Meet Our Previous Mastermind Facilitators

World-class experts and thought leaders in artificial intelligence

Canay Deniz

CEO and Co-Founder

Ren

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Canay Deniz

CEO and Co-Founder of Ren

Canay Deniz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ren, the AI-powered relationship intelligence platform that helps client-facing professionals at firms like DSG Global, Riviera, and Klein Hersh, act on the moments that matter in their networks before their competitors do. Prior to Ren, Canay was the US MD at Teralytics, a data analytics company specializing in machine learning. He holds a master’s degree in industrial engineering from ETH Zurich.

Expertise

Gobhanu Korisepati

CEO and Co-Founder

Vela

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Gobhanu Korisepati

CEO and Co-Founder of Vela

Gobhanu Korisepati is the co-founder and CEO of Vela, a Y Combinator-backed AI recruiting coordinator built for executive search and other complex hiring environments. Vela handles the scheduling process from end to end—including outreach, follow-ups, rescheduling and confirmations—across email, text and WhatsApp. Gobhanu leads the company’s strategy and growth as it works to eliminate the time-consuming coordination that slows recruiters and search professionals down. Y Combinator Before founding Vela, Gobhanu gained experience in artificial intelligence and growth at Boston Consulting Group and Perplexity. He attended the Huntsman Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School before leaving to focus full-time on Vela. An entrepreneur from an unusually young age, he previously founded SWIFTmfi, a microfinance initiative that disbursed loans across 77 countries, and was selected as a Z Fellow.

Expertise

Joe Ewing

Chief Technology Officer

Clarion

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Joe Ewing

Chief Technology Officer at Clarion

Joe builds secure, scalable AI and technology platforms that deliver real-world impact. Over the past 20 years, he has led enterprise and AI modernization across commercial, highly regulated, public-sector, and defense environments, working at the intersection of engineering, governance, and policy to turn complex, high-risk initiatives into trusted, mission-critical systems.

Over the past 20 years, Joe has built, modernized, and scaled complex technology platforms across commercial, highly regulated, and defense environments. His experience includes large-scale enterprise implementations, AI-enabled and data-integrated systems, and modernization efforts supporting mission-critical workflows. His work spans generative AI, advanced analytics, automation, cloud platforms, and enterprise application modernization.

Expertise

KEN VANCINI

Founder & CEO, Innova International

Host & Facilitator, Executive Search AI Mastermind Summit

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KEN VANCINI

Founder & CEO, Innova International

Host & Facilitator, Executive Search AI Mastermind Summit

Ken Vancini is operating at the center of the transformation reshaping executive search. As Founder of ZRG Partners, he built a top-seven global search firm, leading delivery, technology integration, and expansion across 22 countries. Today, through Innova International and a network of peer roundtables spanning more than 50 firms, he has a real-time view into how the industry is navigating AI, shifting economics, and evolving client expectations. Ken’s focus is helping firms move from experimentation to execution. His perspective is clear: this is not a technology problem, it is a judgment problem. As Host and Lead Facilitator of the Innova Connect AI Mastermind Summit, he leads hands-on working sessions designed to help senior practitioners cut through noise, sharpen decision-making, and apply AI in ways that improve real outcomes.

Expertise

Stephanie PicoStark

Customer Success

Ren

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Stephanie PicoStark

Customer Success | Ren

Stephanie PicoStark brings a relationship-first approach to customer success, helping clients turn technology into practical, everyday value. At Ren, she works closely with firms to support adoption, improve workflows, and ensure teams get meaningful results from the tools they use.

With experience leading customer success at Everlance, Stephanie combines client advocacy, training, and change management in a practical, human-centered way. She holds a Master of Science in Digital Age Learning and Educational Technology from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor’s degree in English Writing from the University of Colorado Denver.

At the AI Mastermind Summit, she brings a focused perspective on adoption, user experience, and the human side of AI-enabled workflow.

Expertise

Breck Armstrong

Managing Partner

17 Oranges

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Breck Armstrong

Managing Partner at 17 Oranges

Breck Armstrong, Managing Partner at 17 Oranges: A former CIO of Boyden with nearly 20 years of leadership experience in executive search. Breck has led global digital transformation programs spanning AI, automation, and complex M&A integrations. Having operated inside a partner-driven search firm, he understands the commercial, cultural, and operational realities of change. Today, he advises leadership teams on building scalable, AI-ready operating models that improve productivity, protect margin, and deliver measurable technology ROI.

Expertise

Matt Wright

Founder

Woven Research

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Matt Wright

Founder of Woven Research

Matt Wright is the Founder of Woven Research, where he helps companies build analytics and AI capabilities that improve decisions, reduce costs, and accelerate growth. His work focuses on operating model design, commercial analytics, and AI-enabled workflows that help leadership teams turn strategy into practical, measurable results. Before launching Woven Research, Matt held leadership and consulting roles with SBI, Maine Pointe, Genesis HealthCare, Newmark, and Grubb & Ellis. Across healthcare, professional services, commercial real estate, supply chain, and private equity-backed environments, he has built a strong reputation for helping organizations improve execution, strengthen visibility, and create competitive advantage through smarter use of data and AI.

Expertise

Dan Kalish

Director of Recruitment Operations

Maven Partnership

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Dan Kalish

Director of Recruitment Operations – Maven Partnership

Dan Kalish, Director of Recruitment Operations – Maven Partnership Based in Maven’s New York office, Dan is the recruitment operations director, focusing on optimizing business activities, streamlining processes, and ensuring the smooth execution of search projects. With over a decade of experience in finance and a specialized focus on executive search over the past three years, Dan brings a strategic, systems-driven approach to search operations, process optimization, and team development. He plays a pivotal role in refining how top talent is identified and placed, drawing on a deep understanding of the evolving executive search landscape to deliver world-class experiences to clients around the globe. Known for his passion for leadership and professional development, Dan is dedicated to building high-performing teams and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Before joining Maven, Dan led high-impact search initiatives that reimagined the retained executive search experience for private equity-backed businesses-delivering measurable efficiency gains and elevating client outcomes.

Expertise

Mark Distaulo

Senior Advisor and Fractional CTO

17 Oranges

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Mark Distaulo

Senior Advisor and Fractional CTO at 17 Oranges

Mark Distaulo, Senior Advisor and Fractional CTO at 17 Oranges: Mark previously served as Chief Technology and Transformation Officer at Russell Reynolds Associates, where he led global technology strategy and pioneered practical AI adoption within executive search. Today, he advises firms on translating technology, data, and AI into measurable performance and competitive advantage.

Expertise

Trip Flail

Vice President of Information Technology

JM Search

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Trip Flail

Vice President of Information Technology at JM Search

Trip Flail is Vice President of Information Technology at JM Search, where he has spent more than 12 years helping lead the firm’s technology function. Over that time, he has advanced from IT Manager to Director of Information Technology and now serves as a key technology leader for the organization. He brings deep experience in cybersecurity, project management, and enterprise technology operations, and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).
Before JM Search, Trip held IT leadership roles at Pennco Tech and PayAll Solutions. He is also an active voice in executive search technology conversations, including industry discussions on AI, recruiting technology, and the evolving tech roadmap for search firms.

Expertise

Max Woolger

Vice President Revenue

Ezekia

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Max Woolger

Vice President Revenue for Ezekia

Max is VP Revenue for Ezekia. Having spent 12+ years in executive search running BD, Data and CRM for the founders of 3 global search firms, using a range of CRMs, he is well placed to advise and assist prospective clients as they make their CRM choice. His experience in executive search firms has also helped him lead Ezekia’s in-house deployments with executive talent teams at corporates and PE/VC firms. Prior to joining Ezekia, he spent 3 years in a B2B relationship technology business selling in to search firms, law firms, consultancies, insurance brokers and underwriters so he has an in-depth understanding of relationship selling and the technologies needed to support it, across sector.

Expertise

Manan

Co-Founder & CEO

Recruiterflow

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Manan

Co-Founder & CEO of Recruiterflow

Manan is Co-Founder & CEO of Recruiterflow, an AI-native CRM for search firms. Before Recruiterflow, he led his previous software company retention.ai throug a venture round and eventually to an exit via acquisition.

Expertise

Sanket Chauhan

Co-founder

Stardex

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Sanket Chauhan

Co-founder of Stardex

Sanket Chauhan is Co-founder of Stardex, an agent-native ATS and CRM built for executive search firms. Stardex helps capture the candidate and client context that often lives in partners’ heads, while automating workflows such as research calibration, client reporting, and database search.

Sanket works closely with search firms on AI-enabled workflows and regularly leads sessions on practical AI adoption. Before Stardex, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Company and began his career as a software engineer.

Expertise

Dr. Weldon W. Whitener

Founder & CEO

AfterGen

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Dr. Weldon W. Whitener

Founder & CEO of AfterGen

Dr. Weldon W. Whitener is the Founder & CEO of AfterGen, an AI transformation company that helps organisations redesign how work gets done & translate advances in automation & AI into measurable business value. Dr. Whitener began his professional career after completing a PhD in Bioinformatics at the University of Cambridge, a field combining artificial intelligence & genetics modelling. He spent the next four years at the Boston Consulting Group working alongside FTSE100/Fortune 500 companies helping them use their data & technology to improve decision making, redesign their business processes & drive measurable improvements in their performance. He later joined Amazon where he ultimately became Head of Pricing leading a global team responsible for large-scale transformation initiatives to redesign & standardise processes, harness data & technology & improve pricing decisions at scale. In 2017, Dr. Whitener founded Afterskills, a global data, digital & AI capability-building company that works with leading organisations to equip their people with the practical skills needed to adopt new technologies & work more effectively in an increasingly data- & AI-enabled environment. He is also an adjunct professor / lecturer at leading business schools including: Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Columbia Business School, Oxford Saïd, London Business School, INSEAD, ESADE, IESE & IMD. Dr. Whitener’s primary focus today is AfterGen where he works with organisations to identify, design & deliver AI-enabled transformations. His approach reflects a philosophy that has been consistent throughout his career: technology creates value when it improves how people & organisations actually work. Rather than simply identifying where AI can be deployed he focuses on bringing processes, technology & people together to redesign how work gets done & apply AI & automation where they can create measurable, sustained improvements in business performance.

Expertise

Sean Mallapurkar

Founder & CEO

Recruit CRM

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Sean Mallapurkar

Founder & CEO of Recruit CRM

Sean Mallapurkar is Founder & CEO of Recruit CRM, a global technology platform serving more than 2,000 recruitment and executive search firms across 100+ countries. He works at the intersection of executive search, technology, and AI, with a focus on how emerging technologies are reshaping talent intelligence, search execution, and business development. As a technology leader and operator serving executive search firms, Sean brings a unique perspective on AI adoption in executive search. His focus is on helping firms leverage AI, automation, and intelligent workflows to enhance productivity, deepen client and candidate relationships, and build more scalable search businesses.

Expertise

Josh Kirkham

VP of Operations

CoRecruit

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Josh Kirkham

VP of Operations at CoRecruit

Josh Kirkham is VP of Operations at CoRecruit, where he was employee number four and the company’s founding sales leader. He has worked hands-on with thousands of executive search and recruitment firms, and his focus today is on what happens after the call ends. Nearly every firm now records and transcribes its conversations, but few turn that data into anything more than notes. Josh helps firms use it to coach business development, spot missed opportunities, and close the gap between their top and bottom producers. His approach is practical. He works backwards from the outcomes a firm wants, whether that’s stronger client meetings, faster ramp-up for new recruiters, or better market strategy, and then builds the prompts, scorecards and processes to get there. The goal is always more profit per recruiter, without losing the human judgment and relationships that great recruitment depends on.

Expertise

Andrew Shapiro

Principal and Co-Founder

The Cluen Corporation

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Andrew Shapiro

Principal and Co-Founder of The Cluen Corporation

Andrew Shapiro is a Principal and Co-Founder of The Cluen Corporation. Cluen is a global leader of technology solutions for executive search teams, since 1990, with its constantly-evolving Encore platform incorporating the latest AI innovations. Cluen’s annual tech trends surveys and whitepapers help the industry stay aligned with (and ahead of) their peers. Andy is engaged with the global search community, presenting thought leadership and technology workshops to groups around the world. He and the Cluen team work with thousands of search professionals every day and bring that experience to each Cluen project.

Expertise

Dr. Weldon W. Whitener

Founder & CEO

AfterGen

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Dr. Weldon W. Whitener

Founder & CEO of AfterGen