Leadership
Collectively, our executive leadership team has over 250 years of knowledge in the apparel and footwear industry, combined with expertise in factory process optimization and the technology sector.


Leadership
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JOSE R. SUAREZ
Founder & CEO
CEO & Founder of Impactiva and Vaēso established in 2003 and 2018, respectively. Impactiva and Vaēso service the apparel and footwear industry. Impactiva provides best-in-class quality control solutions and Vaēso is a digital manufacturing platform.
In 1999, Jose founded leatherXchange, a global marketplace for the world of hides and leather.
Jose has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University.
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REGIS VOGEL
Chief Technology Advisor
Regis Vogel has served since 1999 as an IT leader in the footwear and apparel B2B industrial enterprise SaaS space in positions such as CTO, Chief Architect, Head of Software Development and Chief R&D Officer.
Since 2009, he is Sr. Technology Director responsible for University of Michigan’s alumni direct donation platforms.
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BILL BLAY
Technical Product Manager
Bill has +38 years of experience developing strategic retail sourcing models that align with the need for increased speed to market.
In the 1990’s, Bill and his team made significant changes to a Canadian footwear factory successfully competing with lower cost China sourced production by building processes that more than quadrupled China’s productivity today.
Bill transformed Caleres’ 48 million pair footwear quality from +10% of defective units to < 2%.
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MAMATHA NAGANNA
Business Analyst Leader
Mamatha has over +20 years of experience in all areas of the software development process collaborating with product owners, operations & IT infrastructure teams.
She implemented Vendor Mgmt. for Sainsbury’s UK and was part of the team to Implement VoIP in New York.
Moreover, Mamatha developed Test Automation Solutions for Argus Health Systems, Kansas and worked on various other Retail Platforms & Structural Steel Domain Product implementations.
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SHAHAB IQBAL AHMED
Software Development Leader
Continuous Improvement Engineer with 12 years of professional experience in Lean Six Sigma Implementation and Manufacturing Operational Excellence.
Shahab has successfully implemented over 150 Kaizen events & helped more than nine enterprises in Apparel, Footwear & IT Software throughout Asia & Africa improve their productivity, quality & efficiency.
Shahab holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Textile Technology from Anna University as well as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from Varsigma (2020) and a Crest Com certified Bullet Proof Manager.
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SANDEEP YADAV
Learning & Customer Success Leader
Since 2005, Sandeep has successfully managed customer care, learning and process analysis departments significantly impacting the level of performance of the hundred of team members under his tutelage.
Sandeep has a Diploma in Leather Technology, a Bachelor’s in Communications and post-graduate studies in Instructional Design.
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RENAUD CLAUSSE
Chief Financial Officer
Renaud has more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance working for multinationals as well as entrepreneurial companies. He has performed internal audits in +45 countries for BV and lived and led teams in France, UK, Singapore, Australia and China.
Mr. Clausse holds a Master in Accounting & Finance from the University of Paris I – Panthéon-Sorbonne and an EMBA from IE Business School in Madrid.
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Hemanth Kuramkote
IT Delivery Leader
Hemanth is a seasoned PMP® certified IT professional with 18+ years of commendable success in, Program Management, Project Management, Application Development, Quality Implementation, Application support & Maintenance.
He was instrumental in multiple large e-commerce implementations on SAP HYBRIS platform with his customer-centric and systems-driven approach to designing and delivery. He has successfully managed large engagements for world class clients like BT, Vodafone, Express Scripts, Albertsons, Walmart, BNYM and many more who are leading businesses in Retail-CPG, Healthcare, BFSI, Telecom and Energy & utilities domains.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering specialized in Computer Science from VTU.
Strategic Board
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STANLEY A. MOTTA
Advisor
Stanley A. Motta serves as chairman of the board of Copa Holdings S.A. He has been one of the directors of Copa Airlines since 1986 and a director of Copa Holdings since it was established in 1998. Since 1990, he has served as the President of Motta Internacional, S.A., an international importer, and distributor of consumer goods. He serves on the board of directors of ASSA Compañía de Seguros, S.A., Televisora Nacional, S.A., Inversiones Bahía, Ltd. and GBM Corporation.
Motta is chair of Sumarse, an organization dedicated to the promotion of corporate social responsibility. He is a trustee of ANCON, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving biodiversity. Motta is also a trustee of the Central America Leadership Initiative (CALI), the Latin American Council for Conservation (TNC), and the innovative City of Knowledge in Panama.
Motta is a member of the advisory board of IESE Business School and a co-chairman of the advisory board of INCAE. Motta was the director of Banco General from 2007 to 2019. From 1992 to 1999, Motta served as the chairman of Panama’s Regional Interoceanic Authority (ARI), a government entity that received and managed assets outside of the Panama Canal Operations as deemed by the Torrijos-Carter Treaty. His accolades include the Americas Society Gold Medal (2010), the Woodrow Wilson Center Award for Corporate Citizenship (2016), and the Premio Enrique V. Iglesias (2019). Motta completed his undergraduate studies at Tulane University.
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PEDRO GUIMARAES
Advisor
Pedro serves as Senior Advisor at Vestar Capital Partners, a US Private Equity, developing and implementing a buy & build strategy in the broad Quality, Environmental, Health, and Safety-QEHS’ Testing, Inspection, and Certification-TIC services market and also as a Board member at FST Technical Services, a US specialty engineering/TIC business serving the semiconductor and pharmaceutical segments.
Previously, Pedro dedicated +30 years, of which 18 years at top executive leadership positions and member of Group Executive Committee at Bureau Veritas Group. He significantly developed Bureau Veritas global network of TIC services; serving multiple end markets in multinational contexts. He contributed to the Group growth from ~$300 million/~3,500 employees to +$6 billion/~70,000 employees at his departure.
Pedro has a B.S. degree in Naval Architecture at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; an MBA at the Ecole Supérieur de Commerce de Paris; and an MBA at COPEAD at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Additionally, Pedro received continuing education in Corporate Management through the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
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EDMUNDO COSTA
Advisor
Edmundo is a member of the management team at Automation Anywhere, a pioneer in the business process automation market. He joined in 2015 at a time when the Company and the Robotic Process Automation market was nascent and was a member of the Executive Team through 2017. From 2015 thru to 2017 he was responsible for the Company’s initial global channel expansion. In 2018 he founded Automation Anywhere Latin America business.
Prior to AAI, he co-founded and led virtual security pioneer Catbird, successfully building its Enterprise business, securing institutional funding, and eventual sale. He was the sales leader and member of the Executive Team at both Tarantella and SCO.
Edmundo is a dual-degree graduate of Cornell University with a BS in Operations Research and Information Engineering and BA in Economics. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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CADU CERQUEIRA
Advisor
Cadu has more than 25 years of experience in Supply Chain & Manufacturing Transformation. He served as Supply Chain leader in the $100B integration between Anheuser Busch and SABMiller merger, overdelivering the target of $3B in savings.
As Global VP Logistic & Operations, Chief Logistic Officer, he delivered sustainable results in safety, quality, efficiencies, strategy implementation, Technology 3-Yr Plan and worldwide M&A Integrations.
Cadu holds GMP from Harvard Business School, MBA from Sao Paulo Business School and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.