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Leadership & Governance

Get to know our senior leaders and Board of Directors.
Alan Trefler

Alan Trefler 

Founder and CEO

Kate Parente

Katherine Parente 

Chief People Officer

Ken Stillwell

Ken Stillwell 

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer

Kerim Akgonul

Kerim Akgonul 

Chief Product Officer

Leon Trefler

Leon Trefler 

Chief of Clients and Markets

Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor 

Chief Strategy and Growth Officer

Judy Buchholz

Judy Buchholz 

Senior Vice President, Global Partner Ecosystem

John Higgins

John Higgins 

Chief of Client and Partner Success

Don Schuerman

Don Schuerman 

Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, Marketing and Technology Strategy

Lisa Pintchman

Lisa Pintchman 

Vice President, Corporate Communications

Matt Cushing

Matt Cushing 

Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer & General Counsel

Frank Guerrera

Frank Guerrera 

Chief Technical Systems Officer

Catherine Dutton

Catherine Dutton 

Vice President, Global Account Based Marketing

Kieran Tarrant

Kieran Tarrant 

Head of Sales for EMEA

Rajen Sanggaran

Rajen Sanggaran 

Head of Sales for APJ

Carlos Fuentes

Carlos Fuentes 

Chief Security Officer

Mary Tafuri

Mary Tafuri 

Vice President, Global GTM Enablement & Effectiveness

Deepak Visweswaraiah

Deepak Visweswaraiah 

Vice President, Platform Engineering, and Site Managing Director, Pega India

Governance

One of the objectives of Pega is to build a fast-growing, profitable enterprise that rewards our employees, shareholders, and partners. To achieve this, we must continuously earn the trust of our many stakeholders: employees, customers, partners, suppliers, shareholders, government officials, and the general public.

The tone for our actions is set by our board of directors and senior leadership team. We expect our employees, contractors, and partners to be team-oriented, take ownership, act with integrity, and value diversity. We strive to do the right thing, not because we are required to do it, because we want to do it.

We strive to comply with both the letter and spirit of applicable laws and regulations. To those ends, we have made our basic corporate-governance documents public so our stakeholders can know how we strive to act in all of our business actions.

Kerim Akgonul
Kerim Akgonul
Chief Product Officer

Through his leadership of over 1,000 engineers, product managers, designers, and architects at Pega, Kerim’s focus is to build a suite of best-in-class products that transform businesses around the world.

Kerim’s customer-centric development approach brings together low-code, AI, and robotics to applications that help businesses innovate customer interactions – while helping employees get more done. 

As an executive sponsor for Black@Pega employee resource group, Kerim is an advocate for the valuable perspectives diversity delivers to our organization. 

Jeff Taylor
Jeff Taylor
Chief Strategy and Growth Officer

Having built and run successful business strategies for B2B organizations like Bain & Company, VMware, and EMC, Jeff brings more than 20 years of innovative go-to-market experience to his role at Pega. 

Jeff’s focus on corporate strategy and industry expertise has resulted in world-class sales operations and enablement for Pega.

With an awareness that results-oriented, revenue-driving strategy stems from an inclusive work environment, Jeff serves as executive sponsor for Women@Pega employee resource group. 

Ken Stillwell
Ken Stillwell
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer

With more than 25 years of financial leadership experience in high-growth tech organizations like Dynatrace, SOVOS, and PTC – Ken joined Pega in 2016.  

Ken is responsible for Pega’s finance, investor relations, legal, facilities, information technology, Pega Cloud, global client support, and business operations, overseeing more over 1000 employees, globally. 

Ken is a regular contributor to numerous industry publications on financial and operational leadership. He serves as executive sponsor for Veterans@Pega employee resource group.

Alan Trefler
Alan Trefler
Founder & CEO

A visionary leader, technology change-agent, innovative philanthropist, and trusted advisor to business executives around the world – Alan founded Pega in 1983 with the vision of creating software that’s easy to use and accessible to businesspeople and IT alike. His pioneering work is commonly known today as “low-code.”

After being named a chess Master at age 19, he tied for first place in the 1975 World Open Chess Championship. His early work at Dartmouth College included teaching computers to play chess using AI. His passion for the game's community and current champions continues to this day.

A holder of multiple patents, Alan has overseen Pega’s growth from start-up to a $1.3+ billion global, public company with about 6,000 employees. Today, Pega software is used by some of the world’s largest brands and government agencies.

Named Public Company CEO of the Year by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, Software CEO of the Year by the American Business Awards, and the Babson College Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs, Alan’s book, Build for Change, is a best-seller.

Interests & involvement:

As the son of a Holocaust survivor, Alan takes nothing for granted. He and his wife Pam founded the Trefler Foundation in 1999 to support and improve education, workforce development, healthcare, and healthy lifestyles for disadvantaged communities.

Leon Trefler
Leon Trefler
Chief of Clients and Markets

An integral part of Pega’s strategic business development organization since 1998, Leon ensures outstanding experiences for clients, prospects, and partners across every touchpoint. 

His roles in senior sales management and client success have helped Pega grow into what it is today: notably with the 2002 commercialized launch of Pega’s flagship software offering, known today as Pega Platform.

Leon believes mentorship and talent management create a culture of teamwork, mutual respect, and integrity. He serves as executive sponsor for Asian@Pega employee resource group.

Catherine Dutton
Catherine Dutton
Vice President, Global Account Based Marketing

Across her two-decades-long career in direct B2B client-facing roles, Catherine Dutton has worked across a variety of industries, regions, and countries. She has proven time and time again her ability to deliver real business growth, from initial pipeline to bottom-line revenue, by implementing high impact marketing strategies.

A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Catherine is an experienced public speaker, panelist, and award-winning leader and marketer. Most notably, she was named in B2B Marketing’s Top 20 Women in Technology and Hot Topics’ Top 100 B2B Technology Marketers.

Frank Guerrera
Frank Guerrera
Chief Technical Systems Officer

Frank has spent the last 10 years in senior, executive positions driving the transformation and explosive growth of leading SaaS vendors – notably Salesforce, Nuance, and HPE. He brings deep, direct, experience of success in SaaS and DevOps transformation, having built winning teams, world-class infrastructure, and a culture of superb, customer-first service. Prior to that, Frank held various executive positions as CIO and CTO in market-leading corporations including several of our customers in the Financial Services space.

Interests & involvement:
  • Mentoring global talent
  • Coaching football, basketball, and lacrosse
  • Golf, hiking, and yoga

“I enjoy mentoring and watching the amazing career growth of our international leaders taking on global roles to drive our transformation to an as-a-Service company.”

Kate Parente
Katherine Parente
Chief People Officer

In her 20+ years of experience, Katherine has established, developed, and led strong international teams across a wide range of HR disciplines in financial services, technology, and professional services firms. Her areas of expertise include people strategy, compensation and benefits, recognition, organizational and leadership development, workforce planning, and culture and value proposition. At Pega, she is responsible for Pega’s global people strategy and operations.

Beyond her work aspirations, Katherine is a trusted and dedicated coach and mentor to professionals across varying experience levels.

Interests & involvement:
  • Member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) 
  • Member of the Institute for Applied Management and Law (IAML)
  • Member of the Weston Women’s League of Weston, CT, a nonprofit, philanthropic organization and diverse group of women dedicated to volunteering and raising funds in support of charitable, educational, and community needs in Weston, CT and surrounding towns
Awards:
  • Recipient of a four-year Talented Minority Full Tuition scholarship at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

“I am excited about continuing to evolve and enhance our People function to meet new challenges during a time of unprecedented change to ensure Pega remains a great place to work.”

Judy Buchholz
Judy Buchholz
Senior Vice President, Global Partner Ecosystem

As the leader of Pega’s Partner Ecosystem team, Judy executes a partner-centric strategy designed to develop and grow Pega practices amongst the world’s leading system integrators so that our clients have access to the right skills in the right place at the right time.

Prior to joining Pega, Judy held leadership roles at IBM Global Markets, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley: driving digital sales innovation across cloud, AI, and modernization programs. 

Judy serves as Women’s Board chair at Iona College, her alma mater, and is an active member of the Women’s Bond Club and Women of Power & Passion. She is an executive sponsor for PwD@Pega (People with disabilities) employee resource group.

Lisa Pintchman
Lisa Pintchman
Vice President, Corporate Communications

Over her 20+ year career, Lisa has focused on positioning organizations for success by translating core strengths into what matters to key audiences. At Pega, Lisa is responsible for promoting and protecting the company’s global reputation by informing and influencing important internal and external stakeholders to create a positive perception of the company’s mission, vision, strategy, people, and products. She and her team communicate to a variety of internal and external audiences with a focus on public relations, social media, executive visibility, and employee communications.  

Interests & involvement:
  • Active member of several Pega ERGs 
  • Member of Forum-Group network of senior communications professionals 
  • Amateur, passionate gardener
  • Intrepid traveler 
  • Aunt, great aunt, and god mother to 17

“If you have great things to communicate, your communications will deliver great things.”

Don Schuerman
Don Schuerman
Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, Marketing and Technology Strategy

Don is passionate about connecting client needs to Pega’s powerful technology platform. He has over 25 years of experience delivering enterprise software solutions for Fortune 500 organizations, with a focus on digital transformation, customer experience, AI, automation, and cloud. As a longtime improv comedian, Don believes that “Build for Change®” is more than a tagline – it’s a mindset, and that great teams bring adaptability, diverse voices, and a sense of fun to all they do.

Interests & involvement:
  • Member of the Board of Advisors of the Museum of Science Boston 
  • 25+ years’ experience as an improv performer and director
  • Rhythm guitarist in Pega’s company band, The Layer Cakes

“Digital transformation doesn’t have a finish line. It’s about embracing a world of constant, accelerating change. We need to treat listening, adaptability, and improvisation as vital skills for tech leaders.”

Matt Cushing
Matt Cushing
Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer & General Counsel

Through leadership, commitment, and collaboration, Matt has built a reputation as a trusted business partner and goal-oriented legal professional.

Prior to Pega, Matt has helped dozens of high tech, software, medical device, and life sciences businesses achieve objectives, avoid and manage risk, and build successful teams and enterprises. 

Matt has a JD from Fordham University School of Law and serves as a board member for Healing Abuse Working for Change (HAWC).

Deepak Visweswaraiah
Deepak Visweswaraiah
Vice President, Platform Engineering, and Site Managing Director, Pega India

With over 30 years’ experience in the enterprise software development industry, Deepak specializes in driving innovation and bringing products into global markets.
 
Deepak also has extensive experience in leading Pega’s core platform organization out of India, and he demonstrates his passion for building next generation technology and transformation through mentoring several start-ups.
 
He has worked for a number of large, multi-national brands in his career, including NetApp, Adobe Systems, i2 Technologies, and Interactive Network, spending nearly 20 years working in the United States. Deepak sits on the boards of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC), Karnataka, and the advisory board for management consulting firm Zinnov.
 
Deepak was recognized “Top 50 Business Growth Leaders 2022” by BizzTalk World conference 2022.

Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes
Chief Security Officer

Carlos’ work focuses on enhancing the user experience, while navigating the constantly changing challenges of cyber security.

He oversees Pega’s enterprise security, compliance, certifications, and attestations, improving IT Security and business performance across the organization. 

Building and leading thriving organizations and high-performance teams that optimize security and resiliency is what Carlos does best. His focus on mission-critical IT systems and global-scale infrastructure have helped Pega thrive.

Rajen Sanggaran
Rajen Sanggaran
Head of Sales for APJ

Based in Singapore, Rajen is responsible for driving business growth across Asia Pacific and Japan. With more than 25 years of experience in enterprise business technology sales, Rajen has a solid track record of bringing innovative, transformative applications to clients across industries.

Rajen is an avid supporter of driving team-oriented successes, and championing diversity and inclusivity through coaching and mentoring. He has a passion for creating a culture of high-performance teams.

Kieran Tarrant
Kieran Tarrant
Head of Sales for EMEA

Kieran has more than 30 years' experience in sales and leadership within the enterprise software industry. Based in the UK, Kieran is an experienced sales leader, with an in-depth domain experience in digital transformation across a wide range of industries.

Prior to joining Pega in 2010, Kieran held sales management roles within the insurance and financial services sector for IBM. He has a passion for growing businesses through identifying strategies that deliver outstanding business outcomes, while also empowering his teams to optimize experiences, improve efficiencies, and improve business agility for their customers.

John Higgins
John Higgins
Chief of Client and Partner Success

John is an industry-recognized sales, customer success, and services leader with a track record of delivering consistent and sustainable growth for enterprise software companies. He is adept at expanding market share from disciplined GTM execution, jointly scaling post sales and enabling partners in support of hyper revenue growth and ecosystem expansion.

John’s energy comes from delivering what was promised, putting customers first, acting fast, learning faster, having fun, giving back, and creating work environments where everyone can achieve their full potential.

Mary Tafuri
Mary Tafuri
Vice President, Global GTM Enablement & Effectiveness

Global leader for Pega GTM enablement and effectiveness. Focused on ensuring skills readiness for all roles, delivering clear and compelling content, experiential and relevant Just in time learning. Eager to delight the Sellers experience through their entire journey.  

Before this role, Mary was VP of Global Markets Sales Enablement at IBM (over 22000 ppl in GTM). She has extensive experience in the areas of customer and product support, strategy planning, and business initiatives, which included leading P&L line of business. She has also led 43 IBM Innovation Centers around the world. 

Interests & involvement:
  • Married to Fabio Tozzi with two sons: Alessio (15), Luca (12)
  • Loves art and science applied to food - The Kitchen is her creative lab
  • Mindfulness Ambassador

”Tenacity is setting a goal so BIG you can’t possibly achieve it…then growing into the person who can.”

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