Jay Amato

CEO

Jay is widely recognized for his expertise and experience identifying breakthrough technologies and business opportunities, nurturing them into viable enterprises, leading the turnaround of challenged organizations, and designing pivot strategies for companies in need of reinvention.

Before launching datafuelX, Jay served as founding General Manager of OpenAP, the television industry’s first open platform for cross-publisher audience targeting. He has also served as President and CEO of (NASDAQ) Viewpoint Corporation. The turnaround of Viewpoint was featured in the book "Sudden Impact on the Job, Top Business Leaders Reveal the Secrets to Fast Success” by Susan Quandt. As President and COO at (NYSE) Vanstar Corporation, he spearheaded the transformation from a $25 million retail computer franchiser to a $2.8 billion services and infrastructure provider.

In his spare time, you’ll find Jay on his Peloton, roaming the streets with his camera or tinkering with one of his cars.

Joanna Drews

Board of Directors

Joanna Drews is the Cofounder and President of HyphaMetrics, an independent quality data supplier offering an all-encompassing view of what the world is watching. Drews has spent over a decade in the media space, working across disciplines including marketing/branding, data analytics, media measurement and research products, and business development. She accumulated this experience through her time spent at Comscore, Axwave, GroupM, iCrossing, and Interbrand.

Throughout her career, Drews witnessed the widespread frustration that arose out of the lack of true cross-platform media data and put herself at the forefront of finding a solution— which ultimately led to the creation of HyphaMetrics. Drews received a B.A. from Temple University, where she majored in Advertising. In addition to her work with HyphaMetrics, she is on the Board of Directors for datafuelX, the Board of Advisors for Affinity Solutions, and the Client Advisory Board for Captify.

Jo Kinsella

Board of Directors

Jo Kinsella is an accomplished executive and passionate leader with deep experience driving strong business growth and bringing to market innovative SaaS platform across tech industries. As a 20-year software veteran, and with a background that spans expertise in emerging companies, fintech and media and technology enterprises globally, Jo understands how to scale and differentiate value for all companies.

Most recently, Jo was President of TVSquared, a global TV measurement company, which she co-founded with a team in Scotland and was the first US employee. Ten years later, she successfully exited to Innovid (NYSE: CTV) in 2022. Jo is credited with being at the forefront of media and technology, helping to transform the advertising industry with the evolution of TV ad measurement. Prior to TVSquared, Jo held executive positions within FinTech.

Jo builds teams of extraordinary talent, champions diversity and is recognized as a thought leader. She also mentors women in tech and is part of She Runs It. She won Wonder Woman of New York in 2021.

Previously an Ironman triathlete, Jo loves yoga, the ocean and her top priority is her teenage daughter Molly.

Howard Shimmel

Head of Strategy, Board of Directors

Howard is a trusted industry leader who delivers superior research expertise related to technology adoption, methodology and advertising’s impact on sales.

Currently, in addition to his role with datafuelX, he is President of the Janus Strategy and Insights research consultancy. Previously, Shimmel was Chief Research Officer at Turner Broadcasting, where he oversaw all research for multiplatform entertainment, news, kids, and sports brands, as well as corporate analysis and insight-led efforts. Shimmel also served as SVP, Ad Sales and Sports Research for Turner.

Before that, he was EVP at Nielsen Media & Advertising Analytics. Shimmel’s industry-rich experience includes leadership roles at America Online, WBIS, Symmetric Resources, and MTV Networks.

Michael Strober

Board of Directors

Michael is a recognized business leader with more than 25 years of expertise in advertising sales, marketing, and product innovation.

Currently, he is Founder and President of The Topwater Advisory Group Inc., a strategic consultancy that helps clients navigate the rapidly changing media landscape to capture value from the intersection of media and technology.

Before forming Topwater, Michael served as EVP, Client Strategy & Ad Innovation, at Turner Broadcasting, where he launched Turner Ignite, the solutions arm of Turner Ad Sales. Michael was a founding member of the OpenAP Board of Directors, a consortium created by Turner, Viacom and FOX to promote the advancement of audience-based media buying.

Carlos Albarran

Sr. Cloud DevOps Engineer

Carlos is certified as a Google Cloud Platform Trainer, Google Cloud Architect, and Google Cloud Data Engineer. He has many years of experience as a DevOps Engineer, working with GCP for the last 7 years. Also, he has experience with IAM, Cloud Build, GitHub, Cloud Deploy, Cloud Run, Terraform, Artifact Registry, Airflow, Cloudflare, Python, and JavaScript. He has worked with SAML and OIDC. He also has experience with various SQL databases, including PostgreSQL. Carlos will work closely with the Technology, and Product and Partnership Success teams to further secure, automat, optimize and scale our DevOps processes.

When his head isn't in the Clouds, Carlos enjoys biking, watching movies and spending time with family.

Alexander Artavia

Technical Project Manager

Hailing from San Jose, Costa Rica, Alexander is a successful Technical Project Manager with over 12 years in the tech industry. With a solid track record in managing complex projects from initiation to maturity, he has also helped companies seamlessly transition to agile development. His multifaceted background includes Agile Coaching, Architecture Consultancy, Product Management, and API Development. Outside work, Alexander is a sports enthusiast who enjoys quality time with his family, often watching movies and TV shows together.

Caitlin Barter

Director, Partnership Success

Caitlin is a media professional with expertise in partnership success supporting data-driven linear SaaS products.

She started her DDL journey with clypd, continuing through the Xandr acquisition. Prior to joining datafuelX, she was managing the customer success team for Xandr’s TV Platform. She was an expert on the product and supported relationships with the Monetize TV sell-side users as well as Invest TV buy-side users. Prior to her DDL days, Caitlin had years of hands-in-the-weeds experience leading media planning, reporting, and execution across a variety of advertising verticals.

When she is not working, she loves to travel, is an avid reader, and most often can be found in her kitchen cooking and baking.

Wes Chaar, Ph.D

Strategic Advisor, Data Science

Wes is an established thought leader with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of Analytics and Data Science.

Chaar is formerly Chief Data & Analytics officer at Catalina USA, overseeing global efforts to extend the company’s data and insights division.

Before Catalina, Chaar served in various roles at Delta Air Lines, Turner / TimeWarner and Sabre Holdings. He holds a PhD from The University of Texas at Austin and is a member of IEEE, INFORMS and I-COM.

Gustavo Conde

Sr. Quality Assurance Engineer

Gustavo is a Certified (ISTQB-CTFL) Senior Quality Assurance Engineer, with an impressive 10-year track record in the field, which includes 5 years of specialization in automation testing. He is well-versed in the art of designing and executing comprehensive test cases across all testing levels, employing a wide array of methods such as functional, non-functional, white-box testing, and static testing techniques. His expertise extends to the seamless integration of test cases into continuous integration (CI) pipelines, thereby enhancing testing efficiency. Moreover, he excels in UI automation end-to-end (E2E) and API Automation using Cypress.

Gustavo's skill set also encompasses the critical task of validating data integrity within databases and data pipelines, ensuring the utmost accuracy and completeness. His dedication is unwavering when it comes to delivering top-tier testing solutions that consistently surpass client expectations.

When he’s not working to improve our solution quality, Gustavo greatly values quality time with family and friends. He’s also an enthusiastic reader, enjoying Stephen King thrillers and comics from Marvel and DC, and relishing binge-watching sci-fi series to unwind.

Marcelo Entraigas

Sr. Frontend Engineer

Marcelo is a talented JavaScript engineer, who has been focused on front-end development for over five years. His prior work with Vue.js has prepared him to work with our engineering and product teams to bring our M3 applications to life. Marcelo is from Córdoba, Argentina and holds a Systems Engineering degree in Information Technologies from Argentina’s prestigious Universidad Tecnológica Nacional.

Kylie Fass

Partnership Success Associate

Kylie is a professional in the dynamic field of media and advertising. She has successfully navigated key roles across Video Partnerships and National Video Investment. In her most recent position as a Senior Negotiator, she worked with a team overseeing the QuickBooks Intuit account. Through strategic analysis of data, Kylie crafted insights influencing their linear and digital buys.

Prior to this, Kylie worked as a Senior Associate along with a team to manage the National Video Investment across HBO, negotiating efficient prices, and securing program shifts. Earlier in her career, Kylie honed her skills as an Assistant Media Buyer, where she resolved discrepancies and ensured seamless scheduling of commercials.

In her free time, Kylie enjoys watching all things reality and doing pilates to stay active and centered.

David Flores

Sr. Backend Engineer

David has worked for more than 8 years as a fullstack engineer. With experience developing web applications, APIs, and micro-services, he is currently focused on backend engineering. David graduated from Instituto Tecnologico de Toluca in 2017 with a Systems Engineering degree in Information Technologies. He has worked with multiple tech stacks but most recently focused on python and vuejs.

In his spare time, David likes to study animation and game development.

Benjamin Garfield

Senior Software Engineer

Ben is a Sr. Software Engineer who thrives on reining in complex systems to make them more manageable over time. He worked at clypd for many years, through the Xandr acquisition, before taking a short break from the ad tech world. When he's not knee-deep in technology, he can be found reading or seeking out great eats in the Greater Boston area.

Rajesh Gopinathan

Principal Big Data Architect

Rajesh Gopinathan is an experienced architect in Big Data and Cloud technologies with expertise in designing and building enterprise level Data Lake, Lakehouse & Warehouse solutions.

With more than two decades of experience in engineering and innovation, he brings an extensive technical knowledge in software systems, data engineering, distributed computing, ML engineering and cloud computing. His career has spanned multiple architect roles across several industries including Healthcare and Digital Marketing.

Prior to joining datafuelX, Rajesh worked as a Sr Big Data Architect at Catalina Marketing where he was instrumental in building a cloud based Big Data platform for Analytics team, design various analytics & ML solutions and implement DevOps & MLOps.

Rajesh lives in Florida with his wife and two kids and enjoys everything the sunshine state has to offer. His interests include reading, traveling, biking, playing chess & RTS games.

Brad Imbach

VP, Product Engineerings and Development

Brad Imbach is an experienced engineering leader specializing in the development of machine learning-based solutions, data engineering, data analytics, decision support, and cloud solutions.

As VP of Product Engineering and Development for datafuelX, he oversees advancement of new products and innovation as well as development of scalable solutions that publishers, agencies and brands can utilize alongside their advertising technology of choice to accelerate their business and grow revenue opportunities.

Imbach was formerly VP, Data and Audience Insights at Fyllo, the leader in compliance-first solutions for highly regulated industries, where he helped build advanced audience segmentation capabilities to leverage their unique proprietary consumer data for use by brands across the national advertising landscape.

When he’s not in front of a keyboard, Brad enjoys mountain biking, rock climbing, reading, and travelling.

Before joining Fyllo in 2021, Imbach spent nearly two decades with WarnerMedia, most recently as Head of Data and Machine Learning Product Development.

Akanesi Junaid

Company Coordinator

Akanesi holds a degree in Urban Planning and Design from The University of Albany (SUNY) and has experience in various roles including Executive Assistant, Office Manager and Events Coordinator. She has worked at WeWork Inc as a Senior Associate and at a strategic consulting startup 150Bond as an Office Manager. She has an understanding of corporate procedures and is a well-rounded individual with a wealth of skills and experiences. In her free time, she enjoys the arts, music, literature and sports.

Spencer Lambert

VP, Product & Partnership Success

Spencer is an advanced advertising strategist with a track record of scaling small teams, businesses, and companies.

Prior to joining datafuelX, Spencer spent several years implementing data-driven linear plans on the Ad Innovation team at Warner Media before moving to Horizon Media to focus on performance-based compensation partnerships with emerging brands.

In his free time, Spencer can be found buried in a dry history book, cheering on the New England Patriots, or running along the West Side Highway.

Guanghui Liu

VP, Data Science

Guanghui is an experienced data science leader and subject matter expert in optimization modeling, predictive modeling, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and mathematical algorithms. He has proven track record of applying state of the art data science, advanced analytics, and operations research to solve business problems.

Guanghui has extensive cross-industry experience in Airline, Financial Services, Retail, CPG, Media and Marketing. He worked at United Airlines and developed and implemented decision tools to solve large-scale airline schedule optimization and revenue optimization problems. He worked at Discover Financial Services and deployed credit-card forecast and optimization models in B2C and B2B marketing acquisition, risk mitigation, and portfolio optimization. Prior to datafuelX, he served as Principal Data Scientist at Catalina Marketing, where he played instrumental roles in developing and implementing ML/AI tools to expand targeting universe, optimize media advertising pricing, measure Ad performance, attribute credits of sales to multi-touch points across omni-channels, and optimize returns on Ad spend. His innovative work resulted in tens of millions of profits and cost savings for the companies he worked.

Guanghui published numerous operations research papers in journals like SIAM J. Optimization, J. Optimization, J. Optimization Theory and Applications, etc.

Daniel Maldonado

Sr. Data Engineer

Daniel is a Data Engineer with knowledge of building data pipelines and cloud solutions with AWS and GCP. With over 12 years of experience in the IT industry, he has worked with several industries including finance, insurance, real estate, digital marketing, technology, and now media.

Daniel lives in Mexico City and loves going to concerts and music festivals with friends. His main hobbies are playing video games, collecting legos and going to the movies.

Abhya Pandey

Senior Data Analyst

Abhya is a data science and marketing professional, passionate about the intersection between media, entertainment, and technology. Before joining datafuelX, she worked at CNN, Warner Bros. Discovery as a Research and Analytics Intern. Prior to CNN, she gained experience working with multiple marketing and PR agencies, where she provided data-driven solutions and strategies to drive clients efforts to scale their business.

Abhya holds an MS in Marketing Analytics from Clark Univeristy, MA and MBA (PDGM in Media and Entertainment). She is also a writer, poet, and content creator with a love for music.

Hamilton Pinheiro

Senior Frontend Engineer

Hamilton has over 5 years of experience developing cutting-edge web application front ends using many of the same tools we do, such as Vue3, PrimeVue, and Nuxt. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from Uniderp in Brazil.

Steve Popper

VP, Technology

Steve is a successful AdTech entrepreneur, CTV innovator and SaaS technology executive.

Before joining datafuelX, Steve was CTO at antuit.ai, a Goldman Sachs portfolio company, recruited to drive transition from professional services-oriented point solutions to a SaaS product company. Grew and led the global engineering team, responsible for architecture, development, implementation, scaling and support of antuit’s advanced AI-powered cloud-native SaaS Platform securely delivering substantial business benefits to world-class Fortune 1000 retail and consumer product companies.

Previously, as CTO at Vidillion, Steve rapidly pioneered a market leading SSP for CTV and OTT video advertising, enabling creation of new ad inventory, and auction, delivery and tracking of billions of ad impressions. He and his team invented real-time video splicing technology, enabling individually targeted live streaming ad replacement for Internet video and IPTV systems, innovative server-side ACR solution for identifying ad inventory for SSDAI in OTT linear broadcast streams, and increased performance, scale and reliability through implementation of hybrid public-private cloud technology, big data pipelines and next-gen databases tools.

When not geeking out on adtech, Steve enjoys hiking, biking, kayaking and skiing, especially around Lake Tahoe and Hawaii.

Joe Reed

Sr. Data Engineer

Joe has IT Engineering experience through a career of diverse roles ranging from data analysis to relational database administration to software engineering and analytics architecture.

Joe formerly worked at Freethink Media as a Senior Analytics Engineer. In this role, he helped select and set up the technology stack of GCP, Big Query, Fivetran, and dbt. He also built pipelines to extract data from many social media platforms.

Before Freethink, Joe worked at Fyllo as a Senior Analytics Architect. In this role, he collaborated with the Data and Analytics team members to build and maintain Fyllo's Airflow orchestration infrastructure, develop and administer data pipelines, and automate data movement jobs.

Joe also worked at Turner/WarnerMedia as an Analytics Architect, collaborating with Data & Machine Learning Products team members to transition data science strategies into effective business solutions. He developed and administered data pipelines, launched machine learning models into a production environment, and utilized application programming interface (API) endpoints to automate data extraction from third-party vendors.

In his free time, he enjoys walking, cycling, reading, yoga, and spending time with his wife and daughter.

Eduardo Treviño

Advanced UI/UX Designer

Eduardo Trevino is a Product Designer from Monterrey, Mexico. His goal at datafuelX is to help craft the perfect user experience and UI for our customers. He has been a part of many successful SaaS, e-commerce, and mobile digital products. His values are perfectionism, work ethic, and innovation. Outside of work, he is passionate about learning languages and the arts.