Mark Smith
CEO & Executive Vice President of Research, Ventana Research
Mark is responsible for the overall direction of Ventana Research and drives the global research agenda covering both business and technology areas. He defined the blueprint for Information Management and Performance Management as the linking together of people, processes, information and technology across organizations to drive effective results. Mark is an expert in technology for business from Performance Management, Business Intelligence, Analytics to Information Management across finance, operations and IT. As an industry veteran with more than 22 years of experience, Mark worked at companies including SAP, META Group, Oracle and IRI Software before founding Ventana Research. He has experience across major industries including banking, consumer products, food and beverage, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and retail and consumer services.

Rick Sherman
Founder, Athena IT Solutions
Rick has over twenty years of data warehousing, data integration and business intelligence experience. He has been designing and implementing relational databases for over 25 years. He has worked on dozens of DW/BI projects across many industries. Rick provides consulting to both companies implementing BI solutions and the vendors marketing those solutions. Through his writing, teaching and consulting, Rick is a well-known and respected thought leader in the industry. Rick's background includes a unique mix of software engineering, IT, project management, people management and consulting, which enables him to view BI/DW from various sides of the table.