Our Team

Anita Bowers

Senior Account Manager

Mrs. Bowers holds a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing from the University of Nevada - Reno. During her 10-year career, she has worked in marketing roles for a variety of companies within industries such as manufacturing, insurance, gaming and gambling, and software/technology. Her background includes digital marketing, writing, advertising, analytics, events management, field marketing, direct mail, and more. In her free time, Mrs. Bowers enjoys travel, working out, spending time with her children and playing video games.

Christopher Smith

Account Director - Europe Financial Services

Chris has over 20 year’s experience working within finance services industry and software sales. After graduating Chris spent 10 years in Investment banking in London, most recently for Credit Suisse where he worked within their Prime Services trading division. More recently he has worked for a risk and compliance software business within their Enterprise division. Christopher lives in the UK near Manchester with his wife and two daughters. Outside of work Chris enjoys playing several sports including Golf, Football and Swimming.

Dan Beran

Account Manager

As part of the Hunter Team, Mr. Beran is responsible for helping Gurobi develop relationships with customers across a variety of industries. Mr. Beran has over 10 years of B2B sales and business development experience working for companies such as Wells Fargo, Certify Travel & Expense, and Dassault Systemes. Mr. Beran earned recognition at both software companies he worked for, Certify Travel & Expense and Dassault Systemes, for sales performance and ability to effectively execute an account-based marketing strategy. Mr. Beran holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Management & Policy from the University of Arizona.

Danielle Parry

Account Director - Europe, Africa

Danielle has a degree in Modern Languages from the University of Sheffield in the UK which included study in both France and Germany. She has since worked in international sales and account management roles across several sectors. Danielle started her sales career at FICO selling multiple products including solver technology and enjoys the variety of industry that the world of optimization offers. In her spare time Danielle enjoys keeping fit in the gym, running and the performing arts. She once spent a very hot summer creating the magic as a performer at Disneyland!

David O’Keefe

Account Director - Partners

Mr. O'Keefe has 25 years of experience as a technology sales and marketing executive, entrepreneur and software developer. Prior to joining Gurobi, he was Country Manager in Brazil for Telefonica LUCA, the data insights, mobile advertising and AI solutions unit of Telefonica Global. There he drove the go-to-market strategy for data monetization and led groundbreaking projects with enterprise and public sector clients, international development organizations and academic partners. He has spoken about Big Data at technology, advertising, retail, urban mobility, tourism and sustainability conferences. Prior to LUCA, Mr. O'Keefe was Strategic Partnerships Director for Latin America at Citrix Online. Earlier in his career, he developed the Channelweb and ITWeb portals, at CMP Media and ITMidia respectively, leading to his founding Lampada Global, a pioneering CRM consulting company in Brazil, growing it to provide services to clients in North and South America, as well as Europe. He graduated with honors in Economics from Rutgers University (USA) and earned a Master's degree with Distinction from the University of Sussex (UK).

Derek Tippets

Account Manager - Americas

Derek holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Utah State University. He brings 9+ years of sales and account management experience in the IT Hosting industry and is a fluent Spanish speaker. Prior to Gurobi, Derek was a Senior Strategic Account Executive for THG Hosting--managing key customer relationships to drive year-over-year revenue growth. He was a top contributor throughout his many hears with THG. Derek is based in Northern Utah with his wife and 3 kids. He spends most of his free time golfing, playing basketball, hiking, and fishing.

Eliza Cruz

Sales Administrator

Eliza Cruz is an experienced sales support professional known for her analytical skills and attention to detail. She has worked in the tech industry for over a decade, holding various roles in technology sales, consulting, business operations, and sales operations. For the past five years, Eliza has focused primarily on Sales Operations, where she has played a vital role in supporting the Sales team throughout the opportunity lifecycle, from presales quoting activities to post-sales order booking, fulfillment, and compliance processes. Eliza was originally from the Philippines and earned her bachelor's degree in Information Systems from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila. She currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and daughter in her free time. She is also a photography enthusiast who loves to travel, explore new places, and try new foods.

Frank Häger

Senior Account Director

Frank Häger is the Sales Director for the DACH region at Gurobi Optimization. Prior to working at Gurobi, Frank was responsible for Optimization Solutions Sales at FICO in EMEA from 2010 to 2016. He started his career in optimization sales in 1998 at ILOG Germany where he eventually led the German operations as Managing Director until 2008. Frank is a seasoned Sales Professional in the Software Industry for Enterprise Decision Management, focusing on Optimization and Prescriptive Analytics. Frank currently resides in the Hamburg area in Germany.

Frédéric Baumann

Director of Business Development – Western Europe, Middle East, Africa

Frédéric Baumann has spent 25 years of his career in the IT industry, working mostly with software vendors such as Adobe, Teradata, ILOG and Ivalua. He graduated from Ecole Centrale Paris with an Engineering Degree in IT and Mathematics, and holds a Masters of Finance Degree from Sorbonne University in France. Mr. Baumann has held various roles such as IT development engineer, professional services, pre-sales, customer care, direction of operations, and sales. Mr.Baumann has been in the data science arena for more than 20 years, and has been involved specifically in vertical business like digital marketing, finance and purchasing.

Iain Jardin

Regional Sales Director - APAC

Iain Jardin has been working with customers and partners in APAC, EMEA and North America for the last 30 years. Prior to joining Gurobi Iain worked at Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Amdahl where he ran numerous business development, product management, sales and technical-sales organisations. The biggest learning from his extensive involvement in the global IT market has been that the common denominator of successful and sustainable business is healthy (human) relationships that embrace diversity and celebrate inclusion. Outside of work Iain loves Australian Football, is a keen cyclist, a developing apiarist, an aspiring artist and holds a BA Soc.Sci. in Information Management from Melbourne University. Iain currently lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife, two daughters and two dogs. Connect with Iain on Twitter @IainJardin or on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/iainjardin/

Jan Schwarzkopf

Account Manager - Alliances

Jan earned his degrees in six countries, his last academic station was a Double Degree M. Sc. in International Management and MBA in Portugal and Brazil. Prior to Gurobi, Jan was responsible as a VP Sales Germany North and North America for PROMATIS software GmbH, a leading Oracle Implementation Partner. He planned, coordinated and executed marketing and sales campaigns and activities to generate the SaaS, PaaS and IaaS Business across several segments and industries together with strategic Partners. Additionally, he was a member of the management board and responsible for managing the Hamburg Branch with around 15 consultants.

Jason Morris

Account Director - Americas Power & Utilities

Mr. Morris joined Gurobi after a 27 year career with General Electric in the energy industry, as a team leader and individual contributor in sales, business development, product management, and solution architecture. His customer portfolio has spanned the energy cycle, from the wellhead to the consumer, including power generation, transmission, distribution, and utilization. After an initial role managing gas turbine repair services in the Southern US, he went on to negotiate multi-year contracts for turbine services, and then led the Central US region contracts team. Moving into the GE Industrial business, he was responsible for all GE energy services sales to industrial customers in Virginia, providing power generation, delivery and utilization solutions in the oil and gas, pulp and paper, food and beverage, chemical, and maritime industries. Next he moved to GE Grid Solutions with roles in smart grid business development, automated metering solutions sales, and finally asset performance management and grid analytics software. Mr. Morris holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. He currently resides with his wife and three of his four children in Richmond, VA.

Juen Juey Peh

Sales Operations Manager - APAC

JJ holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He comes with 7 years of experience in sales operations, mainly in the IT & industrial automation industry.His last role before joining Gurobi was mainly focused on the organisation's partner & alliance program. JJ is located in Singapore & is bilingual in both English and Chinese (Mandarin). He also enjoys travelling, hiking, board games & mahjong in his free time."

Juliet Pierrot

Sales Administrator

Juliet Pierrot is a dedicated sales support professional with a passion for helping sales achieve their goals. Originally from South Africa Juliet made the UK her home in 2008. Before joining Gurobi, Juliet spent 13 years with Riverbed Technology in sales operations, emphasizing the power of collaboration and the "WE" mindset. Juliet believes that attention to detail is crucial for operational excellence. In her spare time Juliet enjoys leisurely walks, runs, paddle boards and exploring new places with her husband and Boston Terrier Shaka.

Kang Ju (KJ) Lee

Account Director - Korea

KJ comes with 28+ years of experience in various sales, business development and technical sales management in industrial software, automation, and IT companies serving the Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Power and Marine industries. He has been recognized for his thought leadership in digital transformation in the process industries. KJ describes himself as goal oriented through actionable planning and as a fast learner. Prior to Gurobi, his latest roles were with AVEVA (9.5 years) and Honeywell Process Solutions (5 years), two well-known global, advanced solutions providers for asset-heavy industries. KJ’s greatest assets are his good reputations from his customers and professional networks and also 15 + years management and leadership experience. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University. It is noteworthy to mention that KJ wrote a solver to study dynamic simulation problems in chemical processes.

Karel Urban

Sales Operations Manager - EMEAI

Karel Urban comes from the Czech Republic and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information management and a Master’s degree in Company management and economics from the Brno University of Technology. He has 10+ years of experience working in Sales operations & support, Finance & Billing, Revenue operations, and Order management roles in both corporate and startup environments (Productboard, Monster.com, Infosys).

Spending time with family, drumming in his 2 bands, playing soccer, practicing yoga, hiking and traveling are his favorite activities when not in the office.

Katie Robson

Manager of Global Sales Operations

Ms. Robson has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of San Francisco. She is located in Munich, Germany and began her professional career in Sales Operations with a medical technology company, Brain Products GmbH. At Brain Products she worked to establish subsidiary companies in the U.K., Italy and Singapore and to oversee the sales process and operations for the EMEA and APAC regions. She finds joy in the daily interpersonal contact with customers and colleagues, and keeping attention to detail. In her spare time Katie enjoys travelling the world looking for good surf, hiking, painting and diving into a novel.

Kevin O'Connor

Senior Account Manager

Kevin has a degree in Finance and Commercial Law from Western Michigan University where he was a full scholarship hockey player. He brings 8+ years of sales and account management experience primarily in the software industry. He started his sales career at CDW, winning rookie of the year for his sales vertical in 2012 and being a consistent performer. Since CDW Kevin spent time selling software solutions at Careerbuilder before moving into the software analytics space with Minitab Statistical Software. At Minitab, he covered multiple geographic territories and managed all aspects of the existing customer’s sales cycle to ensure a high level of renewal retention and expansion. In his free time, Kevin is an avid golfer, ingrained in him from his time spent at the Golf Academy of America where he graduated with an Associate's degree. Besides golfing when possible he is passionate about his Detroit sports teams, Real Madrid football, and enjoys travelling.

Manuel Rassi

Account Director- LATAM

Technology Passionate. Manuel is a Telecom Account Director with a deep understanding of software and telco solutions. Manuel has over 20 years of experience working with global markets in Cloud, Big Data, Digital Transformation, and Software as a Service Solutions. He helps customers overcome their challenges by taking one step ahead in technology, empowering their growth and continuous evolution.

Mark Steidel

Regional Sales Director

Mark Steidel has a long history of selling optimization solvers. Mark has been with Gurobi since 2012. Prior to joining Gurobi, he enjoyed 15-years successfully selling optimization and visualization software with ILOG and IBM. He has a BS in Journalism from San Jose State University. Mark currently resides in Las Vegas with his wife and two sons. In his spare time, he enjoys coaching their little league teams as well as dominating them at ping pong. If the San Francisco Giants, Niners, or Vegas Golden Knights are playing, he asks for respectful silence.

Matt Izatt

Senior Director of Sales - Americas

Matt has 20+ years of experience across sales, operations and marketing - with the vast majority of focus in the tech and SaaS solutions space. Prior to Gurobi, Matt ran the business development efforts in the Americas for Symantec, where he developed and grew a small team into several high performing outbound and inbound selling teams, driving revenue for their Strategic, Enterprise and Mid-Market segments. Prior to Symantec, Matt worked as the Program Sales Director for several large tech companies - Cisco, SonicWALL and Forcepoint – where he was the client liaison, as well as had direct oversight of the selling efforts of their outsourced sales teams. Matt earned a BS in Finance from the University of Utah, while working a full time sales job, and raising a family of 4 boys.

Matthias Buhlis

Renewal Account Manager

Matthias has a Bachelor's degree from Sonoma State University where he majored in Human Development and minored in Psychology & Kinesiology. He also played collegiate volleyball and won a National Championship with their club team. Most recently, Matthias spent 1.5 years with start-up load balancing company Avi Networks before they were acquired by VMware as the first SDR for their remote sales team. In his free time, Matthias plays golf, slow-pitch softball and spends a lot of time with his pitbull Dina!

Mian Qin

Account Director - Americas

Mian has 11 years of experience in Sales and Technical Support. Prior to Gurobi, her latest roles were Account Director at Forrester Research, Sales Manager and before then applications lead at COMSOL, Inc.. A great asset is her dedication to providing great customer experience in the process of driving technology adoption. Mian received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Pennsylvania in 2010. Mian loves hiking and making a good coffee. She resides in Winchester, MA with her husband and 2 kids.

Mil Amirian

Senior Account Manager - Americas

Mil Amirian has his bachelor’s degree in Aerospace System Engineering from the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Mil has spent the past 10 years managing some of the largest accounts in the airline/aerospace industry across Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe and North America. Further to this, Mil has also completed a software engineering bootcamp and has a passion for technology and solving complex problems for his clients. Mil is originally from London but now resides in Southern California. His hobbies include playing soccer, going to the gym and traveling to explore new places.

Milos Pavlovic

Account Director - Europe, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent

Milos Pavlovic is a Director of Business Development at Gurobi Optimization. Milos has 14 years of experience in Telecommunications, IT and Broadcast & Media sectors, and has worked in sales, business development, pre-sales and product management roles. Before Gurobi, Milos was Sales Director at LS telcom AG, a company providing software and consulting services for radio frequency spectrum efficiency, where he had global responsibility for the broadcast industry. He graduated from the School for Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade and earned a Master of Science Degree in Telecommunications from the same School.

Paloma Lucas Jambrina

Marketing Manager - Alliances & Partners

Paloma brings an extensive international experience in Marketing, Business Development and Events Management. Prior to Gurobi she led partners to be successful through their marketing strategy at PTC (SaaS solution space) delivering growth, designing and optimizing B2B marketing programs and enabling solution providers, system integrators and distributors to plan and execute their go-to-market strategy. Before, she contributed to Bigpoint´s growth (computer games) building and cultivating strong business relationships and in the events industry, she led a team to execute remarkable events. Paloma is a curious individual who uses her positive character and tireless energy to encourage and inspire others. Having started a life from scratch in Italy, Germany and Scotland, where she earned her MSc at Edinburgh Napier University, lives now in Barcelona where in her spare time loves to spend time outdoors and to discover every corner of the city.

Paul Charchaflian

Director - Alliances & Partners

Mr. Charchaflian brings more than 20 years of successful sales management experience in privately held and publicly traded companies covering domestic and international markets. Prior to his role at Gurobi, he held the position of Regional Vice President of Sales at NetBrain Technologies – an Adaptive Network Automation platform. Here, he increased sales by over 100% by successfully building a strategic sales team focusing on the global healthcare and retail sectors. Prior to NetBrain, Mr. Charchaflian held various sales management roles helping four start-up companies increase sales to the level of acquisition stages: CloudHealth Technologies, Virtual Iron Software, VirtualSharp Software and Programart Corporation. Mr. Charchaflian was also the European Sales Director at Compuware Corporation where he built a strategic sales team of 25 reps across Europe. Mr. Charchaflian has lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East and North America. Mr. Charchaflian holds a BS in Business Administration from Worcester State University in Massachusetts. He currently resides with his wife and two boys in Winchester, MA.

Prateek Dharashiokar

Senior Account Manager, India

Prateek is an accomplished Computer Science engineer with over 19 years of experience in Direct Sales and Business Development within the realm of IT products and services. Prateek is an alumnus of Delhi College of Engineering, where he honed his technical skills before venturing into the dynamic world of sales and business development. Throughout his career, he has held pivotal roles with renowned industry leaders such as SAP, HCL, IBM, Wipro, UiPath and most recently, GitHub. At GitHub, Prateek successfully managed the South India region for Enterprise customer, contributing significantly to the company's growth trajectory. His tenure there was marked by a remarkable ability to sell automation/AI solutions with the zeal and efficiency of a seasoned professional, while retaining the human touch that distinguishes genuine relationships in business. Beyond his professional achievements, Prateek is a family man who resides in Bangalore with his wife Ritu, a Digital Marketer, and their 8-year-old son. Originating from Delhi, he brings a blend of cultural richness and metropolitan savvy to his endeavors. In his leisure time, Prateek indulges his passion for sports. His multifaceted interests and experiences make him a fascinating individual to engage with, and I am confident that you will find him to be a valuable addition to any professional network.

Randy Conley

Account Director - Continuous Production

Mr. Randy Conley began his career in the energy industry in 2004, starting in upstream operations before transitioning to sales and business development. He has held critical roles with several manufacturing & software companies from small startups like Signum Instruments as Global BD Manager, to large international corporations such as National Oilwell Varco as Senior Sales Executive. Randy is passionate about the expansion of a digital oilfield and the embracing of new technologies to achieve greater efficiencies, profitability, and the enabling of a safe and responsible energy production industry. Randy holds a BS in Geoscience from Pennsylvania State University and currently resides in Houston, Texas with his wife and six children.

Rei Nakazawa

Account Director – Japan

Rei is the Sales Account Director for the Japan region. Boasting over 21 years of experience in direct sales and partner sales within the IT industry. Rei is driven by his principles, always striving to make meaningful contributions to his team, clients, and society. He is self-motivated, customer-centric, and creative. An effective communicator. He's analytical and always eager to take the initiative or try innovative approaches to accomplish tasks.

On a personal note, he is friendly, a tennis enthusiast, and has a wife and two children (and a cat).

Riley Payne

Sales Operations Manager – Americas

Riley brings 10 years of experience to the company. Before joining Gurobi, Riley worked as a Team Lead in Sales Operations before serving as Manager of Partner Operations, where she worked to support and enable an ecosystem of 10,000 partners and 400 sales representatives. Riley's experience includes guiding large sales organizations through mergers/acquisitions, company divestments, and Salesforce migrations. She is passionate about helping Sales teams to do their best work while advocating for their unique business needs. Riley is from Orem, Utah and got her B.A. in Communications from Brigham Young University. Outside of work, Riley enjoys spending time with her dog, reading mystery novels, playing the piano, and studying the Korean language.

Ronald Westbrook

Inside Sales Account Manager

Ronald Westbroek is a dynamic Inside Sales Account Manager whose professional journey spans continents and cultures. Hailing from the Philippines and raised in the bustling city of Amsterdam, he brings a rich tapestry of diverse experiences to his role. Currently based in the sun-kissed locale of Barcelona, Ronald seamlessly integrates cultural insights into his approach to client management. With a solid foundation in sales, Ronald excels in cultivating strong client relationships and fostering revenue expansion. In his spare time, he finds fulfillment in exploring the great outdoors, whether it's hiking through picturesque landscapes, relaxing on sandy beaches, or immersing himself in the ocean's refreshing waves. Ronald approaches life's adventures with unwavering enthusiasm and dedication.

Sascha Haake

Director of Sales - Europe, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent

Sascha earned his Bachelor in Business Marketing with focus on European Economics in Germany. He has 20+ years of experience across sales, business development and product marketing  – with the vast majority  focused in the high tech and SaaS solutions space. Prior to Gurobi, Sascha was responsible for driving the net new business for Oracle SaaS across Europe - where he developed the sales organization from scratch. Before, Sascha held several senior executive roles in Hewlett Packard Enterprise across multiple regions, responsible for Sales and Category management with the main focus of incremental business, revenue streams and margin. This journey took him from Germany to Dubai UAE,  Singapore and Amsterdam.

Sean Sascha Merz

Account Manager - Europe, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent

Sean comes from Germany and grew up in the US, France and finally Spain before beginning his BSc degree in Business Administration and International Management at the University of Wales in the UK. Since graduating in 2012 he has worked internationally in 3 different countries (Ireland, Netherlands, Germany) for companies considered pioneers and leaders of the tech industry such as Citrix and Oracle. His almost decade long work experience spans sales and consultant roles with their focus on conducting business with companies in the DACH market where he specialized in the selling of cloud solutions to companies operating in the German market where he successfully drove collaboration and helped companies achieve an understanding in how they best execute their digital transformation strategy. Sean has built up an in-depth knowledge in cloud technology, selling SaaS, enterprise applications as well as related topics revolving around customizations in enterprise applications, process automation and integrating enterprise applications. In his last role as Snr. Account Manager at Oracle he sold into the mid-market segment in the DACH region where his passion for technology and sales drove his success in the role - having been recognized for closing strategic quarter deals in 3 out of his last 4 quarters.

Shireen ONG

Account Director for South-East Asia

Shireen is the Account Director for the APAC region at Gurobi Optimization. Shireen comes with 13 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry prior to joining the tech industry. She has deep experience in sales, marketing, coaching and relationship building.  Shireen is also a Certified Professional Scrum Master. She has natural curiosity in learning new things and loves exploring new experience. Shireen resides in Singapore together with her husband and two lovely daughters. Their family is a big fan of Disney and their dream is to complete all Disneyland in the world.

Silvana Quintero

Director of Marketing Alliances and Partners

Silvana Quintero brings more than 13 years of experience to the company. Before joining Gurobi, Silvana worked at Minitab (predictive analytics software vendor), Anixter (global technology distributor), and Oracle (Engineered systems, enterprise, and software products) in the design, planning, implementation, and execution of marketing campaigns, sales enablement programs, and demand generation strategies with customers, partners, and distributors. As an Electronic Engineer with an EMBA from the Loyola University of Chicago, Silvana pairs her passion for technology with business, helping organizations to create profitable partnerships and measurable marketing strategies that enable companies to deliver the most value to customers. In her spare time, Silvana loves traveling with her family, reading, dancing, and water sports.

Tracy Pesanelli

Vice President - Americas Senior Sales Advisor

With more than 35 years of sales and sales management experience in the high tech industry, Ms. Pesanelli is responsible for driving Gurobi’s sales execution. Ms. Pesanelli has been with Gurobi since the beginning and has been a key contributor to the company’s outstanding growth. Before Gurobi, she was Sales Director at Permabit Technology Corporation, a manufacturer of disk-based enterprise archive solutions. Prior to Permabit, Ms. Pesanelli held various sales and sales management positions at ILOG, Inc. from January 2000 to September 2008. Selling ILOG’s Business Rule Management System and CPLEX Optimization product lines, Ms. Pesanelli consistently exceeded sales expectations and was a top performer worldwide. Ms. Pesanelli holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She lives in Boston and enjoys spending time on Cape Cod.

Virginie Belengri

Sales Development Representative

Virginie holds a Masters degree in English, a Bachelor degree in English Literature and a Bachelor degree in Modern languages applied to Business from the Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, which included study at the University of Sheffield in the UK. Prior to joining Gurobi as a Sales Development Representative, she worked in roles in project administration, marketing, export and translation in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and France for worldwide companies such as Arup, Mitsui and Deluxe. Throughout her career, she has adeptly navigated diverse functions within different industries. She is passionate about working in multicultural environments and excels in fostering strong relationships with both colleagues and clients alike. Taking a leap is not only a metaphor for her: she enjoys getting out of her comfort zone and is a qualified skydiver.