Identity is our Identity

CEO

Ajay Gupta has served as CEO of Stirista since founding the company in 2010 at the age of 26 and has overseen the data-driven, marketing services company’s rapid year-to-year financial growth as it has progressed from 2 employees to a team of nearly 200 spanning three continents. Ajay is an avid sports enthusiast and former NCAA athlete. When not working, he can be seen playing various company sports – tennis, soccer, sand volleyball.

Ajay holds a Bachelor’s degree in financial economics and creative writing with a mathematics minor from St. Lawrence University, as well as an MFA in creative writing from Texas State University. He has been named a Marketing EDGE Rising Star and was part of the San Antonio Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list. Under his leadership, Stirista has won an Ad Age Best Places to Work award, Deloitte Fast 500, and 7 straight Inc. 5000 awards.

Chief Financial Officer

Steve graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a BSBA in Accounting, Webster University with an MBA, and is a CPA in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has over 28 years of senior-level finance, international banking and treasury, and accounting experience in high-growth environments. During that time, he has lead numerous corporate ERP implementations, improvement initiatives, and efficiency projects.  He has negotiated several M&A agreements, asset purchases, and coordinated operational integrations. He came to Stirista in February 2021 from InterSystems Corporation, a leading provider of innovative data solutions for organizations with critical information needs. In his prior years, he worked in corporate finance with Fidelity Information Services (FIS), Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing, and the St. Joe Corporation.

Chief Technology Officer

Anthony (Tony) joined Stirista as their CTO in May of 2022. He leads a team of talented engineers to drive innovative product and technology solutions to help improve customer outcomes in this fast-paced digital landscape.

Tony’s unique blend of technology, business and data management experience helps organizations dominate their position in the market. Tony’s experience includes working at Integral Ads Science, as their CTO, driving their software and data transformation processes from concepts to commercialization.

Tony holds a BA in Business Management with an emphasis on Computer Science. Also, he enjoys playing a competitive game of tennis, hiking, mountain biking, and cooking. Tony is always looking for a new adventure.

Chief Strategy Officer

Matthew Staudt, the Chief Strategy Officer of Stirista, is a noted visionary associated with the development, growth and sale of several organizations that have supported numerous global brands. Mr. Staudt has the unique knowledge and perspective associated with a 30-year career as an entrepreneur and C-level executive working with many FORTUNE 1000 companies in support of data monetization, custom data sourcing and strategies, lead development, omni-channel marketing, customer relationship management (CRM) and many IT innovations in the areas of AdTech and MarTech.

Mr. Staudt has developed, executed and coordinated strategic activities for an impressive roster of companies across many industries. Some familiar clients include; Accenture, ADP, Apple, AT&T, Avaya, BlueCross BlueShield, Cicco, ConnectiCare Insurance, D&B, Deloitte, Hertz, IBM, KonicaMinolta, LexisNexis, Lucent Technologies, Panasonic, Ricoh, Siemens, Sharp Electronics, Sony Electronics, T-Mobile, Toshiba, TransUnion, Western Pest Control, and W.L. Gore.

Matt earned a BBA in Marketing and Management from Pace University, Lubin School of Business.

SVP, Client Services

Valarie joined Stirista in April 2019, bringing over a dozen years of client service and digital agency experience. Her background includes account, project and operations management, marketing strategy, copywriting, web development and lead generation campaign execution. She’s passionate about producing positive change and solving problems for the people and organizations with whom she interacts. She has a BA in Communications from St. Mary’s University.

Outside of the office Valarie is a fan of trivia competitions, the San Antonio Spurs, working on DIY home improvement projects, as well as hiking with her husband and chocolate labrador retriever.

SVP, Marketing Solutions

Will Kunkel joined Stirista as the VP of Marketing in early August, where he leads the team across multi-channel marketing efforts and brand development.

Will holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Prior to joining Stirista, he served as VP of Marketing at a4 Advertising from Altice and prior to that, he lead the creative and content practices for a number of digital and PR agencies, including Next15 and Grayling. He was the founder of NYC-based agency Magnetik, which he sold to Selligent in 2010.

Will enjoys lifting weights and cooking when he’s not working and lives on Long Island with his wife and three boys.

SVP, Products

Mike is a seasoned technology and product leader with extensive experience in the B2B and consumer Martech and Adtech sectors and a deep background in Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) and Data-As-A-Service (DaaS) solutions. As the SVP of Product at Stirista, he oversees the full product development lifecycle, from business justification and analysis to requirements development, planning, rollout, and ongoing support. Mike is responsible for product strategy, roadmap planning, go-to-market support, and managing key product initiatives, ensuring that Stirista’s offerings align with its long-term vision of enabling clients to find, convert, grow, and retain new customers.

Mike’s past roles include SVP of Data Products at Demandbase, Chief Operating Officer at WhoToo (acquired by Demandbase), Chief Executive at Yesmail, Chief Executive at @Once (acquired by Yesmail), and member of the Infogroup (now DataAxle) senior leadership team. He holds an MBA from Portland State University and a B.A. from Washington State University.

SVP, Data Strategy

Blaine brings a dynamic blend of data-driven insight and marketing savvy to his role as SVP of Data Strategy at Stirista. A proud Longhorn, he graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a BBA in Corporate Finance in 2011. Since joining Stirista in 2015 as a Data Analyst, he has been instrumental in pioneering Stirista’s digital frontier, linking offline data sets with online identities to offer unparalleled demographic targeting capabilities.

His expertise spans across data management, segmentation, multi-channel, email marketing and digital campaign management. Blaine continues to be a driving force behind Stirista’s innovative approach to data-driven marketing solutions.

Blaine is all about family and fun. He’s a dedicated husband to Katie, and a loving father to Mackenzie and Hayden, who fill his life with joy and keeps him on his toes.

SVP, Sales

Sean leads Stirista’s sales organization. Prior to Stirista, Sean spent almost ten years at Dun & Bradstreet leading different sales teams. He came to D&B thru an acquisition of NetProspex. Prior to D&B, Sean led sales divisions for SaaS companies- PeopleCube (acquired by Asure Software), HomeAdvisor (acquired by IAC, Inc), and Accruent. Sean graduated with a BBA in Marketing from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Colorado – Denver. Sean lives outside of Boston and keeps quite busy outside of work with his four children.

SVP, Channel Sales

David graduated from the University of Arkansas with a BA in Political Science. Since June 2013, David has worked with Stirista from Long Island, New York, leading the sales efforts. With experience in graphic design, direct mail, printing, and even acting, David is truly Stirista’s Renaissance man. He has a passion for making connections with people and brings this zeal for life to the table in everything he does.

VP, Software Engineering

Karl graduated from Texas A&M University in December 2010 with a BBA in Information and Operations Management. He joined Stirista in 2014 and leads Stirista’s esteemed team of software developers to bring exciting, innovative new solutions to Stirista’s internal operations and client-facing platforms alike.

As VP of Software Engineering, Karl collaborates with teams across the organization and industry partners to identify opportunities in the dynamic marketing and data landscape, and employ novel technologies to bring them to fruition. Born and raised in San Antonio, Karl is an avid appreciator of music, art, sushi, and the outdoors, indulging his wanderlust by swimming, hiking, and scuba diving.

VP, Digital Products

As Vice President of Digital Products, Aaron Grote leads the tools and team behind Stirista’s CTV-first performance marketing solution. After years on the client side building profitable and award-winning digital marketing programs, Aaron recognized Stirista’s forward-thinking strategic moves and joined to help create the solutions that companies need to grow in today’s marketing environment. Aside from marketing, Aaron’s colorful past includes designing ski/snowboard terrain parks, being a US Marine, piloting paddlewheel riverboats, and website development.

SVP, Email Solutions

Arin Reyna leads our Email Solutions team and has been with Stirista since 2013. He has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and before his time at Stirista, Arin worked as a .NET developer for a number of years.

Arin loves sci-fi and his life was forever changed when Star Wars was re-released in the 90s. Since he can remember, Arin has enjoyed the outdoors and classic cars. After a long day, you’ll find him enjoying time with his wife and two kids.

VP, B2B Partnerships

Vincent’s experience in the marketing industry spans 18 years, and he recently received the 2019 Marketing EDGE Rising Stars Award. Based in New York City, Vincent has been involved in business and partner development roles most of his career and enjoys helping customers achieve their sales and marketing goals. Vincent is a current board member for the Direct Marketing Club of New York. He has a BA from the State University of New York at Oswego in Communications and Mass Media.

By night, Vincent is a stand-up comedian in NYC and also one of the most sought-after corporate emcees in the business. He has most notably opened for NBA Legend Magic Johnson in San Diego for the Data & Marketing Association Conference in 2014 and emceed the 2018 Silver Apple Awards in NYC.

VP, Audience Solutions

Henry leads Stirista’s growing audience solutions. He has more than 10 years of experience as a leader in the data space, having prior served as Director of Data Marketplace Operations at Lotame, where he developed business strategy and enabled partners to find efficiencies while growing ther businesses.

A Baltimore-based graduate of the University of Delaware, Henry enjoys the beach, fishing, watching English Premier League soccer and traveling with his family.

VP, Brand & Creative

Richard Zimmer joined Stirista as the VP of Brand & Creative in July of 2022, where he leads the creative team in the strategy, design and development of Stirista’s clients’ campaigns — his team also manages and maintains all Stirista brand and marketing creative.

Richard holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Prior to joining Stirista, he served as CEO and founder of ZDI Images & Motion, Inc., working with various B2B, B2C, Entertainment and Non-Profit brands such as the Scripps Networks, Altice/A4 media, American Consumer Shows, Newsmax, Seatow, FoxNews & Response Crisis Center, to name a few. ZDI was acquired by Stirista in July of 2022 to bring full creative agency capabilities to Stirista’s suite of marketing solutions.

Richard enjoys boating, fishing, Netflix, and cooking for his wife, three sons and daughter in sunny Florida.

Controller

Erika graduated with a BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She joined Stirista in June 2013 as an Account Director and, since that time, has been an integral contributor to the early development of the Finance and Human Resource departments. Erika currently spends most of her efforts on audits, financial controls, and improving operational efficiencies while testing the temperament of the department managers. As an active Roadrunner alumnus, Erika enjoys UTSA football and volleyball games.

MSODL, SHRM-SCP Director Of Human Resources

Renee joined Stirista in May 2022, bringing over 10 years of Human Resources and management experience. Having worked mostly in Human Resources in the financial services industry she is very familiar with training and development, human resources operations, and talent acquisition. She is particularly experienced in providing strategic advice to operational managers, directing the administrative functions of complex organizations, and developing company culture.

Renee earned her BA in Human Resources Management and MS in Organizational Development and Leadership from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

Renee lives in the San Antonio area with her partner, Jorge, their two children and two corgis’. When Renee is not working, she enjoys attending concerts, sporting events, and traveling.