Cyara Leadership
Rishi Rana Chief Executive Officer
Rishi is responsible for Cyara’s product strategy as well as all customer-facing operations which include global sales, marketing, customer support, customer success, and professional services.
Rishi brings over 25 years of experience in scaling businesses towards success, driving innovation, and achieving operational excellence. He has a proven track record of successfully integrating acquisitions by crafting and executing visionary strategies that harness capabilities and maximize efficiencies that drive bookings, revenue, and margin growth as well as operational excellence.
Prior to Cyara, Rishi was EVP at PowerSchool [NYSE: PWSC] where he led the strategy and growth of three separate PowerSchool business units. In that capacity, he played a pivotal role in expanding the overall business, growing revenue both organically and through multiple acquisitions, ultimately achieving a record high market valuation. His extensive experience also includes leading the global transformation of disparate product and service lines at AGDATA, as well as several leadership and executive positions at renowned software powerhouses such as SumTotal, Skillsoft and Microsoft.
In his free time, Rishi is an avid hiker and runner, and has been practicing meditation for several years. When not traveling, Rishi spends time with his wife and two children at home in Texas.
Brian Brady Chief Financial Officer
Brian leads Cyara’s Accounting, Financial Planning and Analysis, Legal and IT teams.
With a career spanning over 20 years in financial leadership, Brian has consistently demonstrated his ability to build high-performance teams through data-driven processes and technology-led tools. In his previous role as CFO at Calero, Brian oversaw financial operations, recurring revenue renewals, and managed bill payment delivery for the leading Technology Expense Management provider supporting over $25 billion in spend worldwide for thousands of organizations across 50 countries.
Brian’s extensive financial expertise also includes his leadership role at EagleView Technologies, a leading provider of aerial imagery, data analytics, and geographic information system mapping, serving diverse clients across the commercial, insurance, and government sectors. He began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in audit assurance focused on customers in the manufacturing and technology industries. Brian is a graduate of the State University of New York at Geneseo with a degree in Accounting.
Residing in western New York, Brian enjoys spending quality time with his family, outdoor activities and supporting the Buffalo Bills.
Mitch Risner Chief Revenue Officer
With over 20 years of sales experience and over 15 years in sales leadership, Mitch has a proven track record of success in building high-performing global enterprise sales organizations.
Mitch began his career in sales leadership at SumTotal Systems, a Human Capital Management company backed by the PE firm Vista Equity Partners. Serving as GVP, he spearheaded North American sales, significantly contributing to the company’s revenue growth and facilitating a successful transition to Charterhouse Capital Partners.
Following his tenure at SumTotal Systems, Mitch assumed the role of CRO at Limeade, an Employee Engagement company, where his instrumental contributions led to a fivefold increase in company growth. Responsible for overseeing all revenue functions on a global scale, including Partner, Sales, Customer Success, Operations, Professional Services, and Customer Support, Mitch played a pivotal role in guiding Limeade through multiple M&As, ultimately steering the company to a successful public listing.
Mitch is married, has five adult children and two grandchildren. He enjoys life fitness and hits the gym most days. Mitch also enjoys travelling, going to concerts and having a good glass of wine. Snowboarding, golf and riding his Harley are occasional treats when time permits.
Jeff Lyons Chief Customer Officer
With over 30 years of enterprise software experience, Lyons brings a robust background in go-to-market strategy and delivery expertise to Cyara.
In his role, Jeff oversees the customer experience for Cyara’s customer base, managing the full lifecycle from onboarding to post-sales activities and retention. His extensive track record in value creation growth and organizational transformation aligns seamlessly with Cyara’s mission to empower organizations to deliver flawless customer experiences through AI-led CX transformation.
Starting as a developer, and co-founding a HR software company, Jeff’s journey spans every major functional area of software firms, showcasing a comprehensive industry understanding. He is a seasoned leader, passionate about driving customer and business value, with active involvement in startups as an advisor and mentor.
During his tenure at SumTotal, Jeff was instrumental in the organization’s transformation, contributing to the company’s remarkable growth and increasing its value by 8X. In his most recent role, Jeff served as General Manager at Stax, a high-growth payments-technology company in Florida.
Outside of work, Jeff enjoys hands-on creativity with DIY and woodworking projects. Based in Florida, he is an outdoor enthusiast and finds joy in activities such as skiing, hiking, fishing, and biking.
Raj Gupta Chief Technology Officer
Raj brings over 20 years of engineering leadership experience to Cyara. As Chief Technology Officer (CTO), he is responsible for driving the company’s product and technology strategy and fostering innovation across the Engineering, CloudOps, Product Management, and Security teams. Raj plays a key role in guiding Cyara’s product and technical direction to enhance the company’s solutions and deliver exceptional customer experiences.
Throughout his career, Raj has held prominent leadership roles at leading technology companies, including Cogito, VERA Security, Navis, NICE, and Oracle. His career highlights include driving advancements in AI and machine learning, pioneering next-generation data security solutions, and leading global product development efforts that have significantly impacted industries such as artificial intelligence, supply chain management, and customer experience.
Raj holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Computer Science from Ohio State University and a Master’s degree in Management from Harvard University. Known for his strategic vision and technical expertise, Raj is dedicated to advancing Cyara’s mission of providing innovative technology solutions for superior customer interactions.
Janet Vito Senior Vice President of Marketing
As a seasoned marketing executive with over 25 years of experience, Janet has excelled in leading high-performing teams to drive revenue growth in dynamic, technology-driven environments. Most recently, Janet was Vice President of Marketing & Sales at uShip, a marketplace that connects people and businesses with logistics carriers. During her tenure, the company’s B2B revenue segment grew significantly through both sales-led and product-led growth motions.
Previously, Janet was Vice President of Marketing at Mitratech, an enterprise B2B SaaS company in the legal and compliance space. While there, she led the entire marketing function, including product marketing, demand generation, marketing operations, corporate communications, and brand. Her career as a marketing leader began at PE-backed Accruent, where revenue tripled during her tenure. Serving as Sr. Director of Marketing, Janet was responsible for building and scaling the product marketing and demand generation functions. She also played a crucial role in the acquisition of eight companies, including communication, integration, and GTM.
Janet resides in Austin, Texas with her family of four. She has a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a Masters of Arts from Texas State. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, the outdoors and occasionally plays the piano.
Ruby White Senior Vice President of Human Resources
Ruby leads Cyara’s global HR strategy to propel the company’s rapid growth. With over two decades of HR leadership, Ruby focuses on nurturing talent, fostering trust, and aligning clarity to empower individuals to reach their full potential. Her expertise in strategic human capital development and cultivating engaging cultures is instrumental in Cyara’s mission to revolutionize customer experience.
Prior to Cyara, Ruby held executive HR roles at leading AI-driven organizations, enhancing employee engagement and fostering cultures of innovation and inclusivity. With a rich background in leadership across diverse industries, including Ada, EagleView, and Napster, Ruby brings invaluable HR expertise to Cyara.
Ruby’s commitment to driving organizational transformations and navigating rapid growth underscores her vital role in Cyara’s success. She is dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive and contribute to shaping the future of HR in a company leading the charge in customer experience innovation.
Ruby holds an MBA from Kelley School of Business and a MS in Global Management from Thunderbird. She is a devoted mother and animal lover based in the San Francisco Bay Area, who enjoys Peloton workouts, seeking out the ultimate dessert, and Lego building in her downtime.
Alok Kulkarni Non-Executive Chairman
Alok founded Cyara with the vision that an easy-to-use CX platform could help enterprises be confident that they were delivering great customer experiences each and every time, even in a world with rapidly changing customer expectations and an ever increasingly complex technology ecosystem.
Prior to Cyara, he was Director, Solutions Engineering, at Genesys where he led the team that architected contact center solutions for the Asia Pacific market, driving Genesys to the top position in that market. He also held various engineering roles at National Australia Bank, NEC, Lincolne Scott, and Boral Building Technologies.
Alok has an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Technology from Melbourne Business School and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering from Monash University, Australia. Alok is married with two boys and his passions include all things technology, travelling, spirituality, and playing golf.
Vikram “Vik” Verma
Vikram Verma has had a distinguished 30-year executive career with leading technology companies. He has been granted eight patents and honored with various accolades, including being named a Tau Beta Pi Williams Fellow and a “Technology Pioneer” by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Verma earned 3 degrees in electrical engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, and Stanford University. He has attended executive management programs at Harvard Business School, the University of California-Berkeley, and Stanford University.
Verma began his career at Savi Technology, Inc., a pioneer in the internet of things, eventually becoming its Chairman and CEO. After he led Savi’s acquisition by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Verma served as the President of Strategic Venture Development for Lockheed Martin. After leaving Lockheed Martin, Verma was appointed as the CEO of Silicon Valley based cloud communications company 8×8, Inc. (NYSE: EGHT) and served in that role until December of 2020.
Verma has served on the board of RAE systems (acquired by Honeywell International (NYSE: HON)), Blackfire (acquired by ROKU, Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU)) and Ping Identity (NYSE: PING, acquired by Thoma Bravo). He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Cambium Networks (NASDAQ: CMBM), Cyara, Zingtree, Genesis Digital, LLC and the Advisory Board of Wiliot. In addition he serves on the Board of Trustees of Florida Institute of Technology.