Culture

Kevin Malik is the CEO and a Board Member for RunBuggy responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the company. Prior to RunBuggy, Kevin served in several C-suite roles for leading technology companies including Starwood Hotels (acquired by Marriott) and IO, which was acquired by Iron Mountain for $1.3Billion. He is an investor in and serves on the board of advisors for a variety of cloud technology, financial services, hospitality, and managed services firms that have undergone significant acquisitions. Kevin has more than 25 years of experience in enterprise technology implementation management and graduated from the University of Arizona with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Sasha Jovicic is the CTO and the head of the Product Management for RunBuggy responsible for the RunBuggy software products vision, inception , delivery, and support. Product portfolio includes RunBuggy Platform and products built on top of it such as RunBuggy Marketplace, RunBuggyOne and RunBuggy Hitch. Mr. Jovicic was the CTO for international Industrial Internet of Things company QIO Inc. where he invented and delivered IIoT platform which landed QiO on Gartner magic quadrant shoulder to shoulder with software giants. He has more than 20 years of experience in the software industry as a leader in a software and product development. Mr. Jovicic graduated with a BSc in Airspace Engineering from the Belgrade University at Belgrade, Serbia. He is based in Parkland, Florida.

Jacob Patterson is the VP of Finance and Administration for RunBuggy responsible for the overall financial strategy, planning, systems and investor relations for the company. In addition, he currently oversees both the Human Resources and Training departments for RunBuggy. Mr. Patterson was the former Director of Investor Relations for Insight and the Director of Investor Relations for Avnet, both Fortune 500 organizations in technology distribution and supply chain services. He has more than 20 years of experience in various financial disciplines, primarily in the technology and supply chain industries. Mr. Patterson graduated with dual degree in Finance and Accounting, and subsequently earned his MBA from the University of Arizona. He is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Nels Larsen is the VP, Operations responsible for developing the Infrastructure, Business Systems, Manpower, Customer Service Processes and Customer Experience. Cross-functional Operational Excellence and performance improvement leader across multiple Fortune 500 international logistics, supply chain, and manufacturing environments. 21 years industry experience optimizing operations, finance, technology, and human capital with quantifiable productivity improvement and demonstrable cost reduction. Former U.S. Navy Submarine Officer. Graduate University of Arizona with a BS in Mechanical Engineering with various postgrad education including MIT Sloan's Executive Advanced Management Program. He is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Pamela Bishop is the Sr. Director, Customer Success responsible for leading cross-functional teams, developing, implementing, and monitoring customer success systems and processes to meet key initiatives for RunBuggy Marketplace and RunBuggyOne. She has 8 years of experience in the automotive and technology industries and previously worked in Operations, Vendor Management, and Automotive Logistics for DriveTime Automotive Group Inc. in Tempe, Arizona. Mrs. Bishop graduated with a BA in International Communications from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. She is originally from Augusta, Georgia, and she is currently based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Jason Kong is the Senior Vice President overseeing go to market activities involving digital platforms, transporter onboarding and engagement, and the Sales and Solutions Engineering team responsible for building world class software solutions. Jason gained 17+ years of experience running sales and marketing operations for Toyota Motor North America's highest profile Toyota and Lexus regions and providing in-market strategic support for Toyota's senior leadership in Japan, Australia, India, and South Africa. He earned his MBA and BA from UCLA and resides in Santa Monica, CA.

Prior to RunBuggy, Casey spent 16 years in automotive lending, beginning at Toyota Financial Services where he was National Manger of Dealer Sales and Service. He also worked for Westlake Financial as the SVP of Corporate Development. In both roles, Casey worked closely with some of the most innovative companies in automotive retail, providing financial services in brand new sales and subscription environments. Casey received his MBA from UCLAAnderson and his BA from Stanford University. He resides with his wife and children in Culver City, CA.

Jason Ferrara is the Head of Marketing for RunBuggy responsible for the overall marketing strategy and planning of the RunBuggy brand and product portfolio including RunBuggy Marketplace, RunBuggyOne and RunBuggy Hitch. Mr. Ferrara was the former Chief Marketing Officer for Aligned Energy and VP, Global Marketing and Communication for Iron Mountain, both data center services firms. He has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry as a leader in digital marketing and communications. Mr. Ferrara graduated with a BA in Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Max Graupner is responsible for Cybersecurity and enterprise information technology at RunBuggy. Before he joined RunBuggy in 2020, Mr. Graupner was part of KPMG’s global IT Advisory and Cyber Security practice from 2010 – 2020 where he helped CISOs and IT leaders build out and mature their programs. Mr. Graupner has over 15 years of experience working in information technology across various industries, including logistics and transportation. He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a Master’s degree and now lives in Phoenix, AZ.

Karl Fazio is RunBuggy's General Counsel, responsible for the company's legal, privacy, and compliance functions. Before joining RunBuggy, Mr. Fazio was Division General Counsel for the AI Products and Direct to Consumer businesses at Pearson Education, a multinational education technology company. Prior to that, he served as GoDaddy's Subsidiary General Counsel and Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property. Karl has more than 20 years of experience counseling global technology companies from startup through VC investment through IPO. Mr. Fazio received both his law degree and BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona. He is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Patrick has spent 12 years working on applied data science problems. Prior to RunBuggy, he architected and built a virtual assistant platform for automotive technicians at CYTK, where he was co-founder and CTO. He served as a consultant on many data related projects including predictive maintenance and industry 4.0, solar energy deployment optimization, containerized farming performance, and a real-time stock evaluation tool for investment consultants. He was also lead data scientist for an enterprise data center company that was acquired for $1.3 billion. He also worked with Pfizer and several groups at UC San Francisco on cutting edge drug design projects where he developed servers used throughout the scientific community for studying proteins and enzymes. He has studied in two world-renowned groups in the fields of theoretical physics and computational biology and received his Ph.D. from UC San Diego and B.S. from UC Santa Barbara.

Elizabeth Carroll oversees all things "people" as the Head of People for RunBuggy. Ms. Carroll has specialized in establishing the HR function for startups and mid-size organizations with an emphasis on compliance, talent acquisition, and the employee experience. Prior to RunBuggy, Ms. Carroll created and led the Human Resources function for a digital transformation company, helping the company successfully navigate the COVID19 pandemic. With a Masters in Business Administration from Grand Canyon University, certification from the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM-CP), and nearly a decade of experience in various Human Resources leadership roles, Ms. Carroll is the strategic people partner that helps the company achieve its business goals. Ms. Carroll resides in Phoenix, Arizona.

James Romero is VP, Solutions Engineering for RunBuggy responsible for connecting the RunBuggy platform to potential customers. He manages the sale and implementation of HITCH, RunBuggy's TMS product, and is leading RunBuggy's expansion into Canada. Mr. Romero has been with RunBuggy for over 3 years in inside sales, product management, and sales engineering. Prior to RunBuggy, he was in automotive retail, as a salesperson, finance manager, and service advisor along with an internship at Toyota Motor North America San Francisco office. Mr. Romero graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in Economics, BA in Political Science, and a minor in Business Institutions. He is based in Irvine, CA.

With over two decades of experience in operations and leadership, Olianna currently serves as the Senior Director of Delivery Operations at RunBuggy since July 2024, following roles as Director of Operations and Operations Manager. Previously, Olianna was an Operations Manager at ACT Holdings, Inc. for over five years, where she excelled in strategic planning, cross-department coordination, budget analysis, and market trend communication. Earlier in her career, Olianna worked as a Customer Support Analyst at Columbia Ultimate and an Application System Analyst at Teleperformance, honing her skills in project management, system integration, and customer support.