Brad Peters is the CEO of Birst. Through his years of work helping to lead the Analytics group at Siebel Systems and his early work on on-demand software delivery, Brad became intensely aware of the limitations of current enterprise analytics offerings and the revolutionary power of the Software-as-a-Service model. Brad is excited to be bringing the power of advanced analytics to small and medium businesses that never had access before, as well as easing the reporting and analytics pain of managers everywhere.
Brad received an MS in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow and a California Microelectronics Fellow. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Paul Staelin is Vice President of Customer Operations for Birst and a co-founder of the company. He is responsible for ensuring customer success and manages Birst’s professional services, support, training and operations teams to that goal. Due to his experience in companies both large and small, Paul knows how important it is to have the right data at your fingertips and get real value from your technology investments. Previously, Paul built and managed Siebel's Sales Analytics product line, overseeing its growth from start to over $40 million in annual license revenue.
Before Siebel, Paul co-founded emPower Corporation and served as its President for several years prior to its sale in 1999.
Paul holds an BS from Yale and an MS from MIT in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Stanford University, where he was an Arjay Miller scholar.
John Pierson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, has created or expanded sales and partner programs at SAP, Hyperion Solutions, Global 360, and Intermec. At Hyperion, Pierson initially served as Vice President of Global Channels, building a partner ecosystem and creating partner programs that won VAR Magazine's Five Star Award. Later, as Vice President and General Manager of the Americas, Pierson delivered goal- breaking financial performance over multiple years. At Global 360, Pierson was Senior Vice President of Global Field Operations, driving customer success and company growth through his sales, partner, service, and support responsibilities.
John holds an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic University and a BS in Commerce and Engineering from Drexel University.
Rick Spickelmier, CTO/VP Engineering, is responsible for engineering, security, and big ideas for Birst. Rick brings over 17 years of wide-ranging software development experience, including experience in enterprise architecture, databases, and on-demand applications. Rick has been Senior Director of Technology at Geac, CTO and Chief Architect at Extensity, and has also worked in a number of management, architecture and development roles at Objectivity. Rick has participated as a panelist and presenter at numerous conferences and industry events and has authored several books and publications.
Rick holds a Ph.D. and an MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley.
Randi Di Prima is the Vice President of Global Partners for Birst and is responsible for building a World Class Partner Program and a Global Partner Ecosystem that will create unprecedented value for our customers and partners. Randi has created or expanded global partner programs at companies such as Hyperion, Global 360, Intermec, and Motorola. With 27 years of management experience and 20 years of indirect channel expertise, Randi brings valuable international experience to Birst. Randi's management experience truly spans the globe as he has held executive level channel sales positions for the Americas, a general management position in Latin America, and an operations management position in Europe; he has also implemented new channel programs in Asia.
Randi holds an MS and BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Randi is a member of Alpha Pi Mu, the Industrial Engineering Honor Society.
Stefan Schmitz is the Senior Director of Product Management, responsible for ensuring that Birst reflects customer's needs and desires. Stefan was previously Director of Product Management at Oracle and Siebel, where he managed the Siebel advanced analytics and real-time decision product line. Stefan managed two OEM partnerships that led to the acquisition of one of the partners by Oracle in 2006. Stefan started his career as a data mining consultant and later worked for IBM, where he managed CRM implementation projects for major financial services organizations in Europe.
Stefan received an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and holds a MS in Computer Science from the University of Karlsruhe in Germany.
Chris Polishuk is the Director of Business Development and responsible for Birst partner relationships and channel sales. Chris has a history of building profitable relationships in the analytics software space at companies such as The SAS Institute, marketing campaign management provider Protagona (acquired by DoubleClick), and Nimblefish Technologies. Chris has led both direct and partner initiatives with Financial Services, Healthcare, Retail, and Gaming clients focused on the use of BI and analytics to empower decision making for everyone from front line personnel to corporate executives.
Chris received his BA in Political Science from the University of Dayton.
Barbara Lewis is the Director of Marketing, responsible for telling the world how Birst can make their lives easier, better informed, and more productive. Barbara was previously in marketing leadership positions at TalkPlus, Good Technology, and Siebel Systems, where she helped launch both Siebel Analytics and Siebel CRM On-Demand. Barbara also has strategy and investment experience from her years at McKinsey & Co. and Vector Capital, a venture capital firm.
Barbara received an MBA from Stanford University and a BA in history from Yale University.
