John Street is an award-winning entrepreneur who has launched many new businesses, including four that garnered Inc. 500 status. With Pax8, he has created a complete cloud commerce marketplace, aggregating leading solutions for outsourced IT service providers to efficiently manage their clients’ cloud operations.
John currently serves on the Board for the Institute for Cultural Evolution, an emerging think tank focused on how integral philosophy can mitigate the effects of hyper-polarity in American society today. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, which he was largely credited with turning around from near bankruptcy to a thriving institution. His civic efforts also include his work as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines in the 1980’s.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, John has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and is a certified public accountant. He is a long-term member of Young Presidents’ Organization. He and his wife Mary Beazley have two great kids, Alice and Ethan.
As Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at Pax8, Klaus provides the vision and technical strategy for the company. He leads the development of innovations that drive the next-generation marketplace of cloud products and services. Under his guidance, Pax8 transforms silos created by multiple vendors into seamlessly managed IT solutions, offering partners automated provisioning, unified recurring billing, intelligent integration, product life cycle management, analytics, and unified dashboards. Most recently, Klaus’s primary focus is the development of a unified AI/ML strategy to deliver efficiencies and insights to many Pax8 business operations and to customer services.
Klaus brings a diverse and informed perspective on technology shaped by his broad range of experiences with multiple-sized companies and various subject matters. Early in his career, his work focused on semiconductor processing and circuit design for AT&T, Bell Laboratories, and Motorola. He entered the start-up community, pioneering work for Lattice Semiconductor, Inmos, Cypress Semiconductor, Ramtron, and Simtek. In the last 25 years, Klaus founded several start-up companies with disciplines ranging from the Internet to semiconductors.
Klaus earned a BS and Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. A constant inventor, he holds 33 patents. In his spare time, Klaus enjoys flying drones, skiing, 3D printing, automating his house with numerous IoT devices, and endlessly exploring the ever-growing universe of new cloud applications.
As Chief Strategy Officer and Channel Chief, Ryan works in close alignment with the CEO in executing the strategic vision for Pax8. He helps formulate, facilitate, and communicate the company’s strategic initiatives to both external and internal stakeholders. In his role, Ryan’s focus is attracting new strategic constituents into the Pax8 marketplace and work with existing partners to optimize their experience with Pax8. Ryan is also responsible for monitoring market conditions and trends and helps define the implications for the company. Ryan is also responsible for upholding and promoting the Pax8 core values across the company.
Ryan has more than 20 years of experience enabling channel partners and their customers using cloud-based IT solutions. Before moving into his current role, Ryan held positions as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer at Pax8, leading its vendor product strategies and IT channel program. Prior to Pax8, he built a re-engineering practice at Deloitte in the Consulting division and served as Vice President of Product Management for MX Logic, a cloud-based email and web security company that McAfee acquired in 2009.
Ryan holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Business Economics from Colorado College. He is an award-winning speaker, a CompTIA Member Champion, and has been included in CRN’s esteemed list of Channel Chiefs for five consecutive years and CRN’s 100 Top Executives List for two consecutive years. Ryan is a dedicated husband and father who enjoys spending time exploring Colorado with his family, or any activity related to basketball.
Scott Chasin is a serial entrepreneur that has founded several successful startups in collaboration, security, and cloud.
Scott is currently the Chief Technology Officer of Pax8, a cloud marketplace that empowers the modern MSP to buy, sell, and manage cloud products. Scott is also the co-founder of Dreamstage, a venture-backed live music streaming platform. He serves as the Chairman of the Board for the cyber security firm DuskRise.
Before joining Pax8, Scott was the founder and CEO of Protectwise, an innovative network security company acquired by Verizon. Previous to Protectwise, he founded several venture-backed startups, including USA.NET (acquired by BAE Systems), MX Logic (acquired by McAfee), and Bugtraq (acquired by Symantec).
Scott and his wife, Becca, have two amazing young daughters.
Puneet Pamnani is a technology industry CFO with both public company and private company experience. His extensive capital markets track record includes taking a company through an Initial Public Offering (IPO), leading an equity follow-on offering, a portfolio company strategic sale/exit for a Private Equity owner, 12 tuck-in acquisitions, and two public debt markets offerings. The transformation and the ROI delivered by his acquisitions were acknowledged by the M&A Advisor forum, which awarded him the ’40 under 40′ award in 2012.
As a finance and operations leader, Puneet has managed large operations (up to 800+ staff) and delivered improved margins, client retention and growth, and optimized working capital.
He is a global citizen with meaningful experience working on four continents and leading multi-country teams. Puneet holds an MBA, an undergraduate in Computer Science, and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter. Puneet lives with his wife Sweata in Atlanta, Georgia
As Chief Commerce Officer (CCO), Nick is responsible for the strategy and execution of all Pax8’s global commerce operations, including sales, marketing, and partner services. Under his intentional and thoughtful guidance, he ensures all regional leaders and business units are aligned, enabling the company to achieve its mission and long-term goals. Nick identifies additional revenue streams and establishes programs to capitalize on new opportunities and drive significant growth. Nick previously held the role of Chief Revenue Officer at Pax8, where he was responsible for revenue generation processes and leading the strategic direction of the company’s sales, business planning, and go-to-market efforts.
Nick has earned several prestigious recognitions, including being named a CRN Channel Chief for five consecutive years, a 2020 C-suite Award winner by the Denver Business Journal, and many awards for his keynote presentations. He holds a BA in Entrepreneuring from Central Michigan University and an MBA from the University of Colorado Business School. Nick enjoys spending free time with his wife and two young sons and volunteering with Special Olympics Colorado.
As Chief Marketing Officer, Caroline is leading global efforts across marketing, events, and sales strategy, building connected commerce initiatives to fuel growth for Pax8 and its partners worldwide. She is responsible for the design, development, and delivery of the global marketing vision and strategy, including demand generation, channel and events strategy, education, and enablement.
Caroline has over 20 years of experience in the technology industry and first joined Pax8 to define sales strategy and deliver digital automation to accelerate global revenue growth.
She is a committed advocate for technology as a tool for equity and empowerment, currently serving on the board of Digitunity, a non-profit dedicated to eliminating the digital divide. She is also an environmental sustainability investor and a passionate defender of the world’s oceans and wild spaces.
Caroline is a proud alumna of the University of Notre Dame and holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.
Carrie Schiff is an accomplished legal advisor with over 30 years of experience in the industry. As the Chief Legal Officer (CLO) at Pax8, she is responsible for managing the company’s legal team, ensuring compliance across its global operations, and contributing to the advancement of the mergers and acquisitions process.
Carrie’s impressive career includes serving as General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer for both public and private companies such as MWH Global, Inc., Flextronics International LTD, and USA.NET, Inc. She was also a partner in a global law firm and a business boutique firm that she co-founded.
Carrie received her Juris Doctorate from the University of California and a Bachelor of Arts with honors in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Her outstanding achievements in the industry have been recognized with the prestigious 2008 Burton Award for Legends in Law given to General Counsel by Burton Foundation in association with Library of Congress.
Certified to practice law in Colorado and California, Carrie currently serves as a board member to the Colorado Small Business Development Center (SBDC), advisor to Blackstone Entrepreneur Network, advisor to the Public Private Partnership Unit of the State of Colorado, and lecturer for numerous SBDC, Incubator, and Accelerator programs on business law topics. She is also a member of the Education Committee of Blue Sky Bridge, a Child Advocacy Center in Boulder, Colorado.
Carrie is an avid backpacker and spends as much time as she can hiking through the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
Brad Fugitt oversees information risk management for Pax8. He implements the security and compliance vision, strategy, and security programs to protect Pax8 information assets and technologies. Brad also directs staff in identifying, developing, implementing, and maintaining processes to reduce risk. His duties include developing processes and procedures for security and privacy policies, leading incident response and investigations, and assisting with developing business continuity and disaster recovery plans.
Brad has a diverse background and has held various roles in the US Army, as a member of the White House Communications Agency for 15 years traveling worldwide providing secure and non-secure voice and data communication to the President and his staff, and as President of a start-up company. He also served in roles as COO and CIO. He maintains a Top-Secret clearance and advises senior leaders on classified initiatives.
Brad graduated from the University of Maryland with a BS degree in Information Technology and a Master of Science degree from Colorado Technical University in Information Technology and Project Management. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Colorado Springs with their three boys, Braden, Austin, and Dylan.
Robert Belgrave serves as the company’s Chief People Officer (Global), designing and implementing policies to promote Pax8’s culture, whilst supporting employee development. Robert was initially appointed CEO at Pax8 EMEA when Wirehive, a forward-thinking cloud hosting and consultancy company headquartered in the United Kingdom, was acquired by Pax8 in January 2021. As CEO and Founder at Wirehive, Robert had a mission to help businesses transform the way the world operates. He founded the company on values that champion people and focused on servicing the most innovative sectors of the UK’s high-growth digital economy.
A child of the early Internet, Robert started his career in technology as a solution architect, cutting his teeth on the high-profile site launches of Virgin.com, Virgin Galactic, and the BRIT Awards’ first online voting system.
Outside of Pax8, Robert has become a leading figure in the UK digital industry. He serves on the British Interactive Media Association’s (BIMA) Central Council and heads up the Blockchain Think Tank. Alongside this, he co-hosts the Alexa Stop! podcast, which explores how technology is changing our lives and is a co-founder of Ecologi, an organization with the ambitious goal to offset a carbon footprint the size of a G7.
Simon oversees Pax8’s technology related strategies globally. He built his career around solving ‘how to do tech properly,’ architecting, building, and maintaining hosted infrastructures for a diverse range of clients, including high street eCommerce brands, blue-chip companies, financial trading institutions, and even premiership football clubs.
Entrepreneurial in spirit, Simon started his first business as a teenager—selling and fitting car audio systems—and ran a music community in the early 2000s. Music is still a passion today, and it’s closely linked to tech as it uses the same creative and problem-solving skills. Simon co-founded the UK-based cloud consultancy business, Wirehive, now part of Pax8, with Robert Belgrave and James Rossell in 2010. In his current role, he focuses on the technology used inside a business (hardware and software, infrastructure) that shapes its technical direction.
A proud father and husband, Simon studied computing at Basingstoke College of Technology and is certified by Cisco and VMWare. He has served as a director of the community workshop Reading Makerspace, founded the AltNet UK community, and wrote a book on drones in UK Search and Rescue. He is also learning to fly.
Nikki spent over 15 years at Microsoft, building an illustrious channel career through various positions and capacities. During this time, she led teams focusing on partner marketing, new product launches, incentive programs, partner development, and creating successful channel programs.
Having worked in South Africa, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and multiple Global roles with Microsoft, always focused on small and medium-sized businesses (SMB), she has gained extensive global market knowledge within this segment.
Most recently, she led a worldwide strategy for distribution partners with Microsoft and partner SMB go-to-market approach providing partners with the knowledge, tools, and resources to grow their cloud practices.
Nikki and her husband live in California with her two daughters, Jessica and Tasia.
David James consistently receives industry recognition as a revenue operations and data analytics leader. He joined four early growth stage technology companies where he focused on building sustained revenue growth capability, leading to successful equity events for each.
David is a practitioner of best practices integrating data analytics with strategic revenue operations capability to unlock sales team potential and scale. At Pax8, he is applying this focus to achieve an efficient, highly integrated revenue engine, including building infrastructure, sales processes, analytic insights, and high-performance teams that scale. He enjoys developing and mentoring next-generation leaders and sharing his playbook of proven frameworks that drives sustained revenue growth.
A graduate of the University of Georgia, David earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing while enjoying his passion for music by performing in the UGA Redcoat Marching Band. He completed his Executive MBA at Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management in Entrepreneurship and Finance.
David lives in Atlanta with his wife Bridget and two children. In addition to music, he also has a passion for sports and supports his kid’s enthusiasm for soccer, baseball, and tennis.
As CVP of Operations, Lynn builds a comprehensive program to lead operations globally. With an extensive background in operations, process improvement, program and change management, and analytics, Lynn will focus on operational effectiveness, process optimization, and global orchestration of strategic initiatives. Previously, Lynn served as SVP of Learning and Development where she was responsible for continual upskilling and career coaching of employees. Guided by her leadership, Lynn implemented an industry-leading learning management system to achieve optimal performance and productivity.
Lynn has over 25 years of experience in the technology field, working for both startup companies and large corporations. Before Pax8, she served as Executive Director of Global Sales Operations for IHS Markit Ltd. She has managed, trained, and mentored hundreds of employees in her career. She is passionate about building impactful programs and developing people professionally and personally.
Lynn holds a BS in Finance from the University of Delaware and is a Certified Professional in Training Management. A passionate champion for finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, she has volunteered and raised over $25,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association. She has two sons, who are both artists, Pascal and Armand.
As Corporate Vice President of Financial Operations at Pax8, Michael provides the leadership and vision for the financial health and structure of Pax8. His responsibilities include implementing processes, programs, and initiatives to position Pax8 in the most advantageous way financially. Michael continues to head the mission-critical tasks of book and record-keeping while also strategically using data to drive decisions and strategy. He is responsible for mitigating risk as the company executes its vision, and he confidently communicates financial information to the board of directors and investors.
Michael’s expansive career includes many leadership roles, with over 15 years in C-level positions. He has strategically worked with early-stage high-growth companies to ensure and leverage their financial health. Michael has been instrumental in starting six companies, orchestrating two company buyouts, and overseeing the acquisitions of multiple enterprises. He earned a B.S. in Psychology and Sociology and a master’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Colorado Boulder. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Colorado Society of CPAs. Michael volunteers at his children’s school and his temple in his spare time.
As CVP of Ecosystem Marketing, Jennifer is responsible for channel event strategy, education, and enablement. She also leads global marketing programs to drive success for the various members of the Pax8 ecosystem, including vendors and partners.
Before joining Pax8, Jennifer held multiple channel-focused leadership positions at StorageCraft. She has earned several accolades, including CRN’s Women of the Channel Power 100, Top Channel Chiefs, and 100 People You Don’t Know But Should. She has also been recognized as HTG’s Presenter of the Year and was named a Rising Star by the Utah American Marketing Association. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business communications from the University of Utah.
Being a true Leo, Jennifer’s creativity and confidence came early. Dancing, gymnastics, and cheerleading fueled her love of public performance. Now, she speaks at industry events, telling the Pax8 story and promoting the company’s value. #beyourbrand
Family is everything to Jennifer. When she rescued her sweet Poppy from the Humane Society, she thought her family of three was complete, but in 2021, she welcomed her first daughter, and her life has forever changed. She is excited to raise a strong, beautiful, happy, kind, and independent woman.
As Corporate Vice President of Commerce, Cole is responsible for global revenue activities, maximizing sales potential, and driving Pax8’s growth strategy. Business development has always motivated him, and he took his first role working in field sales for a Texas-based electrical firm. By the age of 25, he had progressed from being a sales rep to taking on full responsibility for Profit and Loss in the West Texas region.
In 2017, while studying for his master’s degree, Cole joined Pax8 as a Cloud Solutions Sales Advisor. On the day of his graduation, after completing his thesis about Pax8, Cole was promoted to Regional Manager. Now, Cole plays a pivotal role in the expansion of Pax8 internationally.
Cole earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management and a Master of Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University. He is now on the university’s Letterman’s Association board and has mentored middle school children through the Helping One Student to Succeed program.
Family is Cole’s paramount focus, and he relishes the time he spends with his twins.
Pax8 CVP of Vendor Operations Sophie Merrifield leads the vendor onboarding and management functions of the company. An early member of the Pax8 team, Sophie has served in roles across the vendor-focused team to ensure smooth launches of the vendors that benefit every part of the Pax8 ecosystem.
She has been recognized as one of CRN’s Women of the Channel and 100 People You Don’t Know But Should.
Originally from California, Sophie graduated with a degree in economics from Colorado College and now calls the state home. When not working, Sophie enjoys skiing, pickleball, and fly fishing.
As CVP of Facilities, James manages the company’s entrance into the future of work through best-in-class working spaces aligned with the Pax8 mission. He has been a principal consultant behind the ‘modern workplace’ for several years now, working with leadership teams to help businesses develop a technical strategy and culture that empowers employees and drives growth. He is trusted with delivering best-in-class employee experiences in all Pax8 locations.
When not planning for the modern workplace, James is helping to save lives through his volunteer work as a community first responder.
James, a father of two, has a degree in Computer Science from the University of the West of England. He co-founded the UK-based cloud consultancy firm, Wirehive, now part of Pax8, with Robert Belgrave and Simon Green. He also co-founded their spin-off company, 1310 (thirteen-ten), a venture born from the desire to provide reliable internet connectivity for businesses and consumers.
As the CVP of Data Optimization, Eric is responsible for driving data quality and integrity in corporate systems and enterprise reporting and scorecards. This includes leading the effort to standardize master data and work closely with leaders across the business to define requirements for more accurate data reporting. Eric leads a team of analysts and works with the data engineering team to lead global initiatives.
Eric is now based in The Netherlands but started his first business in his bedroom building servers and figuring out how to make things happen. His entrepreneurial spirit encourages his team and others at Pax8 to bring their best ideas and work practices to the business.
Eric has more than 20 years’ experience working in technology for a range of industries, including web hosting and data centers. He co-founded cloud services distributor, Resello, and when the company became part of Pax8 in 2021 he took on the role of Chief Technology Officer for the group. Technology also drives his interests outside of work, as does his need for speed.
As Corporate Vice President of Partner Experience, Vicky is responsible for ensuring that everything at Pax8 is seen through the lens of partners. She is obsessed with making Pax8 partners successful in every way possible.
Vicky has over 27 years’ experience in IT and was the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bam Boom Cloud, a leading Microsoft partner, before being acquired by Pax8 in February 2023. As an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, Vicky is the chairperson for Women in Dynamics, a not-for-profit organization whose goal is to inspire and encourage more partner executives to commit to gender diversity and inclusion.
She currently lives in the United Kingdom where she enjoys taking her campervan on weekends to spend some quiet time in nature and by the sea.
As Corporate Vice President of Community and Ecosystems, Rob leverages his decades of channel, vendor, and managed service provider experience to build upon many different Pax8 programs including Beyond 2023 – a Pax8 partner conference, to help partners grow across the globe. Rob is also instrumental in developing the Pax8 Go-To-Market Strategy.
With over 25 years of sales and B2B activities, Rob has extensive experience in IT hardware and software sales. Rob’s industry experience includes working with channel focused organizations supporting value added resellers, solution providers and managed service providers, to help them achieve their business goals. Prior to joining Pax8, Rob has built successful sales and channel teams in a variety of industries including Datto (acquired by Kaseya), Level Platforms (acquired by AVG), and Compaq Computers (acquired by HP).
Rob has achieved extensive awards and recognition in the channel, including nine years running as CRN Channel Chief. Rob is an award-winning speaker and has been recognized on many industry lists as a top executive, influencer, and mid-market executive. Rob also serves on several industry advisory boards, including the Board of Directors for CompTIA.
Elizabeth is the Senior Vice President of Product at Pax8 and is responsible for product vision, strategy, and execution. She oversees product management, execution, and design. She has a deep track record of product management experience with technology companies, including Pie Insurance, MapQuest, and Leapfrog.
Prior to joining Pax8, Elizabeth was the Vice President of Product Management at Dreamstage, Inc, a paid streaming platform for live performances.
Elizabeth earned her degree in Geography from the University of Chicago. She’s a dual citizen with the UK, proof of which is evident in her love of Irn Bru. She lives in Denver with her husband Chad Kearney and wonderful son, Ingram.
Jefferson brings over 20 years of financial management experience to Pax8. As Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, he leads the global expansion initiative through Merger and Acquisition activities, collaborative partnerships, and entrance into new channels. J has been with the company since its launch in 2013, driving strategic programs to enable the company’s growth, scale, and impact. J is passionate about cloud technology and has spent the last few years redefining technology advisory services at Pax8. His innovative approach and the simplicity of cloud technology enable business advisors to become a single source of cloud consumption for clients while driving their digital transformation.
J joined Arthur Andersen after graduation from the University of Colorado, Denver, with a BS degree in Accounting. He has held senior accounting and finance management positions with several companies, including First Data, MX Logic, and McAfee. J serves as a Treasurer for Denver’s City Park Jazz and enjoys escaping to his art studio to paint.
Kelly is the Senior Vice President of Finance at Pax8 where she leads the global accounting and finance functions of the company. This including financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting, and financial compliance. She has been with the company since 2016, during which time she has continued to build and scale the financial processes and teams to align with the company’s rapid and global growth.
Kelly holds a BA in both Accounting and Economics from Western State Colorado University (formerly Western State College). She is a licensed CPA and started her career in public accounting with a focus in auditing and later moved into private industry accounting.
Kelly is a proud Colorado native and resides in the Denver area with her husband Adam, son Logan and daughter Addison. She is passionate about skiing, loves the beautiful outdoors, and is an avid fan of all Colorado sports teams.
Eric is a seasoned Engineering leader with an extensive background in cyber security, high-end real-time distributed systems, and massive data analytics. He has demonstrated successes leading teams of every size, from very small to large, international, distributed teams, and with a long, proven track record of successful Engineering transformation and modernization.
Eric joined Pax8 to lead global Engineering efforts in 2021, where he has grown and modernized the team both domestically and internationally. Previously he was VP of Engineering and founding member of cybersecurity data-at-scale startup ProtectWise. When Verizon acquired ProtectWise in 2019, Eric remained to drive success of the acquisition. During his time at Verizon, Eric’s executive portfolio grew to include all internal Engineering within Verizon Business Group’s full cyber security product portfolio (famous for producing the Verizon DBIR: Data Breach Investigation Report).
Eric’s diverse technical background spans numerous industries, including healthcare, cyber security, eCommerce, social networking, and more.
He lives in the Denver area with his wife, their amazing kids, and their two dogs.
As Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Trellis brings over 25 years of talent development experience and thought leadership to Pax8. Trellis will drive excellence and consistency in how Pax8 develops, engages, mobilizes, and retains talent at scale. Trellis leads the Talent Development team, including employee learning, leader and executive development, career development, organization effectiveness, and succession management.
Prior to joining Pax8, Trellis held senior roles at Salesforce, Coca-Cola, Newell Brands, McKesson, and Atrium Healthcare (formerly Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center) where she led efforts to scale and transform Talent Development from a function to a strategic capability. During her career journey, Trellis also spent nine years running her own human capital consulting firm where she developed strategies and solutions to help Fortune-level clients achieve their business and people objectives. Trellis has led teams that have received industry recognition for innovative approaches in learning and leadership development.
Trellis is a published author, breast cancer survivor, patient advocate, and passionate champion for equity, inclusion, and belonging for women and people of color in technology. Her entrepreneurial spirit and experiences across various industries equips her with the skills and expertise to ensure Pax8 continues to develop and grow exceptional talent.
Trellis loves movies, live music, spa-going, and beaches. She resides in Atlanta, GA and is mom to Brittany and DJ.
David Willis had an illustrious career at Microsoft Corp spanning nearly 29 years and joined the Board of Pax8 in 2021. His most recent roles at Microsoft included Corporate Vice President (CVP) of the US Partner group and CVP of the US Corporate Accounts and SMB business, growing that business to over $8B while leading the transformation to the Cloud. Prior to that, David was VP of the US Dynamics business overseeing all operations relating to Microsoft’s US ERP & CRM solutions.
Since moving on from Microsoft, David has dedicated his professional efforts to helping technology companies build their businesses and achieve their growth aspirations. He participates on the Boards of two other technology companies and assists others with mentoring and guidance.
Originally from Canada, David holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Western Ontario. He currently resides in Kirkland, WA with his wife and two children.
David Walsh, as an entrepreneur, investor, and operator, has been creating value in the Financial Services, Fintech, SaaS, telecommunications, information technology, content, and software industries for 35 years. A proven leader, he has built, scaled, and sold companies from start-ups to multi-billion global enterprises, generating billions of dollars in gains for investors and management teams by combining his vision and operational expertise with a deep knowledge of the capital markets, from venture capital to private equity, and from Initial Public Offerings to significant industry consolidations.
David Walsh has founded or co-founded five technology companies and has been the Chairman, CEO, President or Board Member of five public companies. David has served as Chairman of seven companies, IXnet, Telerate, Netas, Vercuity, Westcom, GENBAND, and DefensX. He has also served on the boards of IPC, Voyager Networks, Open Range, Saavis, and Aligned Energy. He is currently on the Board of Pax8 and is Chairman of DefensX.
Bruns Grayson has been in venture capital since his start with Adler & Co in New York in 1981. In 1983, he joined Alex. Brown & Sons to lead its venture business and has been Managing Partner of all ABS Ventures partnerships since. His investments have been in data communication, software, and medical devices, and he has been a director on many private and public companies.
Bruns is a graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University, and the University of Virginia School of Law, and was elected a Rhodes Scholar from California in 1974. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and separated as a captain in 1970.
Besides Pax8, he is on the boards of Everbridge and Ribbon Communications.
Bruce Dines co-founded and developed the Corporate Venture Practice for Liberty Global, Inc. He works closely with the Ventures, Operating, and Technology teams in his role.
Bruce has also initiated and leads several Innovation initiatives within Liberty Global, including Spark (an internal idea generation engine designed to drive innovation), Matchbox (a curriculum program designed to teach innovative thinking), and the Virgin Media Accelerator powered by Techstars.
Over the past 12 years at Liberty, he has sourced and/or led investments in 19 companies, realizing multiple exits and multiple unicorns, and developed and launched a complete corporate innovation platform. He currently serves as a Director in three companies and is a board observer in five additional companies.
Bruce serves as a member of the investment committee at 1k1v (1001 Voices), a private equity firm focused on equity and credit fund investments.
Bruce enjoys family activities, including tennis, skiing, and fly-fishing (even though the invitations he extends to his teenage kids are more often declined these days!) He also enjoys reading and writing, as well as his non-profit work.
Ed Harper is an inveterate entrepreneur who started his first business venture at nine years of age, a bicycle repair service he initiated to finance his purchase of the first 3-speed bicycle in his neighborhood. His extensive business leadership experience is diverse, ranging from startups to billion-dollar public companies, primarily those with a technical focus mainly serving small to medium businesses. Ed believes in fulfilling customer needs and providing superior customer support.
After serving in the US Navy, Ed received Bachelor and Master degrees in Electrical Engineering from Colorado State University and practiced the art for several years before discovering his love of business leadership. Ed and his wife Becky immensely enjoyed time with their son Scott, whom they lost unexpectedly at the early age of 38 to an aortic aneurysm.
Ed and Becky support several causes near and dear to them. High priority is given to UT Health and the John Ritter Foundation, where they help educate doctors on the early detection of aortic aneurysms. Also important are cancer research, Red Cross, and hunger prevention. On a more local level, they support research and efforts for large-scale grass and forest fire prevention and mitigation.
Brian Rich founded New York-based growth equity firm Catalyst Investors in 1999 and focuses on tech-enabled businesses. Responsible for the general management and investment policy of the firm, he monitors all of its investment opportunities and provides counsel for all portfolio companies. A veteran investor, he has more than 20 years of experience in the business services, technology, and wireless sectors. Brian has served on numerous boards at Catalyst and predecessor funds and served on the board of directors and Executive Committee of the National Venture Capital Association.
Prior to co-founding Catalyst, Brian founded and managed TD Capital (USA) Inc. (“TD Capital”), the entity that made Toronto Dominion Bank’s US-based equity, mezzanine, and limited partnership investments from 1995 to 1999. Before founding TD Capital, Brian was a Managing Director in the bank’s Media, Telecom & Technology Group. Prior to joining TD in 1990, he held positions at The Bank of New York and Intel Corporation.
Brian earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Scott Stuart is a Founding and Managing Partner of Sageview Capital, a growth equity firm with over $2B in assets under management. Sageview partners with industry-defining innovators to build enduring software and tech-enabled businesses. As active partners, Sageview collaborates with entrepreneurs on custom approaches to growth, leveraging its expansive network, decades of experience, and operational expertise in scaling many successful companies. Scott is responsible for all aspects of Sageview’s business and sits on the firm’s Investment and Portfolio Committees.
Before founding Sageview, Scott spent 19 years at KKR and was a member of the firm’s investment committee. He has served on over 25 private and public company boards, including Pax8, Specright, Drivewyze, NAM, Reflexis Systems, United Capital, and EverBank. He is currently the Chair of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Board of Trustees and Governing Trustees.
In 2021, Scott and his wife Lisa launched the Lisa & Scott Stuart Center for Adolescent & Young Adults Cancers at MSK to revolutionize cancer treatment for individuals ages 15 to 39. Scott is a member of the Board of Trustees at Dartmouth College and the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds an MBA from Stanford Business School and an BA in English from Dartmouth.
Tom Porter is an Investment Vice President at Softbank Investment Advisers, investing out of the firm’s Vision Funds. In addition to Pax8, Tom has helped to lead investments into Spotter, Observe.ai, ZenBusiness, and Alto Pharmacy. Tom joined Softbank Investment Advisers in 2021.
Prior to Softbank, Tom was a technology investment banker at Morgan Stanley for 5 years, where he advised clients on private placements, IPOs, follow-ons, and M&A transactions. His clients included Airbnb, Roku, DocuSign, SailPoint, and PluralSight.
Tom graduated from Northeastern University with a BA in Business Administration and a concentration in Finance.
As Executive VP, General Manager of Americas, Lane aligns the sales and marketing teams and drives collaboration, efficiency, and results through effective cross-team communication, clear direction, and celebrating small and large wins. Lane is instrumental in creating future strategic plans to enhance revenue streams and drive the company’s continued growth.
In a career spanning over 20 years, Lane has spent considerable time helping build and cultivate the sales organizations of leading technology companies. He is a passionate leader who loves developing people and helping them realize their full potential. Before Pax8, Lane was the Chief Revenue Officer at Convercent and Four Winds Interactive and spent more than a decade at Cbeyond, leading a team of over 300 employees and helping drive its massive growth. Lane earned a BA in Marketing from Hardin Simons University and was a board member for KidsTek, a nonprofit providing after-school computer programs and technology certification-earning programs for K-12 Colorado students.
Lane enjoys the quiet of the woods and spending his free time doing anything outdoors with his wife and three children.
Lori and the People Organization have a relentless focus on driving a workplace culture which is inclusive, empowering, and aligned for growth and scale. As Chief People Officer, Lori oversees the execution of Pax8’s overall people strategy and processes, including building and retaining an exceptional team in the Americas region and ensuring the entire employee life cycle is aligned with Pax8’s employment brand.
Lori’s extensive HR and business strategy experience spans over 25 years and multiple industries and countries. Her background includes building and growing best-in-class HR, marketing, project management, and business analytics teams to support high growth businesses.
Prior to joining Pax8, Lori was Chief People Officer at Enavate and CPI Card Group and served as SVP of Strategic Services at Key Equipment Finance.
Lori holds a bachelor’s degree in HR and Finance from University of Colorado and an MBA from University of Denver. Lori serves on the Board of Orion First Financial and the Rocky Mountain Human Resources People & Strategy organization. She is active in the Colorado Thought Leaders Forum and is an avid supporter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Lori resides in Littleton, Colorado with her husband, three children, and two dogs.
As Senior Vice President of Services for the Americas region, Derek is responsible for all proactive and reactive partner-focused services. Through his leadership, partners can expect a world-class experience with the delivery, support, implementation, configuration, and migration of cloud-based products and services. His teams consistently exceed 75+ NPS ratings by focusing on the experience above all else.
Before joining Pax8, Derek spent 15+ years working his way through the ranks in the MSP industry, starting with entry-level tech roles while progressively moving up to leading support teams and operations. He utilizes this experience and understanding of the industry and channel to meet partners where they are on their journey through the MSP space. With a deeper understanding and compassion for what partners are going through, Derek and his teams deliver strategic services and support, enabling partners to exceed their customer’s needs.
When Derek is not deep in tech or services, he spends his time in the great outdoors with his family. Hiking, biking, skiing, paddle boarding—there are so many amazing adventures in Colorado to take part in. Derek is also an accomplished skydiver, with over 650 intentional jumps from a perfectly good airplane.
As Senior Vice President of Business Development, Aaron is responsible for ensuring both vendors and partners have a successful journey with Pax8 by increasing their revenue growth and reach. In his role, he leads the development and execution of new vendor programs, sales & marketing strategies, and driving the subject matter expertise around solution stacks. Aaron is a servant leader focused on building and maintaining long-term relationships.
Aaron is a seasoned professional with over ten years of experience in the cloud industry in sales and leadership roles. He has spent his career driving company initiatives by implementing new programs and processes. Aaron has impacted many areas throughout Pax8. He built several departments, including the Infrastructure practice, Professional Services group, the Sales Engineering division, the Vendor Success Management team, and the Solutions Consultants team.
Aaron holds a civic chair position with a Texas-based non-profit focused on pediatric neurodiversity and enjoys spending as much time as he can with Nicholas and Noah, his two sons. Aaron holds a BA in Psychology from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Tx, and is fluent in both English and Spanish.
As Senior Vice President of Sales, Jared is responsible for the success of the Pax8 Sales organization. His team drives new partner activations, increased license adoption, and strengthened partner relationships. He develops efficient programs and processes for his team, catalyzing a heightened partner experience. Under his leadership, Pax8 made organizational enhancements to the Sales Team by implementing a new Channel Account Manager (CAM) model. Partners now have a dedicated account representative and a team of consultants focusing on each technology stack, enabling them to better position, sell, and support solutions.
Jared has worked in technology sales for nearly a decade and has a proven track record of driving exceptional results in various leadership roles. As a former Pax8 Cloud Solutions Advisor, he is equipped to offer critical guidance to his team.
Before joining Pax8, Jared worked in various sales roles, including telecommunications. He earned a BS in Business Administration from Central Michigan University and a Master of Business Administration from Loyola University of Chicago. A proud father of two daughters, Jared enjoys spending time with his family and taking advantage of all the outdoor activities Colorado has to offer.
As CEO at Pax8 EMEA, Harald Nuij leads the overall operations and corporate decision-making for the business. Harald plays a vital role in connecting different internal teams across the Europe and ensures that the internal Pax8 culture is inclusive and welcoming for all team members. He formally served as Managing Director of Europe at Pax8, where he exemplified tremendous leadership and success in cloud-enabling European businesses.
Having graduated from the Radboud University in the Netherlands with a degree in International Business Communications, Harald immediately found work in the technology industry, selling printer supplies to IT partners across Europe. Harald first encountered cloud technology in 2014, when he led a large team in their mission to sell hardware and cloud software across the Benelux region. Harald joined Resello in 2018 and played a key role in building the cloud business from a small start-up to an established business operating across 30 European countries.
In his spare time, Harald volunteers at the tennis club, where he has been a playing member since 1987. Harald is involved in attracting new sponsors for the club. He liaises between the club board and the professional food and beverage team that exploits the bar and restaurant, supporting them on capacity planning, assortment decisions, and investments.
As Chief Revenue Officer for EMEA, Phylip drives the international expansion of Pax8, constantly pushing boundaries to open in new markets. He also develops, plans, and executes strategic initiatives that drive the company’s channel growth and exposure globally. Through Phylip’s efforts, Pax8 is leading the digital transformation worldwide.
Phylip has spent over 30 years helping various technology companies expand globally and achieve significant success. He has led several companies as Chairman and Director and founded nine of his own, empowering organizations to become operationally efficient and effective through technology. Phylip holds an M.A. in Missional Leadership from Bangor University, is the Pastor and Co-Founder of Calon Church, and sits on the board for several companies and non-profits. He enjoys working with small business owners and spending time with his wife and three daughters.
Chloe’s role driving the people and culture strategy is underpinned by her personal mission to empower people to do the best work of their lives at Pax8. She is responsible for having the right culture, structures, and systems in place to give the EMEA team the clarity and confidence to use their unique talents to best serve Pax8 partners at scale and with speed.
Chloe graduated from the University of Cambridge with a first-class honours degree in history, then studied at the Chartered Institute of Marketing, going on to work in channel marketing for Microsoft and Vodafone. She left the corporate world for the lure of the start-up journey when she joined Wirehive in 2013.
A confessed ‘book nerd,’ Chloe reads fiction and business books every month and believes literature teaches us a great deal about the human condition. A trained mental health first aider, Chloe lives in the beautiful South Downs National Park and enjoys spending time close to nature as an antidote to the fast-paced world of technology. As a female leader in a male-dominated industry, she is proud to hold out her hand to pull other women up.
Chris is an Australian-born executive with over 25 years of experience working across Asia. He has worked with and for some of the most innovative multi-national companies to build out their sales and marketing organizations across the region and recently helped grow one of Asia’s largest Cloud Distributors.
Chris is currently building the Pax8 Asian business from scratch and looks forward to growing the business to serve two thirds of the world’s population.
A graduate of the University of Southern Queensland and the Australian Institute of Business, Chris has a Master of Business Administration and postgraduate qualifications in Marketing. Together with his wife Michelle, Chris splits his time between Singapore and Australia, where his kids, Nicholas and Adelaide, currently reside.
With a BSc in Management Sciences, James is particularly interested in strategic planning and introducing cutting-edge technologies to new markets. James has been in the IT industry for 14 years and has worked in the MSP channel across EMEA and APAC in sales and strategy positions for the past decade.
James is passionate about leadership, building teams and motivating & inspiring those around him to perform at their best. As VP of Business Development, James is excited to build a world-class team that enables and supports channel partners to grow and scale their businesses profitably.
A dual British & Australian citizen, James was born in Bermuda, educated in the UK and currently lives in Sydney, Australia, with his wife Amy, daughter Elle, & Groodle (Golden Doodle) Ziggy. In his spare time, you can find him BBQ-ing & cooking, doing HiiT classes, & playing golf.
Patara is a senior business executive and technologist with over 20 years of experience in strategic planning, business development, and sales execution. He loves to help organizations reengineer and optimize critical business processes with his keen understanding of strategic business objectives and focus on top and bottom-line business performance.
He has helped customers and partners strengthen their evolving business models through optimized information technology planning, investment, and implementation. In his spare time, Patara enjoys giving executive lectures on business innovation and business process optimization.
Patara has previously held executive positions at rhipe, Microsoft, and SAP. He is also an Independent Director of Humanica Public Company Limited and TIDLOR Public Company Limited. He has an MBA from Cornell University, a Master of Science from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University.
He is based in Bangkok, Thailand, where he enjoys surfskating, playing tennis, and discovering new and exciting places to eat.
