Varolii Management
We've Assembled a Group of Top-Tier Industry Leaders
David McCann
President and Chief Executive Officer
David McCann, Varolii Corporation's President and Chief Executive Officer, is a veteran software executive and has previously served as CEO for several successful venture-backed software startups in addition to holding senior leadership positions with several Fortune 500 companies. McCann has more than 25 years of executive experience leading sales, marketing, product management and engineering organizations to complement his CEO leadership. Most recently, he was general manager of the Windows Server Product Management team at Microsoft in the Server & Cloud Division of the Server & Tools Business. Prior to Microsoft, McCann served as the CEO for two privately-funded companies — Electronic Evidence, Inc. and CarParts Technologies. He also served as senior vice president of Products and Strategy at FileNet Software Inc., which he helped grow to $450 million in revenue prior to its acquisition by IBM in 2006. McCann was also senior vice president for Worldwide Marketing and Strategy for Open Servers and Software with Unisys Corporation, where he spent almost 10 years of his early career.
McCann holds a master's degree in English from Glasgow University in Scotland, as well as a BA in history and economic history.
Leila Kirske
Chief Financial Officer
Leila Kirske, Varolii Corporation's Chief Financial Officer, oversees all financial, accounting and treasury functions for the company. Tasked with ensuring the financial health of the company, Kirske's priorities include enhancing the treasury of the company and creating a financial partnership structure aligned with the needs of the customer.
Kirske's 26 years' experience includes 14 years in senior positions with leading technology companies where she was instrumental in overseeing financial growth strategies including several substantial IPOs. Prior to joining Varolii, Kirske was VP of Finance and Controller at Clearwire. She also held executive positions with Washington Mutual, Med Data and BSquare and director roles with Mosaix and Spacelabs Medical. She started her financial career in public accounting, and spent 7 years in the industry, working as an staff auditor and then as an audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Kirske is a Certified Public Accountant with an active license and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Washington.
John Pierson
Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Services
John Pierson has more than 25 years of experience successfully leading and growing software, technology and services organizations. Pierson began his career at Hewlett-Packard and then moved to SAP before serving as an executive sales and field operations leader for companies such as Intermec Technologies, Hyperion Solutions, and Global 360. Most recently, he was senior vice president at Birst, Inc., a privately held business intelligence software start-up in San Francisco. Throughout his career, Pierson has significantly increased revenue, streamlined client support and consulting functions, and built go-to-market strategies that consistently exceeded business goals.
Pierson holds a bachelor's degree in Marketing and Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Steve Weick
Vice President, Engineering
Steve Weick, Varolii Corporation's VP of Engineering, is a veteran engineering executive with a track record of creating and delivering exceptional software products. Weick has over 40 years of experience leading the creation, planning and execution of products for database systems, communications and application development. Previously, Weick served as Chief Technology Officer and VP of engineering and product development for Encirq Software, leading development and deployment of data management applications. He has also served as a senior VP for Agentis Software, Informix Software and MapInfo Corporation. Weick also spent 20 years of his early career at IBM, where he led the development of the first release of DB2.
Weick holds an MBA from Pepperdine University and a BS in mathematics from Purdue University.
Patrick Chaney
Vice President, Professional Services
Patrick Chaney has more than 20 years of experience leading and directing professional services, software development, information technology and customer support for enterprise software companies. As vice president of Professional Services, Chaney heads up Varolii's professional services team, which deploys applications for major Fortune 1000 corporations in key industries such as healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, utilities and retail. He is also tasked with increasing client satisfaction through improved internal processes and organizational collaboration across the company. Prior to joining Varolii, Chaney was vice president of Professional and Managed Services at QPass, a division of Amdocs. He has also held senior positions at Portal Software, a mid-sized CRM vendor, and Cambridge Technology Partners as well as spent eight years in his early career at Boeing.
Chaney holds a master's degree in Software Engineering from Seattle University and a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Seattle Pacific University.
Jeff Shelby, Vice President & General Counsel
Vice President and General Counsel
Jeff Shelby oversees legal affairs for Varolii, drawing on his deep experience in intellectual property, technology licensing and corporate and securities law. Shelby's proficiencies extend to mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, licensing, SEC compliance, corporate governance and business matters specific to technology companies.
Prior to joining Varolii, Shelby was an attorney with Heller Ehrman LLP, a Global 100 law firm, where he practiced in the Venture Law Group, representing public and private companies in the life sciences, information technology and retail sectors. Previously he was as an attorney for Cooley Godward LLP. Before practicing law, Shelby was in operations management at United Airlines, and also served in the United States Army.
Shelby received his law degree from the University of Washington School of Law, an MBA in Finance from San Francisco State University, and a BS in Business and Commerce from Embry-Riddle University.
Joel Chaplin
Vice President, Operations
Joel Chaplin has more than 20 years of technology and software-as-a-service (SaaS) experience, building reliable, secure, on-demand solutions. As Vice President of Operations, Chaplin leads Varolii's operations team, including network and data infrastructure architects, database administration, systems engineering and 7x24 client services groups. He works in partnership with the executive team to optimize the company's ability to expand further into key markets including financial services, healthcare, contact centers, transportation and utilities.
Prior to Varolii, Chaplin led the development of a new IT infrastructure for Virtuoso as chief information officer (CIO) and vice president of information technology. He has also served as the senior vice president of IT operations and enterprise systems at Motricity, a leading provider of mobile data solutions. Chaplin transitioned to Motricity following its acquisition of InfoSpace where he served as CIO and vice president of information technology. During his 9-year tenure at InfoSpace, he led the company through numerous acquisitions as well as optimizing IT operations and leading the continuous improvement of their global SaaS platform services. Prior to InfoSpace, Chaplin held leadership roles at Go2Net and spent 12 years with Boeing as Manager of Technical Services.
Chaplin graduated from Washington State University with a degree in Business Administration.
Sharath Dorbala
Vice President, Product Management & Strategy
Sharath Dorbala has more than a decade of experience working with top enterprises, helping them improve end-customer experiences. Dorbala oversees product strategy and the development of solutions for customers in the healthcare, financial services, utilities, telecommunications and retail industries.
Prior to joining Varolii, Dorbala was an executive with Amdocs, a global company specializing in customer experience systems delivering advanced business support systems. He most recently served as vice president of product management and strategy for the Amdocs CRM division (formerly Clarify), where he led global product strategy. While at Amdocs, he also helped develop the Smart Agent Desktop to improve call center efficiencies and laid the foundation for its new digital services.
Dorbala has a master's degree in information systems from Northeastern University and a master's degree in economics and management sciences from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science.
Will Longman
Chief Security Officer
As Chief Security Officer, Will Longman oversees Varolii's security programs, a comprehensive suite of policy and controls that support security governance, risk management, and compliance across the enterprise. He partners with the executive team to maintain the company's stellar security record and support further expansion into key markets including financial services, healthcare, contact centers, transportation and utilities.
Longman has more than 25 years of experience as a security leader in public and private companies as well as government. Previously, he was Senior Director Global Security and Compliance at Motricity, a provider of mobile data SaaS solutions. He has also served as the Senior Director of Information Security at Infospace.
Longman holds a BS in Computer Science from National University and a certificate in Digital Forensics. He also served as a commissioned officer in the US Navy for more than 20 years.
Kael Kelly
Senior Director, Marketing
Kael Kelly, Senior Director, Marketing brings more than 15 years of experience of technology marketing to the team. As the head of the marketing department and member of Varolii's leadership team, Kelly sets the strategic direction and drives objectives and deliverables for five marketing and PR teams: marketing communications, demand generation, installed base marketing, channel marketing and public relations.
During his 11-year tenure with the company, Kelly has played a key role in building Varolii from a start-up to an emergent business with 245 employees and more than $60 million in revenue. His collaboration with executive leaders has positively impacted the company's revenue generation, brand development and customer satisfaction and retention. Prior to joining Varolii, Kelly held positions in sales, market research and product management in the telecommunications, Internet and software industries.
Kelly graduated with a bachelor's degree in Industrial Organization Psychology from Western Washington University, and earned an MBA with a focus in marketing and finance from the University of Oregon.