Cyara Leadership
Alok Kulkarni CEO, Chairman, Co-Founder
Alok founded Cyara with the vision that an easy-to-use CX Assurance 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.
Luan Tran CTO, Co-Founder
Luan is responsible for the development of the Cyara CX Assurance platform and related solutions. He is passionate about innovation, technology and getting a team together to create the impossible.
Prior to founding Cyara, Luan was with Genesys Professional Services for 8 years, working with all of its major clients in the Australia and New Zealand market. He was also in software product engineering for National Australia Bank, NEC, and IRESS.
Luan is married with two children and is a keen follower of Australian Rules Football, particularly when his Carlton Blues are playing.
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.
Rishi Rana President
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.
Kevin Buckley Senior Vice President of Growth & Market Intelligence
Kevin is responsible for monitoring and gathering market information, and analyzing data, to identify emerging trends, competitive intelligence, and potential opportunities or threats. He also collaborates closely with Cyara’s partners to drive growth initiatives, leverage synergies, and ensure seamless integration of our products and services.
Before joining Cyara, Kevin was the co-founder and CEO of Spearline, an award-winning Irish-based technology company. Since 2003 and through its acquisition by Cyara in 2023, Kevin led Spearline to achieve remarkable growth by expanding its global infrastructure, introducing new product innovations and increasing its international customer base.
Kevin holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Commercial Software Development from Waterford Institute of Technology. In 2015, he became a founding Board Member of The Ludgate Hub, Europe’s first rural digital hub located in Skibbereen, Ireland’s first Gigabit town.
Kevin, his wife, and their five kids live in Cork, Ireland. When Kevin isn’t working, he enjoys running, nature, watching Gaelic Football and spending time with family and friends.
Linda Chen Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer
Linda brings 25 years of general management and leadership experience across a variety of top-tier multinational branded companies and B2B enterprise SaaS companies. She has blended experience working as a cross-functional leader in both large and small organizations. Prior to joining Cyara, Linda was the EVP of Marketing and Strategy at Equilar, the leading executive compensation and governance solutions provider, where she led products, marketing, operations, pre-sales/sales, and client success. She was also VP/GM at Deem, Inc.
Linda also spent more than 10 years at Intuit, where she led go-to-market for the company’s Small Business mobile and SaaS solutions, QuickBooks, and Quicken. Earlier in her career, she drove global marketing for Crest toothbrushes at Procter & Gamble and graduated from the Technical Leadership Program at GE. She has a MBA from University of Michigan and a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering from University of California Berkeley.
Linda lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Bryan and their two daughters. In between driving to girls’ soccer tournaments, they enjoy helping out at local nonprofits (Friends for Youth & Sustainable San Mateo County) and exploring the California coastline.
Max Lipovetsky Chief Product Officer
Max is responsible for guiding Cyara through its next stage of product innovation, including the fast-evolving role of AI in testing.
With over 20 years’ experience driving product innovation in customer experience and customer engagement technology in the contact centre and IVR industries, Max Lipovetsky brings a wealth of knowledge to Cyara.
In 2003, he co-founded Global Speech Networks and brought to market one of the first SaaS contact centre clouds – capturing the attention of some of ANZ’s largest businesses. Next for Max was a role as CEO of CentraCX. This was a chance for him to focus on a passion area: the voice of the customer. At CentraCX he helped businesses use customer feedback as a growth tool to drive continual innovation.
Max, his wife, their three sons and Wolfgang the schnauzer, all live in Melbourne, Australia. When Max isn’t working, he enjoys cooking, cycling and video games.
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 Romano Chief Customer Officer
Jeff brings to Cyara more than 25 years of experience in the global software industry, with deep expertise in serving and supporting customers of SaaS solutions. Jeff uses the power of data-driven insights, prioritizing the measurement of customer sentiment to consistently deliver exceptional customer experiences. Jeff places the highest importance on end-user empowerment and ensuring that customers derive maximum value, thereby fostering growth and loyalty.
Jeff’s impressive track record includes executive roles at companies including Exabeam, 8×8, and Oracle, managing a $200+ Million global P&L, innovating high-value service offerings, generating new revenue streams, expanding offshore capabilities across India, China, and Russia, and forging successful global partnerships. A graduate from Cornell University, Jeff holds a degree in Electrical Engineering.
In his free time, Jeff enjoys snowboarding, mountain biking, cooking, and traveling to exotic places.
Geoff Willshire Chief Innovation Officer
Geoff leads the formulation of strategies and new technologies to develop new capabilities, and works closely with the product management, marketing, and sales organizations. Geoff’s career has been focused on developing innovative new software products for the contact center market.
Geoff’s experience bridging mainstream software development and the highly tailored mission of professional services allows him to design and deliver creative and high-performing new products driven by dynamic market requirements.
Previously, Geoff was with Genesys for 13 years, where he held key development roles across the company and led the software development group in providing uniquely tailored solutions for customers adapting Genesys to their specific needs. He was also lead developer at HP in their telephony integration software business.
Geoff, his wife, and their daughter live in Brisbane and spend as much spare time as possible at their getaway on the beach in Queensland.
Alok Kulkarni CEO, Chairman, Co-Founder
Alok founded Cyara with the vision that an easy-to-use CX Assurance 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.