Meet the Emburse
leadership team

Katherine Edenbach

Chief Financial 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.

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.

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.

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.

Sunil Kayiti

Chief Technology Officer

As chief technology officer of Emburse, Sunil oversees software engineering, global operations, and information security. His passion is to bring fresh ideas and insight that drive technology strategy in areas of cloud platforms, data science, mobility and software delivery. He ensures that our portfolio’s products and solutions maintain innovation leadership using the latest tools and technologies, delivered on a robust, scalable and secure technology platform.

Prior to joining Chrome River, Sunil was Managing Director at Boston-based FinTech investment management software provider, Eze Software Group, where he led a team of more than 170 people and directed all strategy design, business vision, and innovation initiatives related to technology. He also previously spent 20 years in a variety of technology leadership roles at Fidelity Investments, where he was a VP of Engineering, Mobile & Security.

Sunil holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Mangalore University, an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina, and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts.

What’s your why?

To fully appreciate everything that has been given to me and strive to leave the world in a better place than I found it.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

The best place I have traveled to was the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It was an incredible trip without words to adequately describe the wonderment that we experienced.

What’s your favorite book?

My favorite book by far is The Better Angels of our Nature, by Steven Pinker. A prescription for peace that I cherish from his book: “The only people who should be allowed to govern countries with nuclear weapons are mothers, those who are still breastfeeding their babies."--Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.

What’s your favorite movie of all time?

My favorite movie of all time is a Bollywood classic Sholay.

Melanie Morgan

SVP, Legal, Contracts and Procurement

Melanie Morgan serves as the SVP responsible for legal, contracts and procurement. In these roles, she is responsible for helping Emburse close new deals, bring new products and services to market, and manage the company’s legal and regulatory risk.

Melanie has more than 20 years’ experience providing legal support for the technology industry. She joined Emburse’s Chrome River division in 2019 after a brief tenure at Docker, Inc. where she helped establish the legal function. Prior to that, she spent 11 years in various legal roles at SAP Concur with responsibility for closing new deals with customers and partners, compliance, data privacy, employment matters, and managing legal entities. Melanie also spent more than seven years in the health information technology sector with some brief time as a commercial litigator.

Melanie holds a JD from the Hamline University School of Law and a Bachelors in Theater Arts from Southern Utah University.

What’s your why?

I am doing what I have wanted to do since a little girl. Being both a mother and an attorney have been lifelong goals and to be able to do both is nothing short of spectacular. I love being in a business where people are passionate about their work and their customers, who bring their best each and every day. It is especially great to work in an environment where they not only challenge you on every level but also listen to you.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Hands down, Kauai, Hawaii. You get all of the joy, serenity and sun that is Hawaii without all of the crowds. This is closely followed by Sorrento which has the most amazing food I have ever had the pleasure of sampling.

What did you want to be as a kid?

Funny enough, I wanted to be a lawyer. If that didn’t work out, I was going to be a dance teacher. Now I get the best of both worlds – I am a lawyer who is constantly in dance class.

Who is your greatest inspiration?

My father. He was paralyzed in an accident when I was two but spent his entire life showing us how to flex your life to handle anything that is thrown at you. It may not be graceful but you will always be able to take what comes for your own success.

Ryan Plutnicki

Chief Services Officer

As chief services officer, Ryan leads the professional services, support, and customer success management departments for Emburse. Collaboratively, these teams provide a client experience that is focused on minimizing effort at each stage of the customer journey. 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 BBA 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 and eventually pursuing a much faster and more 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.

Ted Power

Chief Product Officer

As chief product officer for Emburse, Ted is focused on improving every aspect of expense and invoice management across the organization’s suite of products.

Ted started his career at Google, then spend time at Venmo and Foursquare, then co-founded Abacus in 2014. At Abacus, Ted helped design and build a product that rethinks from the ground up core aspects of the expense reporting process. Abacus and other brands joined forces with Chrome River to form Emburse, to continue to drive product innovation within the industry.

Ted has a BS in Anthropology from Bowdoin College.

What’s your why?

I really have a huge fascination for building things. I love working with our product managers and our engineering team on our product roadmaps, talking with customers and figuring out all the fun stuff we get to build. My favorite part of this job is those moments when I get so obsessed with an idea that all I can think about is getting to a computer and building it

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

I once took a trip to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, of all places. Maybe not the best place, but certainly the craziest place I went to was the Darvaza Gas Crater, a huge crater that has been burning continuously for about 50 years, and is known as “the gate to hell.”

What fact about you would surprise people?

Though I’m by no means a marketing expert, I designed the Venmo logo when working at that startup several years ago. They still use it today, so I guess it couldn’t have been that bad.

Omar Qari

Head of Corporate Strategy & Business Development

As head of corporate strategy and business development at Emburse, Omar is responsible for global strategic partnerships and M&A across all brands.

Omar has more than 10 years' experience in B2B software. He joined Emburse in 2018 via the acquisition of Abacus, where he served as co-founder & CEO. Before his current role, he spent a year as GM of the Abacus business. Prior to Abacus, Omar spent five years in private equity, investing in financial technologies companies.

Omar pursued his MBA at The Wharton School and studied Computer Science at Wake Forest University.

What’s your why?

To risk more, so that I may fail and learn faster. Too often, we conflate the outcome of failure with our own identity, when it’s in fact a critical series of steps en route to success. One of the most powerful ways we can help others achieve more than they believe they’re capable of is removing the possibility of blame.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

In 2011, my wife and I both had that rare opportunity in life between work and grad school where together, we set off for a few months backpacking around Southeast Asia. In Thailand, I discovered my passion for sailing, diving and eating obscene quantities of Penang curry chicken.

What’s your favorite book?

I hold a special place for Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. It’s the perfect antidote to when you just get too lost in the weeds and lose sight of the big picture. It’s also a great optimistic reminder that the forces of the universe will conspire to help you if you just let them.

Who is your greatest inspiration?

My parents immigrated to the United States almost 40 years ago, just over a year before I was born. They had very little money and no friends or family within 6,000 miles. The courage to persevere in those conditions reminds me that any risk I can take in life just pales in comparison, so I better get on with it.

Nord Samuelson

President

As president of Emburse, Nord oversees the organization’s operations and business units, ensuring overall customer success and satisfaction, high levels of product innovation, and operational excellence.

Nord has over 30 years of technology and operations experience. He joined Emburse after serving as the chief digital officer of Cotiviti, and prior to that ran AlixPartners’ Americas digital practice.

Nord holds a BA in Mathematics and Economics from Bowdoin College.

What’s your why?

At this stage of my life and career, it is about providing others opportunity – my colleagues, my children, and other in my community. Emburse is focused on enabling our customers to be able to spend more time and resources on pursuing their opportunities. In looking across our customer base, we see future cures for previously incurable diseases, new ways to combat climate change, a more just society, and exciting technology breakthroughs. Our work will allow our clients to pursue these critical efforts.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

The absolute best trip was to Rome, Italy, to visit my girlfriend – who is now my wife of almost 30 years. Rome is magical in itself, and this trip was especially magical as it was my first time traveling outside North America, and my future wife, a classics scholar, was my tour guide.

What’s your favorite book?

I love A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Every holiday season my children patiently endure my reading it aloud. It is an amazing reminder to celebrate our good fortunes and support those who are less fortunate.

What did you want to be as a kid?

I really wanted to be a professional whitewater kayaker. Little did I realize, at the age of 12, that this is an oxymoron, as it is with most Olympic sports.

Danielle Tabor

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.

Alfred Diez

SVP and General Manager
Nexonia and ExpenseWatch

As general manager of the Nexonia and ExpenseWatch business units at Emburse, Alfred oversees the strategic direction and financial outcomes for those brands. He also helps oversee our Canadian office locations in Toronto and Montreal.

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. 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 traveled?

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
Abacus

As the general manager of Abacus, Andrew is primarily responsible for setting growth as well as being an ambassador for Abacus within the larger Emburse organization.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 BA 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, to always work on yourself, and to fearlessly help others when they need it most.

Kenny Eon

SVP and General Manager
Certify

As general manager of Certify, Kenny oversees the P&L, operations and strategy for the Certify brand.

Kenny has more than 19 years of experience in the financial and human resource technology industries. He joined Certify in 2013 and led the customer success organization before becoming general manager. Prior to Certify, Kenny led customer success and sales organizations at iCIMS and First Advantage.

Kenny holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Maine.

What’s your why?

For my professional career, I enjoy working with and being part of great teams. I’ve had the luxury to work with amazing people in my career and I get to every day here. The people, teams and experiences are what you take away. For my personal side, I enjoy spending time with my wife and seeing my three kids grow through our adventures. I enjoy giving back whether it be coaching soccer, volunteering in the holidays with my kids or just helping a great cause.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Italy is one of my favorite places to visit. I love the different regions and beauty of the country.

What’s your favorite movie of all time?

I pretty much enjoy all comedies, especially slapstick ones. I don’t necessarily have a favorite but if it stars Adam Sandler, Chevy Chase or Will Ferrell, count me in.

What do you do to relax?

I enjoy traveling, getting the chance to unplug and exploring new places. Closer to home, I enjoy a great day of skiing during the winter in Maine.

Roger Gu

General Manager
Emburse Cards

Roger was one of the cofounders of the “original” Emburse, a card technology startup that was acquired in mid-2019. He now leads card product strategy across the organization. Roger has fintech experience through his prior roles of leading merchant acceptance of bitcoin at Coinbase and corporate strategy at Visa.

Roger holds degrees in Economics and Finance from Princeton University.

What’s your Why?

My cofounder and I set out five years ago to alter the way businesses think about banking services through the use of new technology. We’ve come a long way in improving the cards experience, but there’s clearly much further enhancements we can still bring.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

I absolutely love the National Parks System we have in the U.S. My wife and I have a life goal to visit all 60 parks. However, in light of COVID-19, I’m thrilled to travel anywhere greater than 10 minutes outside of my house.

What do you do to relax?

For stress relief, I very much enjoy “type-two fun” activities, when it’s only rewarding/fun in retrospect. Top of that list for me includes trail running and mountaineering (I really like tall mountains).

Claire Milligan

SVP and General Manager
Tallie and SpringAhead

As general manager of the Tallie and SpringAhead business units at Emburse, Claire oversees the strategic direction and financial outcomes for those brands.

Claire has more than 10 years’ experience in creating SaaS software products, seven of which are within the Emburse network. Previously, she created the product management organization for Certify, Inc., launching the Travel and Purchasing products, and began her career as a software designer.

Claire holds a B.A. in Psychology and an M.A. in Communication from Stanford University as well as a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from Academy of Art University.

What’s your why?

I want to make a positive impact on people by helping to resolve the deep problems. The kind of problem that has complex variables or intertwined relationships and requires a great deal of analysis to architect the right solution. Getting to the heart of an issue that plagues people and truly solving those problems are what get me up in the morning. And if you know me well, you’ll see me apply this approach to virtually anything in life – parenting included!

What did you want to be as a kid?

I wanted to design cars. We spend our lives in vehicles and half the time they are designed for ease in manufacturing not for ease of use. I would beg my dad to take me annually to the LA Auto Show and perform the role of “Russian Figure Skating Judge,” harshly evaluating all the design decisions on the new models.

What fact about you would surprise people?

I have been volunteering as a ski patroller at Alpine Meadows ski area since college. I love skiing, but more than that I love ensuring people can access the sport and receive help in difficult situations. Over the years, I’ve served in leadership and have trained others to an EMT level for trauma care.

Who is your greatest inspiration?

My grandfather, Carl Hartnack, began his career in the mail room at Security Pacific Bank in Los Angeles and by the time he retired he was the Chairman. Financial circumstances for the family meant he was never able to get a degree, but he achieved incredible advances for the company, its employees and downtown Los Angeles by focusing on real human dynamics. Every day I hope I make him proud.

Joel Vicient

SVP and General Manager
Captio

As senior vice president and general manager at Emburse's Captio business unit, Joel oversees the strategic direction and financial outcomes for this European brand.

Joel has more than 10 years’ experience in creating and managing SaaS companies, and began his career as a software developer.

Joel holds a B.A. in Computer Engineering and a Management Program from ESADE Business School.

What’s your why?

I enjoy solving problems for both our customers and our employees and company. That's why we decided to create Captio 10 years ago! I like to see obstacles as an opportunity to grow instead of a painful experience.

What’s your favorite book?

The Hard Thing about Hard Things from Ben Horowitz. It offers essential advice on building and running a software company, and how to manage the toughest problems business school doesn't cover

What’s your favorite movie of all time?

MoneyBall. It’s the story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, as he attempts to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players. It was a fascinating new way to approach an age-old solution that all sports teams face.

What do you do to relax?

I really like the sea and sports, so living near Barcelona I have a great opportunity to enjoy this pastime for many months of the year. I love to practice kitesurfing in an incredible spot in the south of Catalonia as often as I can.

Eric White

EVP and General Manager
Chrome River

In his role as general manager, of the Chrome River business unit at Emburse, Eric is responsible for the performance, strategy and execution of the business.

Eric has a broad range of technology leadership experience. In his 20+ years at Trimble, Eric led multiple business units, as well as a joint venture with Caterpillar. At Emburse, he previously led the Nexonia and Tallie brands. After a stint at Axcient, he returned to Emburse in 2019 to lead Chrome River.

Eric holds a BA in Geography from the University of Kansas, an MA in Geography from Kansas State University and an MBA from Santa Clara University

What’s your why?

My wife and two daughters. My father grew up in poverty and worked his way to become a University dean. He taught me to love meaningful work, and demonstrated how it leads to a better life - for me, and for others. Modeling his lessons for my daughters is important to me. Also - we’re solving real problems here, and that’s fun!

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Cambodia’s Angkor Wat is a pretty amazing place to visit, but for me, home always wins the day.

What’s your favorite book?

For me, it’s Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. But I also love anything by Roald Dahl that I can share with my children.

What did you want to be as a kid?

I loved to play basketball, so my dream was to be a shooting guard for the Kansas State Wildcats and then the Golden State Warriors. I had it all planned out - my Hall of Fame induction was going to be really fun!