Leadership

Executive Management

Kurien Jacob, CEO
Kurien Jacob is an experienced executive having held CEO or CFO positions at five different companies in the transportation, manufacturing, consumer electronics, automotive accessories and software industries spanning 25 years. Prior to moving into general management, Jacob was in audit and consulting with Touche Ross (now Deloitte Touche). He holds a B. Com. from the University of Madras, India, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, England and Wales, and holds an Advanced Management Certificate from the Sloan School of MIT.

Dean McCausland, CFO
Dean McCausland has in-depth experience as a finance executive, having been CFO of five different software and technology services companies over the past 20 years. He has focused in his career on high growth businesses that have scaled through both organic and M&A growth opportunities. Dean has substantial operational and integration experience and a strong background in capital markets. Previously, Dean was CFO of SirsiDynix Corp., an enterprise software company and before that served as CFO of FastChannel Network, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider. Dean holds a B.S. degree from the University of Oregon, an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and is a CPA.

Suhas Gudihal, CTO
Suhas Gudihal has over 25 years of experience in the Information Technology area. As CTO, Suhas is responsible for leading AFS Technology direction, strategy, including development of the company´s Products and ensure that AFS continues to bring cutting edge technology solutions to the industry we serve. Prior to joining AFS, he was the vice president of Software Services/Technology at a leading North American information technology consulting firm managing a team of 250 consultants generating annual revenue of over $220 million. His prior work experience includes development of software applications/products at Fortune 1000 organizations. Suhas has an engineering degree from IIT in India.

Lisa Whinnie, Executive Vice President, Customer Relations
Lisa Whinnie has experience as a software developer, designing, programming and managing IT projects in a distribution environment. Over the past 16 years, she has worked with end users to convert their business requirements into comprehensive, streamlined technical solutions. As Executive Vice President, Customer Relations she is responsible for customer relations including customer service, custom code, implementations, technical sales and Managed Services. Prior to joining AFS, Lisa served as the IT Director for an international espresso distributor Illy Espresso of the Americas, and was formerly the MIS Manager at the telecommunications company Executone Information Systems Inc. She holds a B.S. degree in Information Systems from the University of Phoenix.

Tim Vollman, General Manager, On Demand Division
Tim has over 25 years of experience in software solutions in segments including trade promotion, spend management, business intelligence, and various planning tools. His expertise is in assisting customers in optimizing profitability. As a 25 year software veteran, he founded Adesso Solutions in 2003 to provide customers with an end-to-end trade and deduction management Solution. During his 8-year tenure with Adesso, he led a merger with Gelco to create the leading Retail TPM company. Prior to Adesso, Vollman Served as GM of ChiChor by I-many. He founded his first company in 1988 called TPG Software which provided solutions for customers such as Kraft Foods, Oscar Mayer, S.C. Johnson and others. Mr. Vollman has a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio with a minor in Computer Science.

Carl McCauley, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Carl McCauley has extensive experience in building teams for high-growth companies. Carl was previously the Vice President of Sales at MetricStream, where he grew sales at an average 50% rate annually and helped the company become a market leader in providing Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC) and quality management (QMS) solutions to market leaders such as Kellogg's, AIB International, Pfizer, Philips, Cummins, Woolworths, UBS, BP and Subway. Prior to MetricStream, Carl was the Chief Operating Officer of Visiprise, which where he had P&L responsibility for developing and delivering manufacturing execution software (MES) to Fortune 500 companies. Carl has deep experience in high-volume, low-cost manufacturing environments and an extensive background in software development, and holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Tim Chilson, Senior Vice President, TPM Division
Tim Chilson has over 20 years experience in the food and technology industries. Tim has in-depth experience with Trade Promotion Management for both Retail & Foodservice channels and has the rare combination of technology and food & beverage expertise. Prior to joining AFS, he held senior level positions in Product & Customer Development with IRM Corporation. His food & beverage experience includes holding positions in IT, Marketing, & Sales with J.R Simplot Company and Anchor Food Products. Tim holds a B.S. in Management Information Systems from Boise State University.

Frank Recht, Vice President, Professional Services
Frank Recht has over 15 years experience in consulting, project management and field operations in the distribution and food industry. As Vice President Professional Services, Frank is responsible for all customer implementations and consulting services. This includes resource management, financial tracking, training, and implementation. Frank has been with AFS over five years and has held various positions in consulting along with technical sales. Prior to AFS, Frank was Senior Project Manager for Frontstep Inc. and Senior Consultant for Distribution Architects Intl which specialized in ERP software to the distribution industry. Frank holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Arizona State University.

Abe Nezvadovitz, Vice President, Strategic Alliances & Services
Abe is a 28 year veteran of the software industry with a primary focus in Order Processing, Production, WMS and Accounting Systems. Abe, born in Cuba, moved to New York at the age of 2 and later moved to Miami where he graduated with honors obtaining his B.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Miami. Shortly after graduating, he founded Data Tech Services while designing, programming, and implementing accounting systems. Abe merged his company with Astra Information Systems where he went on to be President and building it to become the leading software provider to the US seafood industry, which AFS acquired in mid-2007 where Abe later took on his current title of VP Strategic Alliance and Services. He is the primary point of contact for all customer maintenance contracts, establishing corporate service rates and all communication related to recurring revenues. As the Strategic Alliance product manager, he has ownership for vendor relationships, establishing a value proposition and the integration into AFS solutions as well as working closely with the sales staff on any hardware related transactions

Board of Directors

Gene Yoon
Gene Yoon is head of Private Capital Investing for the Americas Special Situations Group (AmSSG), focusing primarily on middle market investments. Gene serves on several boards on behalf of the firm, including DataPipe, ECi Software Solutions, Management Dynamics, LifeLock, Business Records Management, Olympus Media and Integra Telecom. Previously, he served on the boards of Picis, Inc. and ViaWest. Prior to joining the firm, Gene was a partner at Great Hill Partners, a growth-oriented private equity firm. Before that, he was head of corporate development at Geocast Network Systems, a venture-backed technology company. Gene began his career in investment banking at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Gene earned a BS in Economics and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 and 2005, respectively.

Michael Kosty
Michael Kosty is an investment professional on the Private Capital Investing desk, part of Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s America's Special Situations Group. In that capacity, Michael invests in growth businesses across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. Michael has made investments across the technology, telecom, and business services sectors, in companies including DataPipe, ViaWest, ECI Solutions, Management Dynamics, Cervalis, and Business Records Management. Michael earned a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from Georgetown University.