As companies in the digital marketplace expand to meet pandemic-induced demand, many are installing new executive leaders with long, solid histories of delivering against set goals.
The following three companies — FanDuel, Veracode and IntelyCare — are riding a wave of growth this year and recently hired new leaders to help get them there. So what does it take to become one of these execs who can deliver over and over again — often over the course of 20 years?
No matter the industry or the role — product for gaming, cloud operations for app security or engineering for healthtech — the most valuable skill all three possess is the ability to consistently build and lead high-performing teams.
Sarah Butterfass, CPO at FanDuel
The company: Since its founding as a fantasy sports betting company during a backyard brainstorm in 2009, New York City-based FanDuel has grown into a multibillion-dollar player in the gaming industry. That growth includes an expansion to online casino and horse race betting products, and the launch of sportsbooks in at least five states. Naturally, the company has its eyes on further geographic expansion, and its chief product officer will be key for adjusting products to the regulatory environments of each market.
Behind the move: FanDuel is betting on Sarah Butterfass’ 20 years of experience developing and launching products at major online brands like Groupon, Orbitz and E*TRADE.
“Product innovation and enhancing the customer experience is at the heart of everything we do at FanDuel Group,” CEO Matt King said in a press release announcing Butterfass’ appointment last month. “Sarah’s deep digital experience, passion for building high performing teams and delivering world-class customer experiences will be incredibly valuable as we lead our industry forward.”
Brian Roche, SVP of Engineering and Cloud Operations at Veracode
The company: Veracode is a Massachusetts-based application security company, helping more than 2,000 customers across a wide range of industries make security part of their development process. The cloud-based SaaS provides an overview of software security defects on web, mobile and third-party enterprise applications. Veracode’s work caught the eye of private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo, which acquired the company in late 2018 for $950 million to establish its presence in the application security space.
Behind the move: With the COVID-19 pandemic pushing more of our lives — and consequently, our personal data — online, Brian Roche’s new job as senior vice president of engineering and cloud operations is more important than ever. In fact, at the time of Roche’s hiring, Veracode released its annual State of Software Security report, which found that the majority of applications have at least one security flaw making them vulnerable to data leaks — and that fixing them usually takes months. Roche brings 20 years of engineering leadership at software and service companies, where he implemented DevSecOps and SaaS-based solutions at scale.
Prashanth Gali, SVP of Engineering at IntelyCare
The company: Massachusetts-based IntelyCare is both a platform and mobile app that uses machine learning to match skilled nurses to facilities with open shifts to fill. The algorithm actually creates shifts before the facilities even know they are needed, which IntelyCare says reduces costs and turnover rates for the facilities and burnout for the nurses.
Demand for IntelyCare has increased rapidly since its launch in 2017. In the last three years, the company has filled more than 3 million shift hours with its nurses, with two-thirds of those hours logged since March 2019. IntelyCare also raised $45 million in a Series B round earlier this year and doubled its revenue in the past year, earning spot No. 41 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing U.S. companies.
Behind the move: Hiring Prashanth Gali as its senior vice president of engineering is part of IntelyCare’s broader expansion of its leadership team to keep up with the company’s momentum and plans to expand. Gali has 20 years of software engineering experience under his belt — including previous work in the healthtech space — and key skills like managing platform integrations and designing end-to-end solutions.
“We are excited to have brought on new senior-level executives and to infuse our strategy with their deep expertise and passion for the work we do,” said John Shagoury, IntelyCare’s president and chief operating officer.