Executive Principals

Industry Advisor, 

Energy & Power, Technology Innovation

Focus Areas

• Dr. Phiroz Darukhanavala, (Daru), has an extensive global background in the oil and gas industry including exploration, production, refining, retail and marketing; holding several technology leadership positions at BP and recently retired as CTO
• On a global scale he has led a wide spectrum of strategic and operational IT activities, leading multicultural teams and managing regulatory environments. In addition to his strategic contributions running large scale, complex businesses, he has gained a high level strategic perspective as a Board Director for several companies, as well as board roles for high profile industry associations and universities.
• Daru is currently active as an executive consultant and speaker, specializing in advising executive teams as well as boards of major corporations in various industries (oil and gas, finance, insurance, telecom, utilities, mining, IT services) about introducing digital transformation, innovation and the approach needed to foster an pragmatic innovative culture in large legacy enterprises. 

 Experience 

• In his recent role as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at BP, Daru led a team that was BP’s focal point for digital technology leadership, providing fast and efficient matching of emerging external technology innovation to BP’s business requirements.
• Previously, Daru was Vice President, Merger and Integration at BP AMOCO Corporation where he led the IT integration programs resulting from the merger of BP, Amoco and Arco that resulted in annual savings of over $500M. 
• Daru is a Board Member at eGain Corporation and on the Advisory Boards of The Fabric, Tachyus Inc, Insight Venture Partners, and previously on the Boards of Castrol Inno-Ventures, DrillingInfo Inc., and DEXA Systems, Board Member on the Society for Petroleum Engineers Digital Energy Section, and a Governing Body Member for the CIO Executive Summit. He was Chairman of the Society for Petroleum Engineers Global Digital Energy Conference.

Education  

• Daru received his Ph.D. and his M.S. in Operations Research from Case Western Reserve University
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, India

  Industry Advisor, 

 Energy, Chemicals, Alternative Fuels -  Hydrogen and Sustainability 

Focus Areas  

• Information Technology, Upstream and Midstream Energy, Chemicals, Alternative fuels and Hydrogen and Sustainability
• Don was responsible for the strategic planning and application of global information technology and also oversaw geoscience and engineering systems, field and plant automation, information and record management, real estate and facility management, and global travel services for Occidental’s worldwide oil and gas, chemicals, pipeline, and energy marketing and trading operations

Experience  

• 40+ years of experience in the Energy Industry in the areas of E&P, mining, refining, marketing and distribution, supply chain management, midstream operations and hydrogen/alternative energy solutions. Retired after serving for 20 years as the Vice President & Chief Information Officer Occidental Petroleum Corporation
• Extensive executive leadership and business experience in many facets of the Energy industry and information technology industry. These include Vice President of Information Technology with Occidental’s natural gas pipeline and marketing subsidiary, MidCon Corp, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of KN Energy/Kinder Morgan and later as the enterprise VP & CIO in fall of 1999. Prior to that,served as Director of Technology of Island Creek Coal Corp.; Manager of E&P and NGL Systems for OXYUSA; Internal Audit Manager; and System Manager for the Refining, Marketing & Transportation activities for Cities Services Company
• Currently active in energy related professional organizations, Corporate Advisory Boards, Executive Advisory, business development activities, and charitable organizations

Education  

• Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Tulsa

  Industry Advisor, 

 Finance, Energy & Power

Focus Areas

• John has 40+ years of experience in the petroleum and electric power industries, having held leadership positions in IT innovation, business and commercial development, corporate finance, strategic planning, and administration. He is known for his strong conceptual, analytical, leadership and implementation skills.
• Identification and adoption of emerging digital technologies for significant economic benefit
• Commercial development and management of worldwide power projects 
• Strategy formulation and implementation in oil and gas exploration and production 
• Financial management, including innovative financing, economic analysis of complex projects, acquisitions and performance management and reporting 

Experience

• As Chief of Staff for BP’s Chief Technology Office (CTO), coordinated strategy, portfolio management, operations, commercial negotiations, reporting and recruiting and made key contributions to major programs and innovation processes. CTO has been profiled as a worldwide leader in innovation and the adoption of emerging technologies in numerous business school case studies and books
• Led BP Global Power business development in Americas, including successful development of an 800 MW co-generation plant and advanced development of complex project in Brazil
• Managed operating power assets in Canada and the Caribbean, led commercial development teams in Hong Kong, London and Houston and led highly successful strategic planning efforts. 
• In oil and gas, coordinated strategic planning and resource allocation for Amoco’s North American gas business, served as CFO for major Western US business unit and led departments responsible for financial and strategic analysis of worldwide capital investments and acquisitions
• Structured and negotiated a variety of financing transactions, including divestment and novel reserves-based credit facilities; led groups analyzing complex financing opportunities

Education  

• MBA Harvard Business School with concentration in finance
• Sc.B. Brown University in applied mathematics 

  Industry Advisor, 

Finance, Banking, Investments, 

Healthcare, Startups  

Focus Areas

• Finance, banking, Investments, Start-up companies and taking the companies public, Technology and Healthcare 
• Tim brings over 35 years of professional finance and accounting experience and 25 years as a chief financial officer for publicly traded biopharmaceutical companies. 
• He joined Iovance Biotherapeutics as CFO, a biotechnology company focused on immuno-oncology 
• Previous to Iovance, he held the positions of CFO at AcelRx, VIVUS, Inc and Questcor Pharmaceuticals
• He has have developed extensive deal experience, having completed over 75+ transactions with a combined value of $3+ billion
• His works at late-stage biotechnology firms has provided him with valuable experience in regulatory filings and product launches
• His commercial experience includes the launch of QSYMIA an innovative metabolic small molecule and preparations for the launch of DSUVIA in the US
• He also serves in the Board of Directors for Humanigen, (HGEN), a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology and had previously served as a Non executive director of PAION, Inc, the US subsidiary of PAION AG

Experience

• 35+ years in finance and accounting domain; 25+ years as Chief Financial Officer with public biotech firms
• Raised over $2 billion in equity and convertible securities for seven companies, completed four offerings for IOVA with over $1 billion in proceeds
• Oversaw increase in market cap of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $550 million to $4.2 billion 
• Extensive deal experience with over 75 transactions and combined value in $4+ billion
• Led the efforts to prepare commercial strategy for DSUVIA (US) and for ACRX (EU)
• Manufacturing experience includes CMO selection and resultant technology transfer for ACTHAR for QCOR
• Completed IPO as the CFO for RiboGene Inc.
• Participated in 4 NDAs approved by FDA & 2 Marketing Authorization by EMA
• Licensed CPA with 8+ years at Ernst & Young in Silicon Valley
• Non-executive Board Member at Humanigen, Inc., Audit Committee Chair, Compensation Committee member and PAION, Inc. (private), US subsidiary of PAION AG (FSE PA8)

Education

• BS, Business (Accounting), California State University
• Certified Public Accountant - California
• Qualified as an Audit Committee Financial Expert under Sarbanes-Oxley, NASDAQ, NYSE

  Industry Advisor, 

Manufacturing, Energy, Power, 

Steel, PMO

Focus Areas

• Richard Kuhn is a top performing management executive with proven track record of optimizing profits.
• Richard has a strong business background developed by conducting and directing complex agreement negotiations, leading multi-disciplinary project due diligence teams, scrutinizing facility proformas, and managing P&L of a Fortune 500 company’s operating facilities
• He has 20 years of industry experience in natural gas, power generation, structural steel fabrication, and energy industry manufacturing sector
• Known as a goal-oriented manager who consistently focuses on results and develops innovative solutions. Direct communicator with the ability to establish and achieve optimal working relationships

Experience

• Richard's experience includes positions with The Williams Company, Duke Energy North America, PKM Steel Service, AISC, Schuff North America, and Aitken Manufacturing. 
• Tasked to promote the use of structural steel in Texas through the development of personal relationships with key building industry influencers at American Institute of Steel Construction 
• Commercial operations and P&L responsibility for 4 power generation facilities in Georgia and Mississippi, totaling 3,020 mW of generation capacity, capital investment exceeding $1.25 billion, annual operating budget of $97 million at Duke Energy
• As a Director at Williams Energy Marketing & Trading, structured power deals for clients’ gas supply and risk management.
• Challenged to take unproven, $250 million Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) technology to commercial fruition
• Priced OTC basis swaps for customers and managed basis portfolio.

Education

• Masters in Business Administration from The University on Tulsa, with a concentration in finance
• Bachelor of Science Degree in Construction Science from Kansas State University 

  Industry Advisor, 

Manufacturing, Automobiles, Power, 

QMS, Lean and Six Sigma

Focus Areas

• Manufacturing Plant Operations with emphasis on Lean Production Systems
• Quality Operations Systems with Leadership experience in Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP)
• Productivity/Cost Specialist – Certified Associate Value Specialist 
• Global Product/Engineering Management with Continuous Improvement 
• Project/Program Management
• Technical/Commercial Operations – Digital Transformation
• Industry Verticals: Manufacturing, Automobile, Earth Moving Equipment and Electric Power

Experience

• 30+ years in engineering management at Ford Motor, Caterpillar and General Electric
• Coached and led Lean Manufacturing implementation of Ford Production Systems in Product Development and Manufacturing Teams.
• Managed engineering teams of direct and indirect reports including design and release engineers, packaging, manufacturing engineers, and supplier engineers. 
• Managed the Campaign Prevention process for Ford Motor Company in North America. Author of Ford Automotive Procedure for Prevent Recurrence and Campaign Prevention used to ensure Failure modes are prevented in advanced programs
• Delivered digital transformation proposals to GE Digital customers that satisfies KPI’s and help deliver results to their bottom line. Worked with regional leaders globally on specific challenges with respect to cost and deploy solutions in regions in a timely manner

Education

•  M.B.A. University of Chicago - Booth School of Business, Chicago, IL 
• M.S. Manufacturing Systems Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT
• B.S. Physics, University of Madras, Madras, India
• Black Belt Certified – Consumer Driven Six Sigma, Ford Motor Company
• Associate Value Specialist – SAVE International, General Electric

   Industry Leader, 

 Telecom, Semi-Conductors, Industrial 

Focus Areas    

• Game changer in developing and executing Product Engineering Service strategies while consulting closely with Senior Executives to align Business plans both at Strategic and Tactical Level
• Right from engineering new products in computer and Telecom Industry to impactful management of disruptive technologies 

Experience    

• Global Techno-Commercial Leader with strong credentials on managing and driving organizational growth, perceived as a trusted advisor by Senior Executives
• Client focused and results-oriented business partner, able to move easily from strategic leader to a hands-on team member
• Demonstrated skills in growing companies in domestic and International market places. 
• Hands-on International experience in US, Europe and India and in managing diverse teams in multiple countries
• Sought by C Level Executives for creative and break-through thinking to grow businesses from less than million dollars to Multi millions through strategic market focus, positioning and orchestrated sales and delivery engine

Education  

• M Tech (Electrical Engineering) from IIT Madras, India
• BE (Electronics and Communication Engineering from Sri Venkateswara University College of Engg, Tirupati, India

   Industry Leader, 

Manufacturing, Engineering, Energy & Power, Organization Change Management

Focus Areas  

• Digital Transformations to accelerate adoption of new ‘people processes’ associated with AI, Social Business, Smarter Planet, Mobile, Cognitive & Robotics
• Reshape organizations to Social enterprises that facilitate engagement with stakeholders and allows sharing of resources, skills and knowledge to drive business outcomes
• Delivering Organization Change Management associated with ERP/other industry wide technology driven changes to avoid disruption and accelerate adoption
• Project Management - associated with SAP/Oracle implementations
• Training Project Managers on Change Management
• Facilitate Design thinking workshops through Envision & Co-creation Studios for developing new digital strategy, operating model & road maps
• Reshape organizations to remote in Covid-19 era

Experience    

• 35+ years in Organization Change Management, Digital Transition & Transformation and Project Management
• Change Project Management experience includes 5 full-cycle ERP implementations, 2 ERP global roll-out projects, 9 AMS and 2 ERP upgrade projects
• Major companies worked for through IBM & LTI:
  • Utility: Chevron-San Ramon, Chevron-Argentina, US based Nuclear Power Firm 
  • Insurance: Westfield, Fannie Mae Mortgage Co, Sun Trust
  • Health/Bio-Gen: Abbot Labs, Illumina Inc 
  • Manufacturing: Caterpillar-Asia Pacific Division, Ship Building Company, L&T Switchgear & Cement 
  • EPC: Shaw Group-USA, L&T

Education  

• B.E.(Hons) – Electrical Engineering from BITS, Pilani – India
• Training - Digital Change Management; Blockchain Essentials; Social Project Management; Agile Project Management - IBM
• Senior Management Training - Management Development Institute, India
• Management Development Program for Executives - ASCI, Hyderabad
• Certified ISO-9000 Lead Assessor: ISO Auditor’s Training
• mySAP Industry-specific Utility solution SAP training - Sapient College, Bangalore 
• TQM: Train the Trainers Program – Eicher Consultancy

   Industry Leader, 

 Lean and Six Sigma, Manufacturing, Automobiles & Technology

Focus Areas

• Operational excellence in diversified manufacturing.
• Setting up Green field manufacturing Operations from Cradle to Cash, beginning with Project management for facility establishment, Technology transfer, Process deployment, People development and Product delivery
• Business Performance Enhancement through Process & People using digitalization
• Process Improvement through digitalized Lean/Six Sigma & TOC
• People development through Training, Team building, Competency Mapping, Succession Planning, and Building organizational capability
• Creating Centre of Excellence for Sourcing & Manufacturing
• Program management for Product development
• Training for tomorrow’s leadership

Experience  

• 34+ years of progressive general management experience, & 22+ years as CEO/MD of US and EU Multinational corporations in India with diversified Industry portfolio
• Diversified industry portfolio handled as business head: Auto components, Control valves, Chemical Fluids, Industrial equipment & Hydraulics components, Instrumentation Controls and Pharmaceutical Packaging
• As a business leader, successful in setting up 3 Green field manufacturing operations, and bringing the units to financial self-sustenance, through establishing local and export market for products from the operations - EU based Auto component, US based Control Automation, and US based Chemical fluids and Industrial equipment
• Technology transfer from developed corporations into developing nations and sustaining them through, creating and developing talent pool of people and supply chain ecosystem
• Proponent of “6C Coolant management system” for Machining systems
• Digital transformation of manufacturing operations.
• Lean and Six Sigma – over 100 projects guided and executed

Education  

• B.E. Electronics and Instrumentation – Annamalai University India,
• Master’s in Financial Management – NMIMS Mumbai,
• Black Belt Certified

 Industry Leader, 

Energy, Power, Technology Services, 

QMS, IT Strategy

Focus Areas

• Chartered Engineer with 30+ years of experience, in serving global Oil and Utility majors, EPC and Oil Field Service companies, across the value chain
• Partnered with clients in Americas, Middle East, Europe and India in Strategy Development and Business Value Articulation for Operational Excellence and Business Transformation programs 
• Expertise in conceptualizing, developing, and implementing industry specific domain solutions, based on Design Thinking, and leveraging disparate native apps & product suites of IBM, SAP, Oracle etc

Experience 

• Served in progressively responsible positions at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Mahindra Satyam, Infosys, Rolta and KBR 
• Lead assessor in ISO-9000 quality systems 
• Incubated a differentiated consulting team with domain leadership to deliver 200+ MUSD O&G business for 15+ clients in a network structure, that enables 2000+ software professionals understand Oil and Gas business and transform the Energy IT service landscape
• Led Process Mapping and IT strategy development for Integrated Refinery Information Systems for Middle East Oil Refining majors, to drive accurate planning, optimal operations, reliable measurement, collaborative analysis, and continuous improvement
• Functional lead in developing a prototype for a Thermal power major in India to design a solution for real time predictive advisory systems, leveraging IoT, data science and engineering. Won the NASSCOM ‘Excellence in Analytics 2015 for Innovative Business Solutions’ award

Education  

• Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Institution of Engineers, Kolkata 
• Certified Chartered Engineer
• Master’s in Human Resource Management from Andhra University

 Industry Leader, 

Change Management, HR Consulting, Industry Advisory

Focus Areas

• PROSCI certified Global Change Management Leader with strong credentials on managing and driving organizational change, perceived as a trusted advisor by Senior Executives. Client focused and results-oriented business partner, able to move easily from strategic leader to a hands-on team member
• Proven track-record in growing companies by managing change & growth, enhancing talent management and team effectiveness. Hands-on Global experience in US, Middle East, and India. 
• Developed and executed Change Management strategies while consulting closely with Senior Executives to align HR plans to Business plans both at Strategic & Tactical Level
• Effectively partnered with BCG, McKinsey and Booz Allen in rolling out Strategies both at Org and BU level
• Managed relations with Industry Advisory firm Everest Group and well exposed to TPI and Gartner Group. Utilized DDI, SHL and Hays HR Consulting firm services in enhancing internal HR systems

Experience  

• Pioneering several strategies in Talent Acquisition, Development and Management in diverse industries enabled him to earn formidable Game Changer status
• Enabled Monster to launch its India site. Effectively dealt with numerous C Level Executives and Board members and sought sponsorship in diverse pursuits. Experienced in due diligence and workforce integration pre and post M&A and JV's
• In Nov 2010 launched Smart Manning Inc in Dallas, TX for offering HR Services including Talent Management, Organizational Change and People Transformation services
• In corporate world was associated with leading Organizations namely TATA STEEL, Tata Timken, SOL Group, Oriental Group, Tech Mahindra, LNT. As Global HR leader held Leadership positions in diverse companies, global conglomerates and start up tech companies
• Successfully led HR for two IT services organizations which eventually had a listing on NASDAQ & NYSE

Education    

• MBA in HR from XLRI, India
• MA in Economics from Rajasthan University and BA(Hons) Economics from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, India