The BigMachines management team has substantial experience in driving business process improvement with leading-edge technology. The team brings industry experience from leading companies such as McKinsey & Company, GE, HP, Case Corporation, Dell, Niku, Broadbase, Bain and Company, Accenture, and the Deloitte Consulting Group. The core management team holds advanced degrees in business and technology from leading academic institutions such as MIT, Stanford, Wharton, Cornell, Michigan, and Harvard.

Godard Abel, Co-Founder, President and CEO
Since its inception in 2000, Godard has led BigMachines on its mission to deliver innovative web software solutions to its customers and to build an enduring company with a great team. Prior to co-founding BigMachines, Godard was General Manager of the iNiku.com application service for Niku Corporation, a leading provider of enterprise applications for professional service automation that successfully went public in 2000 prior to being acquired by CA. Before entering the technology industry, Godard consulted for McKinsey & Company and advised leading corporations in the U.S. and Germany on strategy and business process improvement. Godard earned an MBA from Stanford University and both a BS and MS in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Christopher Shutts, Co-Founder and SVP of Professional Services
Chris leads the BigMachines team in developing and delivering tailored solutions to customers. He comes to BigMachines from Case Corporation where he was Business Unit Manager for two global business units. He began his career at Case's Technology Center for Advanced Manufacturing, where he directed productivity initiatives that included the selection and procurement of new technologies and manufacturing equipment. Chris brings extensive experience in designing, manufacturing, selecting and procuring manufactured products and holds two design patents. Chris earned a BS and MS in engineering from MIT and was awarded a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship at MIT.

Prathibha Ramasubramanian, VP Product Development
Prathibha is responsible for product strategy, development, and delivery of BigMachines software application products. Prior to BigMachines, Prathibha held diverse positions at Louisiana State University, Deloitte and Touche, and National Stock Exchange in Bombay, India. Prathibha received her Master’s degree from Louisiana State University in Information Systems & Decision Sciences, as well as a Master’s degree in Management Studies from University of Bombay. Prathibha earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Stella Maris College, University of Madras.

Mei-lin Cheng, VP Enterprise Services
Mei-Lin Cheng leads our customer services team and our West Coast professional services team with a focus on the hi-tech vertical market. In addition Mei-lin drives cross-functional process improvement initiatives to build enterprise-strength operations for our customers. Mei-lin had a 25-year career at Hewlett-Packard (HP) where she was most recently a VP & CIO for HP's LaserJet Imaging Systems & Computer Products business. In this role, she managed 400+ employees and a $500 million budget. Cheng was responsible for all IT procurement, development, integration, and implementation strategies globally. Mei-lin was also formerly the CTO & VP of engineering at WineryExchange. She earned an MS and BA from Stanford, and swam competitively on the Malaysian team sent to the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

Matt Gorniak, VP Sales, North America
Matt is responsible for building and leading BigMachines North American sales team and developing BigMachines' strategic partner relationship. Matt worked in various sales and sales management roles at Octetstring (prior to their purchase by Oracle), EMC, and Caterpillar.  Additional experience includes process improvement with General Electric, where he was a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.  Matt holds an MBA from the University of Illinois and a BA in International Business from Bradley.

Joachim Klein, VP & General Manager Europe
Joachim is responsible for running and growing BigMachines’ operations in Europe, including the delivery of professional services to our European customers and the sales and marketing of BigMachines’ solutions in Europe. Prior to joining BigMachines, Joachim consulted for Bain & Company and advised leading European companies on their strategy development and business process improvement initiatives. Joachim earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and an advanced engineering degree (Diplomingineur) from the Technical University of Berlin.

Greg Swender, VP Marketing
Greg leads BigMachines' marketing programs, corporate branding, and lead generation activities.  Previously he was the marketing manager for Dell's OEM business, where he was a certified Black Belt, and a PLM consulting manager for Accenture. Greg holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell.

Brian Murnane, Controller
Brian heads up BigMachines' Finance, Accounting, and Human Resource teams. Prior to joining BigMachines Brian worked as Senior Manager of Accounting covering the corporate travel business line for Orbitz, as an Assistant Controller for Fresenius Medical Care, and in the audit and assurance group at Grant Thornton. Brian received his BS in Accounting from the University of Illinois and is a registered CPA.

Steve Krasicky, VP Sales, Eastern Region
Steve is responsible for managing BigMachines sales in the Eastern U.S. Region. Steve joined BigMachines in 2001 and has over six years experience driving BigMachines sales and ensuring BigMachines customer success.  Prior to joining BigMachines, Steve has over 20 years experience with leading technology and industrial companies including eFilter and Purolator-Facet.  Steve holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BS in Engineering from Michigan Technological University. Steve is a Registered Professional Engineer in North Carolina and holds two US Patents.

Tim Handorf, VP Product Management
Tim leads our product management team that is responsible for setting our product direction. Tim works closely with our customers to survey the market and drive valuable innovations into our products. Tim joined BigMachines in 2000 and spent seven years leading over 50 implementation projects giving him a deep understanding our customers’ needs. Before joining BigMachines in 2000, Tim worked for 6 years with CNH Global (a $17 billion manufacturer of agricultural equipment). At CNH, Tim completed a manufacturing leadership program, led a manufacturing engineering group, and during his last 2 years at CNH managed an in-house supply chain software development group. Tim holds a BS in agriculture engineering from Iowa State University.