and 58 million hours of volunteering time to support 418,000 nonprofits worldwide. The company’s solutions have also facilitated 900,000 micro-actions and awarded 1.2 million grants worth $18 billion. For more information, visit benevity.com.
Declan Morris
Private Equity Transformation Advisor, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Declan Morris is a Transformation Advisor to Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies. Prior to joining AWS, Mr. Morris spent six years at Splunk where he served as CIO during an intensive hyper-growth period that saw revenues soar tenfold. In taking a cloud-first approach, IT enabled Splunk to access new markets through its Splunk Cloud offering. Pre-Splunk, Mr. Morris was Vice President of Cloud Operations for Adobe Creative Cloud where he played a key role in transitioning Adobe’s Digital Media business from shipping boxed software to a cloud subscription service. With many years in the high technology industry, he has also served in various IT leadership positions at eBay, PayPal, Goldman Sachs, and Charles Schwab & Co.
For over 15 years, Amazon Web Services has been the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud offering. AWS has been continually expanding its services to support virtually any cloud workload, and it now has more than 200 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management from 84 Availability Zones within 26 geographic regions, with announced plans for 24 more Availability Zones and eight more AWS Regions in Australia, Canada, India, Israel, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—trust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com.
Roy Nicholson
National Managing Principal, Digital Transformation, Grant Thornton
Roy Nicholson is a Principal in Grant Thornton’s Business Consulting Services team and the Digital Transformation Practice. He specializes in the area of Technology Strategy and implementation and advises Grant Thornton clients on how technology can be used to create new market opportunities in addition to optimizing existing operational processes.
At Grant Thornton, he has helped the business establish its Digital Transformation practice that supports clients in achieving operational effectiveness, improved customer engagement and identification of new business models through the application of digital technology. Areas of focus include Cloud Strategy development and execution, Application Modernization, Process Automation, Data Engineering and Advanced Analytics.
Roy has significant experience in helping clients develop enterprise application strategies and subsequently supporting the successful execution of those strategies. He has had a focus on enabling process improvements around digital content management in addition to process and workflow automation. He has also led multiple product development efforts for his employers in addition to helping clients bring new digitally enabled product and service offerings to market.
Prior to joining Grant Thornton, Roy was Vice President of Professional Services and General Manager for the Life Sciences Business Unit at EMC’s Enterprise Content Division and prior to that was a Partner within IBM Global Business Services. He joined IBM through the acquisition of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting.
Roy has experience of working in Life Sciences, Technology, Energy & Utilities, Public Sector and Financial Services industries.
At Grant Thornton, we help dynamic organizations like yours navigate the complexities of today’s business landscape and make the most of technology, ensuring that you can respond to ever-changing regulatory and investor demands. We go beyond the traditional compliance and reporting aspects of tax and audit, providing services that offer real value.
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• Universal acceptance by Wall Street.
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Ready for a better client experience? Learn more about our tax, audit, and advisory services.
Hoyoung Pak
Partner and Managing Director, AlixPartners
Hoyoung has extensive experience in both management consulting and industry executive roles in applying AI to the Private Equity, Consumer, Retail, and TMT industries. In addition, he has expertise in consumer insights, retail analytics, pricing, and digitally enabled operations. Prior to joining AlixPartners, Hoyoung was Chief Operating Officer (COO) at a global design and packaging graphics firm. In this role, he has driven an enterprise-wide transformation that reduced costs for the company by 30% using a combination of offshoring and automation.
For nearly forty years, AlixPartners has helped businesses around the world respond quickly and decisively to their most critical challenges – circumstances as diverse as urgent performance improvement, accelerated transformation, complex restructuring and risk mitigation.
These are the moments when everything is on the line – a sudden shift in the market, an unexpected performance decline, a time-sensitive deal, a fork-in-the-road decision. But it’s not what we do that makes a difference, it’s how we do it.
Tackling situations when time is of the essence is part of our DNA – so we adopt an action-oriented approach at all times. We work in small, highly qualified teams with specific industry and functional expertise, and we operate at pace, moving quickly from analysis to implementation. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients until the job is done, and only measure our success in terms of the results we deliver.
Our approach enables us to help our clients confront and overcome truly future-defining challenges. We partner with you to make the right decisions and take the right actions. And we are right by your side. When it really matters.
Julio Palacio
Chief Technology Officer, Mainsail Partners
Julio Palacio is the Chief Technology Officer at Mainsail Partners. He is a seasoned technology and people leader with notable entrepreneurial and corporate experience having spent over 30 years leading organizations in technology, product management, business operations, software development, design, enterprise applications and IT strategy.
Most recently, Julio was the CPTO of Nexus Systems, a Mainsail portfolio company. Prior to joining Nexus, Julio was VP of Technology at Travelport, a global technology solutions provider for the travel industry. Before that, Julio was the CTO of eSecuritel Holdings LLC, an early Mainsail portfolio company sold to Brightstar Inc. Early on in his career, Julio was the General Manager of Emerging Technologies at Sprint Nextel in Atlanta after spending 12 years in various management and technical roles at Motorola.
Julio holds a BSc in Computer Science from Florida International University and has several registered patents to his name.
Mainsail Partners is a growth equity firm that partners with founders of bootstrapped software companies to help them realize their potential. For 20 years, Mainsail has been helping management teams navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with rapidly scaling a software company. The firm includes women and men who are former software company operators who have seen these challenges first-hand. Mainsail offers assistance across a variety of functional areas including talent, finance, customer success, sales and marketing, product management, and R&D. With offices in Austin and San Francisco, the firm has raised over $2.2 billion in committed capital and invested in more than seventy companies. For more information, visit www.mainsailpartners.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.
Eli Potter
CIO as a Service, Insight Partners
Eli Potter is a Vice President of IT Systems and Data at Insight Partners, advising startups on enterprise applications at scale. She has a proven history of building capabilities that transform technology into critical business value. Two of her many talents include breaking down complex problems and making order out of chaos.
Eli served as a Sr. Director of Enterprise Applications and Architecture at Coinbase scaling platforms for rapid crypto adoption. As a Sr. Director of Data Platform Engineering at Autodesk she fundamentally changed the product and engineering culture. As VP of Managed Services Product & Technology at Service Source she served on the Salesforce Service Cloud Advisory board.
Eli brings a wealth of experience working across many functional areas including B2B, B2C, finance, customer experience, marketing, data, crypto, entrepreneurship and innovation. She is a thought leader who is sought after by organizations to challenge the status quo, connect people with ideas and accelerate growth.
Since 2017, Eli has been volunteering at Carnegie Mellon University to teach graduate students about crypto, AI, innovation, entrepreneurship and technology. She is passionate about growing the next generation of STEM leaders and has helped many startups with product-market-fit. While at Coinbase, she served as the Executive Sponsor for the Women’s ERG.
Eli holds an MS degree from Carnegie Mellon, BS degree from Sonoma State University and has completed Y Combinator’s Startup school.
Insight Partners is a venture capital and private equity firm based in New York City, investing in growth-stage SAAS companies. ScaleUps are on the most difficult part of their journey: turning initial viability into exponential growth and long-term success. A decision can mean flight or free fall. That’s where a trusted partner comes in. For over 25 years we’ve partnered with the world’s leading software ScaleUps, providing the capital, operating guidance, and expansive network companies need to propel growth for the long term – and soar. Our obsession with software has produced a habit of success. We recognize industry patterns, emerging tech markets and software trends. We deploy our three core pillars-scale, focus and experience – to help companies capture value and generate long-term business success.
Josh Rogers
CEO, Precisely
Josh Rogers is the Chief Executive Officer of Precisely, the global leader in data integrity, with 12,000 customers in more than 100 countries, including 99 of the Fortune 100. As CEO, Josh leads Precisely’s global team of 2,500 employees as they build and deliver software and data enrichment products that provide accuracy, consistency, and context to power confident business decisions. Josh has also held leadership positions at IBM and Endeca technologies, as well as Bank of America Capital Investors. Josh is a graduate of Davidson College, and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Precisely is the global leader in data integrity, providing accuracy, consistency, and context in data for 12,000 customers in more than 100 countries, including 99 of the Fortune 100. Precisely’s data integration, data quality, data governance, location intelligence, and data enrichment products and strategic services power better business decisions to create better outcomes.
Neil Roseman
Technologist-in-Residence, Summit Partners
As Technologist-in-Residence, Neil works closely with the Summit team and our portfolio companies to assist with engineering organization design and architecture strategy. He brings over 20 years of experience in building high-scale software and web services for consumers and the enterprise.
Neil spent a decade at Amazon.com where he served as Vice President of Technology, responsible for Amazon.com’s Marketplace Platform, Digital Media Technologies, and World-wide Retail Software systems. He was instrumental in developing products, software and services for the Kindle line of e-readers, and he led many of Amazon’s most successful product launches, including Music and DVD stores, Marketplace, Amazon China and the initial Amazon Web Services product. Neil’s teams built and designed the Subscriptions Platform and Digital Ordering systems, which are still used globally by Amazon Prime, all Amazon Digital offerings and other Amazon.com services.
After Amazon, Neil served as Vice President of Engineering for Zynga, where he created the company’s platform and led the launch of Zynga.com. Prior to Zynga, he founded Evri.com, which developed a new way for people to discover and engage with content on the web using a deep natural language approach. Earlier in his career, Neil worked for pioneering Internet music e-commerce startup Music Boulevard and BIOSIS (acquired by Thompson Reuters Scientific), a provider of indexing and search tools for the biology and life sciences communities.
Neil holds a BA in biology from Temple University. In addition, he holds several patents in the e-commerce and semantic web domains.
Summit Partners is a global alternative investment firm currently managing more than $21 billion in capital dedicated to growth equity, fixed income and public equity opportunities. Since its founding in 1984, Summit has partnered with more than 500 companies across technology, healthcare and other growth sectors. These companies have completed more than 160 public offerings and more than 200 have been acquired through strategic mergers and sales. Summit maintains offices in Boston, Menlo Park and London, and invests in companies around the world.
Miles Rowland
Head of Data and Analytics, Searchlight Capital Partners
Miles is the Head of Data & Analytics at Searchlight Capital Partners. He works closely with Searchlight’s portfolio companies to help them utilise their data assets to their full potential, whether that be for internal performance tracking, analysis or AI-enabled automation. Prior to joining Searchlight Miles established the data & analytics teams at SHL and LEK Consulting. He has a background in strategy consulting and graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in Economics.
Searchlight is a mid-market, value-oriented Private Equity fund with investments across North America, Europe and Asia and approximately $10bn assets under management. We make investments across a wide range of transaction types, including buyouts, growth equity, recapitalizations and investments throughout a company’s capital structure.
David Rowley
Technology Operating Partner, Diversis Capital
David Rowley is a Technology Operating Partner at Diversis Capital, with over 35 years of experience helping companies build their product development and engineering organizations, improve their pace of innovation, and deliver excellent products. David has worked across many domains, including ad tech, enterprise SaaS platforms, digital media, software infrastructure, financial systems, and scientific applications and instruments. He started his career writing code and became increasingly responsible for multiple disciplines, including software engineering, product management, UX, technical operations, and customer experience. David has been CTO, VPE, and head of Product at several VC-backed, PE-owned, and publicly traded companies. He has managed organizations from early stage through exit and has contributed to 6 US patents but is most proud of the teams he has built and the positive impact he has had on the many professionals he has managed. David holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine, and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Diversis Capital is a Los Angeles based investment firm that backs owners and founders all over the world. Since 2013, Diversis has invested primarily in software and technology-enabled organizations led by teams looking for a partner to help accelerate growth and create market leaders. The team is currently investing out of a $680M discretionary institutional fund and has raised over $1 billion in institutional capital across its fund vehicles.
Tim Sanders
Vice President of Client Strategy, Upwork
Tim leads client strategy at Upwork where he helps leaders transform their businesses through the adoption of on demand talent solutions. He began his career as an early stage member of Mark Cuban's broadcast.com and, once acquired, he became the chief solutions officer at Yahoo!. He is also the author of five books, including the New York Times bestseller, Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends.
Upwork is the world’s work marketplace connecting millions of businesses with independent talent around the globe. Help your portfolio companies find the on-demand talent they need because without effective execution, strategy only gets you so far.
Learn more about our partnership opportunities at upwork.com/enterprise/private-equity
Chris Satchell
Managing Director Technology & Digital, Clayton Dubilier & Rice
Mr Satchell joined CD&R in 2020. Prior to CD&R, he spent twenty-five years in software and technology industries spanning five different CXO roles. Most recently, Mr Satchell served as CTO of Zume Inc., building AI, logistics and robotic systems to improve sustainability in the food supply chain. Prior to Zume, he served as chief product officer and head of consumer engineering at Comcast, responsible for product, design, and technology for consumer video, high speed data/Wi-Fi, IoT, and home security. Previously, Mr Satchell was CTO of Nike, helping to build their digital and direct-to-consumer businesses, and CTO and EVP of R&D for IGT, the global leader in casino systems and entertainment. He started his executive career at Microsoft where he helped to build and ship Xbox 360 and was CTO of the interactive entertainment business. Mr. Satchell has a B.Sc. (Hons), computing, D.I.S., from Loughborough University.
Founded in 1978, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) is a private investment firm with a strategy predicated on building stronger, more profitable businesses. Since inception, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $45 billion USD in 120 businesses representing a broad range of industries with an aggregate transaction value of more than $188 billion. The firm has offices in New York and London.
Sachin Satija
Partner, KPMG
Sachin is a Principal/Partner in KPMG based in the Charlotte who is a global business transformation leader known for driving Business-Led Technology-Transformations by developing diverse, high-performing organizations for cross industry clients. Sachin is a leader in KPMG's Cloud & Data Leadership Team where he is responsible for driving growth for KPMG's cloud, data and broader technology business. As a part of CIO Advisory organization, Sachin is responsible for driving Speed to Modern Technology that helps drive business outcomes for KPMG’s prestigious clients.
Across his career, Sachin has been known for his intrapreneurship that brought unparalleled innovation, unmatched value, multi-million-dollar operational efficiency and productivity to businesses and clients. Prior to joining KPMG in early 2022, Sachin spent almost a decade at Accenture.
Throughout Sachin’s 20-year career, he has developed broad expertise in Digital, Modern Architecture, Cloud, Infrastructure, Analytics, and People Development that he brings to drive innovation, lead growth, and create business outcomes for Fortune 500 and mid-size companies. Sachin has an approved patent on API Management using ML Algorithms and a pending patent on Living Systems.
Around the globe, KPMG member firms have 10,000 professionals in 60 international jurisdictions serving investment funds. Our worldwide Alternative Investment member firm network is comprised of more than 10,000 Audit, Tax, and Advisory professionals, including 800 partners, who focus on serving alternative funds and their sponsors in all of the significant industry locations.
Saurabh Singh
Partner, AlixPartners
Saurabh has diverse experience across multiple industries and has helped many organizations realize tangible revenue growth and cost savings across various functional areas.
More specifically, Saurabh specializes in end-to-end company transformation including growth strategy, commercial effectiveness, services optimization, customer success, field operations, product portfolio optimization, org transformation, and M&A and divestitures. He has advised multiple clients including large public and private institutions in industries such as Technology, Telecommunications and Finance.
He holds an MBA from the Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a BE in Computer Science from Delhi University.
Alix Partners
For nearly forty years, AlixPartners has helped businesses around the world respond quickly and decisively to their most critical challenges – circumstances as diverse as urgent performance improvement, accelerated transformation, complex restructuring and risk mitigation.
These are the moments when everything is on the line – a sudden shift in the market, an unexpected performance decline, a time-sensitive deal, a fork-in-the-road decision. But it’s not what we do that makes a difference, it’s how we do it.
Tackling situations when time is of the essence is part of our DNA – so we adopt an action-oriented approach at all times. We work in small, highly qualified teams with specific industry and functional expertise, and we operate at pace, moving quickly from analysis to implementation. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients until the job is done, and only measure our success in terms of the results we deliver.
Our approach enables us to help our clients confront and overcome truly future-defining challenges. We partner with you to make the right decisions and take the right actions. And we are right by your side. When it really matters.
Lucia Soares
Managing Director and Chief Information Officer, The Carlyle Group
Lucia Soares is Managing Director and Chief Information Officer - Global Portfolio Solutions at The Carlyle Group. Ms. Soares provides technology advisory to Carlyle investment teams and works with portfolio company executive teams leveraging technology to transform business operations and outcomes. She is based in Menlo Park, California.
Previously, Ms. Soares was Managing Director at Health2047 leading venture formations that addressed U.S. healthcare challenges. She spent 15 years at Johnson & Johnson, serving a variety of executive roles. As CIO and board member of multiple high-growth medical device businesses, she created technology strategies to grow and optimize businesses with the use of technology. Ms. Soares began her career working for an early Internet professional services agency, USWeb / marchFIRST where she partnered with clients to build first-generation web solutions and built the west coast User Experience practice.
Ms. Soares completed Executive Education coursework at Harvard Business School, and earned an MBA from San Jose State, a Master's in literature from UC Santa Cruz, and a B.A. in foreign languages from San Jose State where she graduated Summa Cum Laude.
Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $276 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2021, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs nearly 1,800 people in 27 offices across five continents. Further information is available at carlyle.com.
Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.
Milo Sprague
Chief Technology Advisor, FTV Capital
Milo Sprague is the Chief Technology Advisor at FTV Capital based in San Francisco. He is an experienced PE Technology Advisor, Silicon Valley CTO, technology executive, and Board Advisor with over twenty-five years leadership experience focused in Emerging Technology and Innovation, and Financial Services. Mr. Sprague advises in Technology Diligence, Transformation and Innovation, IT Strategy and Architecture, as well as technology management and organizational design. Working extensively with a broad network of Silicon Valley and international start-ups and investors, Mr. Sprague drives opportunities for synergy through technology partnerships, innovation, and strategic investment. Mr. Sprague recently served as the CTO of Silicon Valley Bank for seven years, prior to which he was a C-Level IT strategy consultant and a senior IT leader in numerous positions at Morgan Stanley both domestically and in Asia. He holds a BA degree, cum laude, from Harvard College and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in the area of “International Relations and Technology.”
Cathy Tanimura
Vice President, Analytics and Data Science, Summit Partners
Cathy Tanimura is Vice President, Analytics and Data Science, at Summit Partners where she works closely with the Summit team and portfolio companies to create and execute strategies that effectively use data and analytics to drive better decisions and build better products. Prior to Summit, she built and led data teams at high growth companies including Strava, Okta, and Zynga. Cathy is the author of the O’Reilly book SQL for Data Analysis: Advanced Techniques for Transforming Data into Insights.
Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a global alternative investment firm with capital dedicated to growth equity, fixed income, and public equity opportunities. Summit invests across growth sectors of the economy and has invested in more than 550 companies in healthcare, technology, and other growth industries. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe and invests in companies around the world.
Michael Todd
Operating Executive, Silver Lake
Michael Todd joined Silver Lake in 2021 and is an Operating Executive. Previously, Michael held various senior management positions in product and engineering at Amazon and Lab126, where he most recently started and led the Alexa Fitness Group. Prior to Alexa, he served as Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Engineering at OpenX Technologies, Inc. Michael was Manager of Engineering and Technical Operations at Google from 2004 to 2007, where he was responsible for all engineering aspects of the Google central ads/payments billing systems. Prior to starting with Google, he was a Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Red Swoosh, Inc, a peer-to-peer content delivery company subsequently sold to Akamai Technologies and Scour, Inc., a multimedia search engine sold to Centerspan Communications in 2000. Michael began his career at Digital Equipment Corporation’s Western Research Labs in the Altavista research group building the web’s first modern image search engine. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from UCLA.
Marcus Tonsmann
Cybersecurity Program Manager, Hellman and Friedman
Marcus joined Hellman and Friedman in 2022 and is focused on helping the Firm drive value by improving the operational effectiveness of Hellman and Friedman's portfolio companies and protecting the Firm's data and technology assets. Prior to Hellman and Friedman, Marcus was a principal at Kaiser Permanente's Cyber Risk Defense Center, where he focused on incident response, threat intelligence, and security engineering. He lives in Golden, Colorado where he enjoys skiing, mountain biking and trail running.
Hellman and Friedman is a global private equity firm focused on a limited number of large-scale equity investments in high quality growth businesses. Hellman and Friedman targets outstanding businesses in select sectors including software and technology, financial services, healthcare, consumer and retail, and other business services.
Since its founding in 1984, Hellman and Friedman has invested in over 100 companies. The firm is currently investing its tenth fund, with $24.4 billion of committed capital, and has over $85 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2022.
Ercan Ucak
Vice President, Cerberus Capital Management
Ercan Ucak is a Vice President at Cerberus Technology Solutions (“CTS”), the Tech Operating group within Cerberus Capital Management. Mr. Ucak began his career as a Data Scientist serving various US Government agencies within the Defense / Counter-Intelligence community, where he leveraged his background in Statistics to develop ML / AI models to solve complex problems for the three letter agencies. He eventually joined CTS in Nov. 2019, utilizing his deep technical expertise to drive Data & Analytics transformation and Enterprise Value Creation across numerous Cerberus investments.
Founded in 1992, Cerberus is a pioneer in alternative investing with approximately $60 billion in assets across complementary credit, private equity, and real estate platforms.
Carsten Weber
Principal, Highview Capital
Carsten joined Highview Capital in 2024, bringing over 25 years of technology experience in various leadership roles in Private Equity, Industry and Consulting. In his role as Principal, he is leading Highview's technology value creation across the firm’s portfolio through partnering with deal teams and portfolio company management teams, to drive growth and transformation. Carsten’s focus is on the technology journey of a portfolio company from Due Diligence to Value Creation Planning, through execution, focusing on key playbooks and value creation plays such as Data as an Asset (BI), Business Application right sizing and implementation, Cybersecurity Programs, IT Operation right sizing and M&A Integration. Carsten holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.B.A. in International Business.
Highview Capital is a Los Angeles-based private equity fund, backed by a multi-billion-dollar family office and a strong track record of driving transformative change as long-term, constructive partners. We invest in middle market businesses poised to undergo a transformation and target companies that are facing a critical inflection point ranging from high growth to distressed situations where a combination of capital and operational expertise can drive significant value creation. The fund employs a flexible mandate and takes a long-term perspective on middle market businesses at an inflection point. Highview takes pride in our ability to partner closely with founders and management teams over the long term.
Rohini Williams
Global Head of Private Equity, Infosys
Rohini has a Global responsibility to manage partnerships and relationships with key influencers – Private Equity Firms and Top Consulting firms for Infosys to enable best in class consulting and execution at scale for clients across all Infosys Industry segments and horizontals (like Cloud enablement, Application Development and Maintenance, Packaged Applications, Engineering, Business Process Outsourcing).
For Private Equity Firms, she advises on Value Creation through Technology Levers for growth and optimization for their portfolio companies and identifies high performing Unicorns that Infosys can partner with creating GTM roadmaps as Infosys develops professional services around their products to take to the market. Rohini also work with their portfolio companies on cost optimization & digital transformation by creating Infosys led solutions to drive positive outcomes.
Alongside PE, Rohini manages Sourcing Advisor Relationships for large deals (50 Mn +) deals for Infosys which also involves partnering with them in various partnership Models, creating GTMs solutions. Additionally, she is responsible for branding Infosys as a leader in all advisor surveys.
Rohini leads a global team with hands-on approach and a strong drive for execution and a passion for building & nurturing high performing, motivated and diverse team. She is passionate about D&I and her actions speak for themselves by being a shining example for women in the IT Industry and nurturing & promoting women leaders in her team. She has been awarded the winner of the Rising Star Category in the Women of Color in STEM Magazine for 2021.
Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. Over 300,000 of our people work to amplify human potential and create the next opportunity for people, businesses and communities. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer clients, in more than 50 countries, as they navigate their digital transformation powered by the cloud. We enable them with an AI-powered core, empower the business with agile digital at scale and drive continuous improvement with always-on learning through the transfer of digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. We are deeply committed to being a well-governed, environmentally sustainable organization where diverse talent thrives in an inclusive workplace.
Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.
Ken Yagen
Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy and Innovation, Warburg Pincus
Ken Yagen is a Senior Vice President in the Digital Strategy and Innovation Group at Warburg Pincus, where he leads the product, AI, and data monetization practices. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, Mr. Yagen was Chief Product Officer and held executive roles at Symphony Communications, Box and MuleSoft. He has over 25 years of operating experience in Technology and Product Development and holds numerous patents in areas including Security, Identity Management and Distributed Architecture.
Warburg Pincus is a private partnership focused solely on private equity. The firm has over 55 years of experience in growth investing, building world-class businesses around the globe. Warburg Pincus applies a thesis-driven approach to investing across a variety of sectors and geographies. The firm has developed domain expertise in Consumer, Energy Transition & Sustainability, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrial & Business Services, Real Estate, and Technology.
Brit Yonge
Operating Partner, Corsair Capital
Brit Yonge is an Operating Partner of Corsair Buyouts. He works closely with the investment team on investment diligence and on portfolio company initiatives relating to technology, software and data analytics solutions.
Before working with Corsair, Mr. Yonge spent 5 years at Palantir working with large enterprises. He started and led the Asia office and served as Chief of Staff to the Chief Technology Officer. Subsequently he co-founded a company that built technical infrastructure for the correspondent banking industry.
During his 5 years serving in the US Navy, Mr. Yonge never spent a day on a ship, instead deploying downrange as an Intelligence officer. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy.
Corsair Capital focuses on control buyouts of capital light, high-growth businesses in the technology, services and distribution segments within financial services. Our investment approach relies heavily on value creation to empower management teams to reach their growth goals.