Leadership

Adriana Carpenter

Chief Financial Officer

As Chief Financial Officer of Emburse, Adriana is responsible for financial strategy, accounting, treasury, payroll, and financial reporting, planning and analysis. Adriana has 30 years of finance and accounting experience. Prior to joining Emburse, Adriana was the SVP Finance and Chief Accounting Officer at Ping Identity where she managed through several significant transitions, including preparing and operating Ping as a public company. Prior to joining Ping in 2013, Adriana was the Global Controller at TeleTech where she managed multinational accounting and shared service operations.

Adriana also spent 12 years in the assurance practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), where she served large multinational clients in technology, information and communications, aerospace and defense, as well as high-growth technology startups. She has significant experience in M&A transactions, debt offerings and fraud investigations.

Adriana received her BBA in Finance from Texas A&M University and MMAS in Accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is a certified public accountant licensed in Colorado and Texas.

What’s your why?

I think it’s important to lead with authenticity and integrity, even if that means my leadership style looks different. I want to help others get those opportunities to lead as their authentic selves, as I truly believe that leads to developing and maintaining great teams, which translates into extraordinary performance.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

My mother was born in Ukraine and immigrated to the United States by way of Germany. When I was in high school, we were stationed at an Air Force base in Germany, so I had the opportunity to travel with my mom to Ukraine, as well as to the town in Germany where she and her family lived for a while prior to coming to the United States. Being able to visit these places and hear the stories of my mother's childhood are memories I will always cherish.

What did you want to be as a kid?

I've always wanted to be in finance. Growing up I used to play pretend office at my dad's desk, pounding away on his 10-key calculator and typewriter.

What fact about you would surprise people?

I was a cheerleader throughout high school. That desire to cheer people on and keep everyone motivated to keep going still comes through in my interactions with others to this day.

Alfred Diez

SVP and General Manager,
Emburse Corporate North America

As General Manager at Emburse, Alfred oversees the strategic direction and financial outcomes for the Corporate North American segment which includes mid-market and SMB.

Alfred started at Nexonia in 2015 as head of customer success and professional services. He has over 20 years’ experience in client services and operations. In 2019, his role changed to GM of Nexonia and ExpenseWatch. Prior to Nexonia, Alfred worked in the health informatics industry as a software engineer and project manager, leading high-growth teams on multi-year hospital EMR implementation projects.

Alfred holds a BA in Sociology from York University in Toronto, Canada.

What’s your why?

On a personal level, I am a foodie and love spending time with my family and exploring the amazing and delicious food scene in Toronto. Professionally, my true passion comes from helping others develop, succeed and soar in their careers. I love working for an organization where we are so invested in the people aspect of the business and helping to build an incredible work culture.

Where is the best placed you’ve travelled?

I once travelled to Sri Lanka for five weeks for a work-related project. I had the amazing opportunity to visit beautiful places there such as the Ceylon region and Sigiriya. I was fortunate enough to have my wife join me as well for the last two weeks of the trip. We experienced memories that we will have for a lifetime.

What is your favorite book?

It would be Kite Runner. It taught me some important lessons which I have been able to practice as a father such as not trying to live your life through your children and allowing them to be different from their parents by carving out their own paths in life.

What did you want to be as a kid?

I dreamed of being a soccer player. I was born into the sport culturally speaking and my father even watched Real Madrid play in the 1960’s, when he was growing up in Spain. Not following the sport was pretty much not a choice in our household. Being exposed to soccer at such a young age really inspired me to love the sport as much as I do today.

Andrew Donato

SVP and General Manager,
Emburse Growth

Andrew is the General Manager of the Emburse Growth segment, which includes the Abacus, Tallie, and SpringAhead products. He oversees the strategic direction and financial outcomes for these groups.

Andrew served as the head of sales at Abacus for 18 months before taking on the GM role. Prior to Abacus, Andrew was responsible for sales productivity and excellence at Greenhouse Software. Before that, he spent two years at Schoology building a best-in-class SDR team.

Andrew holds a B.A. in Communications from Marist College.

What’s your why?

My “why” is about family and about pursuing our mission at Emburse. I am fortunate to have parents that challenged me to be the best person that I could be across school, work, and my interpersonal relationships. Part of my why is making them proud. Another driver for me is the family my wife and I are creating, as we recently celebrated the birth of our first child.

I am unbelievably motivated by creating products that give time back to people so they can spend time with their families rather than dealing with tasks that our tools can quickly and efficiently do for them.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Yellowstone National Park. It was an incredible experience and reminded me that there is more out in the world than the hustle and bustle of New York City. The park is truly alive and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a place to explore in the U.S.

What did you want to be as a kid?

I wanted to be a doctor, or at least I knew I wanted to help people and being a doctor was the easiest thing to latch onto. Ultimately in my experience running sales teams and now in my role as Abacus GM, I do believe I am fulfilling my childhood goal of being an adult who helps others.

Who is your greatest inspiration?

Hands down, my greatest inspiration is my dad. He grew up in an immigrant family and started a successful business from the ground up on his own. My dad is a true example of what it means to persevere through tough times, to always stand up for what’s right even, to always work on yourself, and to fearlessly help others when they need it most.

Danielle Tabor SHRM-SCP

Chief People Officer

As the chief people officer for Emburse, Danielle guides the strategic direction for the company’s employee development, performance management, talent acquisition, and employee experience initiatives.

Danielle has over 15 years of experience in human resources, working in various industries. She began her career with Emburse working for Certify and continued to build her team and her role through several mergers and acquisitions.

Danielle holds a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Education from Clark University. She also holds the Senior Certified Professional designation from the Society of Human Resources Management and is a graduate of the K1 Advanced Management Program.

What’s your why?

Watching people (whether it be employees, family, or friends) grow and improve their lives is something that brings me great joy. I have naturally taken on the role of confidante, mentor, and mediator in my life and with this role I’m also able to translate that into my work. Being able to use creativity and care in providing employees with the tools they need to further develop their own talents and find fulfillment in their careers is incredibly rewarding.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Right after my husband and I bought our first house and paid for our wedding, we had limited funds for a honeymoon. We planned a budget trip to Ireland where we rented a small stick shift car and drove around the southern half of the island staying at inexpensive B&Bs. While I know there are more exotic and luxurious places to travel, this was my favorite as we had a true adventure without an itinerary.

What did you want to be as a kid?

When I was a child, I wanted to be a news anchor. I loved to get in front of audiences and talk. Being one of the first people to know something and to have the responsibility of crafting that message to the masses was incredibly intriguing to me. Getting people excited about good news and showing empathy for news that may be perceived negatively are two things I have translated into my current career.

What do you do to relax?

I love to go to the outdoors to clear my mind. In the warm weather months, I enjoy running, paddle boarding, wake surfing, and hiking. In the less friendly New England winters, I try to get out on the mountain for downhill skiing or hit the trails with a pair of snow shoes.

Eric Friedrichsen

Chief Executive Officer

As CEO of Emburse, Eric drives the overall strategic direction of the organization, from new market growth through to product direction.

Eric has nearly 30 years of experience driving growth for software companies. Prior to Emburse, he was Global Head of Commercial, SMB and Growth Markets for Marketo, a division of Adobe. Before joining Marketo, he was SVP and General Manager for SAP’s North American mid-market and ecosystems division. Earlier in his career, Eric had sales, technical, and general management leadership positions at SAP Concur, Business Objects, and Information Builders.

Eric has a BBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Iowa.

What’s your why?

As a company, our charter is to “humanize work.” We have a team of more than 750 who collectively work together to achieve our goal of making people’s business lives much easier and giving them back their precious time so they can focus on the important things at work, at home, and in their communities. As individuals, each person can contribute significantly, but as a group, we can achieve exponentially more. As a father of three, I try to teach my three children exactly the same approach: by collaborating with each other, they can achieve far more than they ever could on their own. It’s a very useful life lesson.

What’s your favorite movie?

It has to be The Usual Suspects. With its unexpected ending, it’s one of the few movies that I actually wanted to watch over and over again. Every time I see more clues about Keyser Soze’s real identity that I completely missed first time around.

What do you do to relax?

I love both road and mountain biking, and Colorado is a great place to live for that. It gives me two extremes: riding up a long hill on my road bike gives me a great opportunity to think with no distractions. On the other hand, going down a rough mountain trail requires 100% concentration or you end up with a broken bone – or far worse! Both types of biking are therapeutic… in their own way. I also thoroughly enjoy watching and coaching our three kiddos in just about every sport you can imagine from soccer to flag football to Taekwondo to skiing.

Where’s the best place you visited?

My wife and I took a bike tour around Andalucia with some friends. Going from village to village at such a slow place gave us a real opportunity to actually get to know the region and meet local residents. In a car you simply can’t get that level of intimacy with an area.

Eric White

Chief Operating Officer

Grant Johnson

Chief Marketing Officer

As chief marketing officer, Grant leads global marketing for Emburse, overseeing marketing strategies, programs and tactics designed to increase market leadership, generate demand and enhance customer advocacy.

Grant has a storied history working in senior marketing roles for some of the best-known brands in technology, including FileNet/IBM, Symantec and Toshiba. Before joining Emburse, Grant was CMO of cybersecurity company Cylance (acquired by BlackBerry). Prior to that, he was the CMO of Kofax and CMO of Pegasystems.

Grant holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University.

What’s your why?

I’ve had the same “why” since I became a marketer in my twenties: “Move others to action.” It’s well suited to a marketing leadership role, since good communication and inspiring others are both essential for engaging effectively with customers and prospects as well as leading teams.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Living in Salamanca, Spain, was the best place because I spent a month immersed in a very different culture than my native LA. I got to fully experience mid-afternoon siestas precipitated by late lunches and lack of sleep, as well as a vibrant Plaza Mayor that truly comes alive at night.

What did you want to be as a kid?

Like many kids growing up in LA, I wanted to be a movie director. There is something magical about getting transported via sight, sound and motion into a temporal world that is the moviegoing experience. In my chosen profession, I make very few, short movies, but the storytelling craft is as important for success in business as in Hollywood.

What do you do to relax?

I like watching almost any sport, but mostly I enjoy playing competitive tennis. I regularly compete in USTA tournaments on weekends. For me, tennis is the ideal combination of exercise and fun, and winning consistently requires figuring out how to best exploit your opponent’s weaknesses while maximizing your own strengths.

Jeroen van Velzen

SVP, Solutions Strategy

Joel Vicient

SVP and General Manager,
Emburse Southern Europe

Katherine Edenbach

Chief Accounting Officer

As chief financial officer of Emburse, Katherine is responsible for financial strategy, accounting, treasury, financial reporting, planning and analysis.

Katherine has more than 20 years of accounting and finance experience. She has deep experience in both private equity-backed and publicly-traded organizations. She earned her CPA at PwC and held a range of senior accounting and finance roles at Fairchild Semiconductor and WEX, Inc. In addition, she was VP of Finance at CashStar, a leading provider of prepaid commerce solutions, which was acquired by Blackhawk Network. Prior to the Chrome River and Certify, Inc. merger which formed Emburse, Katherine was CFO at Certify, Inc.

Katherine holds a BS in Accounting from Boston College.

What’s your why?

Ever since I was young, I’ve always enjoyed working with numbers and making sense of data – identifying patterns and trends that may not immediately be apparent. As CFO I get to dig into numbers to understand what drives the company, using performance metrics to understand where are we strong and where there are issues that need to be resolved. It’s very satisfying to know that the insights that my team and I provide can have a meaningful impact in shaping the overall strategy and direction of the company.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

As a child, my family spent a week every summer at a cottage on a lake in Maine. It wasn’t fancy, but simple and rustic, and some of my best memories are from there. As an adult, I return every summer with my husband and children, my parents, siblings and their families. There’s no TV or Wi-Fi, and we all just slow down and enjoy one another’s company. It is, and always has been, one of my absolute favorite places to be.

What’s your favorite book?

I’ve always been a voracious reader, so it really it's hard to pick a favorite. I enjoy all genres, but especially like novels that provide an escape in reading them. Between my family and a time-consuming job, I find that have very little time to read now. Instead, I’ve started to listen to audio books during my commute to and from work. Recently I’ve been on a Stephen King kick, listening to both his older and newer books.

What do you do to relax?

Since I spend most of my day in an office, I enjoy getting outside to relax. In the winter months, I spend most weekends skiing in North Conway, New Hampshire with my family.

Kenny Eon

SVP International Sales and General Manager,
Emburse UK/DACH

Matt Gahr

Chief Revenue Officer

As chief revenue officer, Matt leads go-to-market execution and bookings growth globally for Emburse. He provides support and development to diverse business development, inside and field sales teams as they work to exceed their immediate targets and their longer-term career growth objectives.

Matt joined Chrome River as chief sales officer in 2018 and was promoted to CRO of Emburse in May 2019. Prior to that, Matt was a part of the sales leadership team at Cornerstone OnDemand, where he led mid-market, enterprise and specialty vertical sales teams across North and Latin America. Matt’s earlier career was spent scaling international sales and operations teams in the HR/HCM space.

Matt holds an MBA with a focus on Emerging Tech/Finance from the University of California, San Diego. Prior to that, he completed his BS in Business Administration and International Affairs at the University of New Hampshire.

What’s your why?

Like most family-oriented professionals, my primary why is to help my wife and two teenage children achieve their life’s dreams. Somewhat similarly, professionally my why is to help both the customers and the sales teams I have the privilege to serve. I really love when I speak to a customer who is pleased with their Emburse solution and can pinpoint detailed and strategic value they gain from using our products. And as a sales leader there is no greater professional joy than helping team members achieve their goals, or being able to develop and move into a new role.

What did you want to be as a kid?

I always wanted to be a U.S. ambassador or work for the UN in a diplomatic role. I was raised with a global purview and love language, diverse cultures and travel. Understanding and celebrating our differences and how to work together provide such perspective and – to me – makes this world a more interesting place to be.

What fact about you would surprise people?

I am an active musician and the singer in two cover bands. I’ve started to record music in my spare time, playing some guitar and inviting guest musicians in to participate.

What do you do to relax?

I try to take advantage of Southern California’s great weather as much as possible. I love to have family dinners and time by the pool with my wife and two teenage kids, and frequently take hikes with my dog, Jett.

Nord Samuelson

President

Omar Qari

Head of Corporate Strategy & Business Development

Rajeev Subramanyam

SVP and General Manager,
Emburse Pay

Rajeev leads all payments innovation efforts for Emburse, and is responsible for developing integrated payment experiences to enhance the Emburse product suite.

Rajeev joined Emburse in 2020 after a 19-year career at American Express, where he held a series of leadership roles in marketing and payments. Rajeev led most aspects of marketing from new customer acquisition to loyalty marketing. Most recently Rajeev led an AP automation startup business within Amex, leading all aspects of business development, product management and go-to-market. Seeing the growth potential in the B2B payments space, Rajeev joined Emburse to capitalize on the significant opportunities to create a market leading end-to-end P2P solution.

Rajeev holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the City University of New York and a B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

What’s your why?

On a personal front, I really enjoy spending time with my wife and my toddler. it’s a real joy to see him grow-up and experience being a kid again! On the professional front, I really enjoy solving problems for customers using technology and seeing the output of the work in customer and business benefits. I also strive to continually learn and grow to increase my contribution

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Turkey. I loved the atmosphere and a country that is both modern and steeped in history. I love the food, the buzzing cities, and the amazing countryside

What’s your favorite movie of all time?

Gandhi by Richard Attenborough. I remember it being one of first movies I saw. The quality of the acting and production, coupled with narrative of the history of India made it very memorable, and I was awestruck as a kid.

What do you do to relax?

My toddler is a constant source of entertainment and I find it very relaxing to watch him learn and get excited. Outside of that, I enjoy a nice glass of wine, listening to music, and reading up on history and current affairs, with a bias to the former.

Roger Gu

SVP and General Manager,
Emburse Cards

Ryan Plutnicki

SVP and General Manager,
Emburse Enterprise

In his role as General Manager, Ryan is responsible for the performance, strategy and execution of the Chrome River business.

Ryan has more than 20 years of experience in Employee Spend Management. He joined the organization in 2019 and previously held roles such as VP of Implementation, VP of Extended Services and VP of Growth & Strategy at SAP Concur.

Ryan holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management Information Systems from The University of Notre Dame.

What’s your why?

I am passionate about creating order out of chaos, facilitating career growth for employees, and enjoying strong business relationships with customers. I look to build teams of high achievers, engineer efficient processes, and leverage well designed systems to make it quick and easy for clients to onboard their users and get the most value out of our solutions. It gives me real joy to be able to coach employees in their pursuit of career objectives and witness their happiness through well-earned job satisfaction as well as provide financially for their families, loved ones, and charities. And, as someone who loves to speak very openly with customers, I get so much enjoyment out of learning how we can help our clients achieve their goals and be part of their successes.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

My favorite destination is Prague – I love the history and the buildings. During about 40 years of Communist rule, everything was painted gray, and after the fall of Communism, the city decided on a beautiful color palette that has resulted in such an impressively coordinated look. Prague is one of the only European cities not to have been destroyed in wars so there is so much preserved history there.

What’s your favorite movie of all time?

Master and Commander tops my list. In the thick of the Napoleonic wars, Captain “Lucky Jack” (Russell Crowe) leads the crew of the Royal Navy’s HMS Surprise in outmaneuvering against and eventually pursuing a much faster and nimble French vessel off the South American coast. I’m a fan of pre-modern warfare period pieces in general and this movie has a lot of creative problem solving and challenges with morale. Great movie.

What do you do to relax?

Every year, I go on a hiking, biking, or paddling trip with a group of my friends - some from college and a couple who were high school friends of those college friends. We’ve seen the northern lights from the Michigan Upper Peninsula, we’ve been caught in a blizzard while paddling canoes down the Batchawana River in Canada, and we’ve rafted the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, just to name a few. There is nothing that recharges my batteries more than disconnecting from digital technology and spending days laughing with friends while tackling a wilderness challenge.

Spencer Demetros

Chief Legal Officer

As CLO, Spencer manages Emburse’s legal function and provides counsel to the company’s management team.

Spencer has nearly 30 years of legal experience focused in the technology sector. Prior to joining Emburse, he was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Aspect Software, Inc. He started his legal career at a large, Boston law firm, and continued in private practice as a corporate litigator for well over a decade. He also served in the public sector as General Counsel for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor.

Spencer earned a BA degree from Lehigh University, a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan, and his JD from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

What’s your Why?

When it comes to my work life, it’s less a question of “why?” and more about “how?”: How do I provide the most value to Emburse and its stakeholders and support others to do the same? As head of the Legal Department, I do my best to balance the need to manage risk against the business objectives of a complex global enterprise that does so much good for its customers, partners, and employees. I also strive to show the utmost respect in my interactions with others and stay true to my personal values. On that front, I’m very fortunate to work for a company whose core values align with my own.

What’s your favorite book?

Anything written by David Sedaris. The guy is hilarious, but he also mastered the art of effective storytelling. His writings also remind me that, no matter how difficult life can be, if you can just take a step back and see the humor in things, you can get through just about anything.

What fact about you would surprise people?

I used to own and operate a small company that provided safety training to non-English-speaking, Hispanic construction workers. Due to personal demands, I had to discontinue that enterprise. But given the incredibly important nature of this work, I hope that someday I’ll be able to take-up this cause again.

Who is your greatest inspiration?

My mom and dad. They instilled in me the values that I try to live by:

1) being confident but checking my ego at the door;

2) being kind and willing to serve others but standing up for myself and the people I care about when the situation requires it; and

3) working hard, but never letting money or career aspirations overtake my priorities with my family.

Sunil Kayiti

Chief Technology Officer

Meet our leadership team

Adriana Carpenter

Alfred Diez

Andrew Donato

Danielle Tabor SHRM-SCP

Eric Friedrichsen

Eric White

Grant Johnson

Jeroen van Velzen

Joel Vicient

Katherine Edenbach

Kenny Eon

Matt Gahr

Nord Samuelson

Omar Qari

Rajeev Subramanyam

Roger Gu

Ryan Plutnicki

Spencer Demetros

Sunil Kayiti

Emburse is hiring!

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Meet our leadership team

Adriana Carpenter

Alfred Diez

Andrew Donato

Danielle Tabor SHRM-SCP

Eric Friedrichsen

Eric White

Grant Johnson

Jeroen van Velzen

Joel Vicient

Katherine Edenbach

Kenny Eon

Matt Gahr

Nord Samuelson

Omar Qari

Rajeev Subramanyam

Roger Gu

Ryan Plutnicki

Spencer Demetros

Sunil Kayiti

Emburse is hiring!

Find the right fit for you