Executive Chairman and CEO
Pat has founded several search technology companies over the last 25 years including; NTENT, Inc., Vertical Search Works, Convera Corporation and Excalibur Technologies.
Pat was also CEO of Convera and Excalibur; both companies were listed on NASDAQ. Earlier in his career has also included senior executive positions with Digital Equipment Corporation, Harris Semiconductor and Northrop Aircraft.
Pat has a BS from Suffolk University.
CTO
As CTO, Dr. Ricardo Baeza-Yates oversees the technical vision of the company. Prior to NTENT, Ricardo spent 10 years at Yahoo! ultimately rising to Vice President and Chief Research Scientist. He has also served as a professor at Universidad de Chile since 1985, where he founded and acted as the Director of the Center for Web Research and twice served as Computer Science Department Chair; as well as professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona since 2005 where he founded and acted as director of the Web Research Group. Ricardo is an ACM and IEEE Fellow with over 500 publications, tens of thousands of citations, multiple awards and several patents. He has co-authored several books including “Modern Information Retrieval”, the most widely used textbook on search.
He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from the University of Chile and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo.
CFO
Matt has been the Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary for NTENT since it was born from the merger between Firstlight Era and his previous company, Convera in 2010. He served as Convera Corporation’s Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer from July 2006 to February 2010, as well as Vice President of Finance from April 2006 until July 2006. Before Convera, Matt worked as CFO, Treasurer and Secretary of Space Adventures, and held a number of financial management positions with several software and technology companies from 1992 through 2001.
Matt is a certified public accountant and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Accounting from California State University, Northridge.
CRO
Michael serves at the Chief Revenue Officer for NTENT, responsible for all sales, marketing, customer support and revenue generation. For more than 20 years’, Michael has led mobile and digital growth and strategy operations in the telecom marketplace. He co-founded and led digital/ad tech startups including Sundial.com and Pinsight Media, a subsidiary of Sprint. He previously served as VP of Business Development for Neustar and VP of Digital at Sprint Nextel, with additional management roles at Fortune 500 companies like Motorola and Deloitte Consulting.
Michael holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Tufts University.
EVP Engineering & Operations
With over 25 years experience in computer software and search technology, Jim serves as EVP of Engineering and Operations for NTENT, responsible for all technology projects, implementation and strategy. Jim previously held senior positions in engineering, product management and business development for Excalibur, an early leader in using neural networks for machine vision, and helped devise solutions for companies like Weyerhauser and Sandia Laboratories. Jim led the technical due diligence on Excalibur’s acquisition of RetrievalWare for real-time profiling, natural language query, semantic network tools, knowledge bases, and a complete set of search & discovery tools. Excalibur merged with Intel’s interactive Media Services division to form Convera Corporation, who would later merge with Firstlight Era to form NTENT.
Jim received his Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Purdue University.
EVP Monetization & Client Delivery
As Executive Vice President of Monetization & Client Delivery, Adam optimizes new and existing revenue opportunities for NTENT, leading client delivery from inception to implementation. Adam brings almost 20 years of industry experience in automotive, CPG, digital media, finance, mobile, retail, and telecommunications, with clients that include global mobile operators, large advertisers, agencies, and media companies. Before joining NTENT, he served as Vice President, Business Development for Neustar, Inc. focused across Telecom, Risk/Fraud and Digital Marketing, with previous executive roles at mobile analytics/data firms and digital agencies such as Zettics, WPP and Compete.
Adam holds a BA in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from American University.
SVP Engineering
With over 15 years’ experience in software engineering across four continents, Rob serves as the SVP of Engineering at NTENT, responsible for delivering NTENT’s vision via its software platforms. Prior to NTENT, Rob was part of the founding team that established Firstlight ERA before it merged with Convera Corporation to later become NTENT. He specializes in high-performance, vastly scalable software solutions, search technology, digital advertising, mobile development and applying machine learning. Working with NTENT’s telco partners, Rob spearheads cellular device provisioning and technology integrations. He leads multi-disciplinary engineering, mobile and machine learning teams in an agile fashion that are at the forefront of technology, innovation and scale.
Rob received his Bachelor’s of Science in Business & Technology at The Nottingham Trent University, UK
SVP Partnerships
Serving as the Senior Vice President of Partnerships at NTENT, Mark Grimshaw has over 17 years of experience in digital sales, business development, management and online start-ups. Mark was part of the founding team that established Firstlight ERA in the United States prior to its merger with Convera Corporation, which later became NTENT.
Prior to joining NTENT, Mark worked with many of the world’s largest publishers in the UK and US including the Financial Times, Forbes, Reed Business, United Business Media, Euromoney, Scripps, Meredith and Viacom. As a visionary in business development leadership, Mark has a successful track record transforming concepts and ideas into viable businesses, such as the creation, launch and sale of ePolitix.com during his time in the U.K.
SVP Client Services, EMEA & APAC
As the Senior Vice President of Client Services EMEA & APAC, Helen Murphy applies her extensive experience in the areas of relationship management, sales, marketing and driving digital products to market. Helen was part of the founding team that established Firstlight ERA in the United States prior to its merger with Convera Corporation, which later became NTENT.
Prior to her current position, Helen spent over seven years working directly with Government bodies, SMEs and Multinationals in emerging markets, where she effectively helped countless businesses raise their profiles and develop more compelling marketing strategies to successfully engage with their target audiences.
VP Account Development & Marketing
As VP of Account Development & Marketing, Kerstin works with our partners to define and develop marketing strategies for go-to-market product launches, as well as post-launch account management with the primary objectives of engagement, retention and monetization. Additionally, Kerstin oversees the marketing department at NTENT. In this role, she leads the team that defines the company’s brand strategy and communications efforts.
Kerstin has more than a decade of experience working with Fortune 500 companies in market strategy, integrated marketing, corporate communications and business development. Prior to NTENT, Kerstin was the Senior Director of Integrated Marketing at Viacom responsible for cultivating multi-million dollar partnerships with brands like American Express, Coca-Cola and T-Mobile. Kerstin received her Masters of Science in International Relations and Business from New York University. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.
VP Product Management
As Head of Product Management, Jim oversees all product management functions in the company. He is responsible for understanding customer pain points and driving product roadmaps that help NTENT achieve key business and customer objectives. Jim has worked at companies such as Oracle, Siebel, Corillian Corp., and Mitchell International where he was VP Product Management and Marketing, and led a team of marketers and product managers responsible for 30 product lines and a $150M P&L. Additionally, he co-founded H2Bid, Inc., a big data startup in 2015.
Jim received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Notre Dame, his MS in Civil & Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley and his MBA from Harvard.