Tom Chavez

Founder and CEO

As Rapt's Founding CEO, Tom Chavez developed the original business plan and led the company's build-out from 1999 until it was acquired by Microsoft in early 2008. Prior to Rapt, Tom worked in operations at Sun Microsystems and as a researcher at the Rockwell Palo Alto Science Lab. Tom earned a PhD in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research at Stanford and an AB in Computer Science and Philosophy from Harvard.

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Michael Albrecht

Vice President, Professional Services

As Vice President of Professional Services, Michael Albrecht is responsible for the installation, configuration, and implementation of Rapt's products within customer environments.

Michael brings over 15 years of high-tech Professional Services experience to Rapt, including responsibilities in large-scale enterprise implementations, strategy services, education, and technical support. Michael has successfully led large-scale implementation teams and distributed services teams for software, electronics, mobile, and shipping industries.

Before Rapt, Michael led North America Services for Macrovision, where he managed the successful implementation of installation and software licensing products. Prior to Macrovision, Michael held leadership roles at Breakthrough Technologies, a provider of custom software solutions, and at BearingPoint, where he led a software strategy practice and several large-scale SAP implementations. Michael earned an MBA from Columbia University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan.

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James Deaker

Vice President, Advisory Services

As Vice President, Advisory Services, James Deaker oversees the delivery of consulting engagements that help Rapt clients improve their yield management capabilities through the combination of insights from quantitative analysis, improved decision making processes, and the implementation of best-in-class organizational structures.

Prior to his current role, James held various leadership positions in Rapt's Professional Services organization, including management of the Business Consulting and Engagement Management functions. Since joining Rapt in 2004 he has led software deployments and advisory services engagements at a number of Rapt clients, including iVillage, TACODA, MTV Networks, and About.com.

Before Rapt, James was a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he worked on a range of strategy and operational advisory projects. James earned Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research from Stanford University. He also has Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Engineering Science from Auckland University in New Zealand.

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Pascal Bensoussan

Vice President, Product Management

As Vice President of Product Management, Pascal is responsible for driving Rapt's product roadmap, new product opportunities, and product requirements. With more than 12 years of product management practice and expertise in Pricing, Asset Management and Decision Analysis, Pascal brings structure and creativity to the delivery of Rapt's unique analytic software platform. Prior to assuming this role, Pascal was Sr. Director of Product Management and has been with Rapt since June 2000. Prior to Rapt, Pascal spent four years with Sun Microsystems' Worldwide Operations organization responsible for the design and implementation of several supply chain initiatives. Earlier in his career, he worked for CDC Asset Management in New York and Credit Commercial de France in Paris, designing and delivering risk management applications to help traders manage complex portfolios of financial assets. Pascal holds a BS in Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique, an MS in Economics, Networks and Planning from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees and a MS in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University.

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Ben Crain

Vice President, Marketing & Alliances

As Vice President, Marketing & Alliances, Ben Crain is responsible for Rapt's corporate marketing as well as marketing, business development, and go-to-market strategy. Ben has spent the last fifteen years focusing on the data, processes, and tools that sit behind advertising and marketing decision-making for both traditional and digital media. Prior to joining Rapt, Ben spent eight years with Microsoft Corporation, most recently directing worldwide yield strategy within MSN Global Sales and Marketing. In this capacity, he oversaw the strategy, planning, and management of the online portal's advertising assets worldwide. During his tenure at Microsoft, Ben served in a variety of sales and business management positions both at the company's Redmond headquarters and in the New York field office. Early in his career, Ben held a number of sales operations and client service roles while working for cable advertising giant Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. He received a BS in Media Communications from Florida State University.

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Michael (Moishe) Goldbach

Vice President, Products and Engineering

As Vice President, Products and Engineering, Moishe drives the definition and development of Rapt's monetization platform. He joined Rapt in 1999 with over ten years of economics, mathematical modeling and software development experience. Prior to assuming his current role, he held various leadership roles in Engineering and Professional Services where he was responsible for the development of Rapt's analytic engine and the management of Rapt's Decision Engineering group. He has also served as Decision Architect and Client Partner on select customer engagements. Prior to Rapt, he developed artificial intelligence software for ISG Technologies and the Toronto Hospital for application in medical imaging. He received a BASc in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Canada and a PhD in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research from Stanford University.

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Russell J. Notides

Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer

As Rapt's Chief Financial Officer, Russ manages, directs, and coordinates the finance and administrative activities required to grow the company, including all aspects of accounting and finance, investor relations, and corporate funding as well as operational activities, such as facilities management, Human Resources, and general administrative functions.

He joined Rapt following eight years with Bank of America in various international management and technology banking positions including serving as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for Bank of America in South East Asia. He managed the bank's business and overall strategic and tactical direction, achieving record revenues and profitability for the business during a highly volatile period. Additionally, he worked with a wide range of technology companies in senior positions with Bank of America, Prudential Securities, and Citicorp, with a focus in management, underwriting, general corporate finance, and merger and acquisition roles. He received a BA in Political Science from Lake Forest College and attended Stanford University Business School's Advanced Management Program.

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David W. Smith

Vice President, Sales

As Vice President of Sales, David Smith is responsible for extending Rapt's presence by leading sales, business development and account management efforts. Prior to assuming this role, David was Vice President of Professional Services where he was focused on leading key strategic consulting services and standardizing and implementing replicable service approaches that deliver rapid return on investment for Rapt's customers. He has also served as a Client Partner managing Rapt's successful implementation and sales activities at MSN and Seagate Technologies.

David joined Rapt with more than 20 years of management consulting experience. At Trilogy, he led the development, delivery, and sales of high-value opportunities, including the development and delivery of pricing solutions for Fortune 100 companies. He also led product strategy and sales efforts for enterprise-based software solutions with a focus on Strategic Sourcing and the Manufacturing Supply Chain for Verticalnet. Earlier in his career, he built and led high-performing environmental management practices at A.T. Kearney, KPMG Peat Marwick and Booz Allen & Hamilton. He received a BA in Economics from American University and a JD from George Washington University.

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Vivek S. Vaidya

Chief Technology Officer

As Chief Technology Officer, Vivek is responsible for technology strategy across Rapt's entire solution set. He joined Rapt in 1999, holding a number of roles in which he drove key architecture decisions, spearheaded new engineering initiatives, and co-managed Rapt's engineering group. He has extensive expertise in algorithms, data mining and machine learning technologies, computer networking, and enterprise web application architectures. Prior to Rapt, Vivek was at Imparto Software Corp. where he was responsible for the design and development of Imparto's Web Marketing automation software suite using the industry standard J2EE platform and CORBA. Before Imparto, Vivek spent 2 years as a member of the founding engineering team at Parsec Technologies, one of the first companies to develop and market Interactive Voice Response systems in India. He has a MS in Computer Science from the University of Denver and an MS in Mathematics and Computer Applications from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

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Xavier Y. Zang

Executive Vice President, Field Operations

Xavier Y. Zang is Executive Vice President of Field Operations at Rapt. In this role, he has responsibility for all external operating units including Sales, Marketing and Professional Services. As EVP Field Ops, he drives the implementation of the company’s growth strategy and shepherds the company’s media industry thought leadership initiatives. Xavier continues to serve in an advisory capacity to senior client executives and is a Business School and conference speaker. He earned an MBA from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and a BA from the University of Notre Dame.

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