Advisory Leadership

Senior Enterprise Practitioners

ConfluCore is a curated advisory collective of senior enterprise practitioners — former CEOs, global advisory partners, and C-level executives with direct P&L accountability. Engagements are delivered by senior professionals, not delegated hierarchies. Affiliates of leading educational and research institutions.

Full biographies available upon request.

Core Principals

Direct mandate leadership. Enterprise Accountability.

Ali Mashayekhi

Management Dynamics, Policy & Industry Systems

Ali advises Boards, CEOs, and senior leadership on complex organizational and policy challenges using integrative, high-rigor methods. Across four decades, he has served both private-sector and government leaders and has taught at institutions including MIT, Sharif, SUNY, and Isfahan. He is widely recognized for combining deep analytical discipline with practical implementation impact.

Education / Affiliations: Ph.D., MIT Sloan School of Management • Former faculty at MIT and other leading institutions • Former President, International System Dynamics Society • 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Andries Botha

Enterprise Operations & Industrial Integration

Andries brings more than 25 years of experience across Africa, Europe, and North America in operational excellence, logistics, and systems-based enterprise integration. His client work spans major industrial corporations including BMW, Coca-Cola SA, Deloitte, Ericsson, and SAPPI. He led the design, construction, and launch of Toyota South Africa's $300 million parts distribution business. He combines strategic clarity with implementation discipline in complex operating environments.

Education / Affiliations: Chemical Engineering with honors • MIT Master of Technology • MBA, University of Pretoria • Ph.D., Industrial Engineering • Hino-SA Executive Committee • South African National Advisory Council on Innovation.

Curt Raschke

Innovation, Product Systems & Technology Transformation

A former C-executive, Curt is a senior executive, educator, and transformation advisor with deep expertise in innovation management, product lifecycle systems, delivery processes, and program execution. He has worked with or within organizations such as Texas Instruments, TE Connectivity, Union Carbide, and Xerox, and holds more than 12 U.S. patents. His work bridges management and technology across multiple high-performance industries.

Education / Affiliations: B.A., Physics, Whitman College • M.S. and Ph.D., Cornell University • Executive educator, University of Texas at Dallas.

Douglas Franco

Management Systems, Modeling & Executive Decision Support

Doug is a systems scientist and management thinker with 30 years helping senior executives tackle dynamic enterprise challenges, advising senior executives on management complexity, enterprise dynamics, and high-performance systems. His work spans consulting, research, and executive education across Europe and the Americas, with applications in healthcare, energy, education, telecom, transportation, and public systems. He is especially respected for designing models that help leaders understand performance over time rather than in isolated snapshots.

Education / Affiliations: M.S. and Doctorate, Michigan State University • Post-doctoral studies, MIT System Dynamics Group • Editorial Board member, Journal of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Hidetaka Kai

CEO Leadership, Japan Market Strategy & Enterprise Transformation

Kai-san is a seasoned chief executive with over 30 years of leadership across Asian and global markets. He has held CEO, COO, CTO, and vice-chair roles, led organizations ranging from 100 to 10,000 employees, and worked with companies including Apple, AXA, Fuji Xerox, Hitachi, NTT Group, Sun Microsystems, and Yamaha. He brings strong experience in strategic growth, digital transformation, M&A, and people-centered enterprise change.

Education / Affiliations: Bachelor's, Waseda University • Masters from MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Studies and the Sloan School of Management • Member of several international enterprise consortia.

Mathiew Bais

Technology Strategy, M&A & Advanced Engineering Applications

Mathiew is a global technology and executive leader with more than 38 years of experience across five continents. He has served in board and senior executive roles including CEO, CMO, and CTO, and has led work in M&A, strategic partnerships, due diligence, and advanced engineering applications. His expertise spans AI-enabled vision systems, e-mobility, energy management, wireless networks, and security technologies.

Education / Affiliations: Degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Physics from international universities • Ongoing technology-management study • Fluent in English, French, Greek, and Italian.

Usman Ghani

Founder & Principal

Usman advises Boards and chief executives in multiple industries and across sectors on governance-calibrated enterprise architecture, transformation, and executive integration. His experience includes leadership roles across strategy, marketing, operations, organization development, information technology, and executive education, with prior work connected to Exxon Mobil, Hewlett Packard, McKinsey & Company, and Royal Dutch/Shell Group. He is known for integrating cross-functional and cross-cultural leadership into large-scale enterprise transformation.

Education / Affiliations: Three master's degrees from MIT • Harvard-MIT joint program in Policy Planning • Multiple awards winner • Author, speaker, and enterprise integration architect.

Senior Partners

Sector-specialist and regional advisors engaged per mandate.

Arwa Sawan

Strategic Communications, Media & Cross-Cultural Business Development

Arwa is a management advisor whose work spans communication, business development, media execution, and cross-cultural engagement. Over two decades, she has designed and overseen major public relations, media, and business development programs, including collaborations with Al-Hurra TV, Sky News, VIVA Creative, and the World Bank / IMF. She brings a systems-oriented approach to strategy execution across the MENA region and North America.

Education / Affiliations: Master's degrees in Communication and in the business of Film, TV, and Video, American University.

Ashraf ("ASH") Albarghuthi

CEO Leadership, Growth Strategy & Multi-Firm Integration

Ash is a board member and chief executive with large-scale operating and advisory experience across the U.S. and MENA region. He has led conglomerates and growth companies, delivered P&L impact exceeding $400 million, and worked across construction, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, private equity, and consumer businesses. He is especially strong in enterprise growth, operational transformation, and multi-firm integration.

Education / Affiliations: Degrees with honors, University of Manila • Fluent in Arabic, English, and Tagalog.

Edward Owens

Strategic Programs, Transformation & Government-Industry Integration

Ed is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and senior transformation leader with over 30 years of consulting, managing, and training experience across three continents. His work spans large-scale strategic programs, organizational transformation, alliances, acquisitions, operational excellence, and federal stewardship, including leadership on a $20 billion acquisition and integration program. He has also trained over a 1,000 professionals and leaders in the military and corporate worlds.

Education / Affiliations: Degrees in Educational Administration, Systems Management, and Law • Graduate of four defense schools • Former Adjunct Professor, Northrup University.

Greg des Groseilliers

People Systems, Organization Design & Talent Architecture

Greg has spent 25 years advising boards and senior executives across Fortune 500 companies and the public sector. Formerly a leader of Deloitte Consulting's Global Benchmarking Center, he works across finance, HR, IT, marketing, and strategy, with particular strength in people systems, organization design, culture, talent management, and M&A-related transformation.

Education / Affiliations: Multi-field management education • Industry committee leadership in training and development • Fluent in English and French.

Greg Hennessy

Strategy, Organizational Development & Leadership

Hennessy is a management consultant with 30 years of experience in strategy and organizational development. He integrates human and organizational behavior, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and complexity-oriented thinking to help leaders solve difficult problems and strengthen strategic capability. He has worked on client engagements and internal professional development programs at McKinsey and teaches strategy, entrepreneurship, leadership, and communication.

Education / Affiliations: Master's, California Institute of Technology • MBA, MIT Sloan School of Management • Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University • Faculty, University of Oregon.

Michael Powdermaker

Enterprise Systems, Global IT Infrastructure & Business Integration

Powdermaker advises boards and senior executives on company-wide and across-company business systems. Over more than 25 years at McKinsey and other corporations, he has led strategic planning and process change programs on four continents and combines advisory depth with direct implementation experience in large-scale information and infrastructure systems. His global network and datacenter work spans 150 sites in 48 countries and delivered major cost savings and performance gains.

Education / Affiliations: Humanities studies at SUNY • Scrum leadership distinctions • McKinsey leadership training recognition.

Michael Savoie

Digital Strategy, Cybersecurity & Capital-Intensive Transformation

Michael is a senior business and technology leader with consulting, board, and academic experience across three continents. He has worked with Chevron, Ericsson, Kaiser Aluminum, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the National Security Agency, and has led work in digital transformation, cybersecurity, data and information systems, quality, and talent development. He also served as Chair of the Budget, Finance, and Audit committee of a major public board overseeing large financial portfolios.

Education / Affiliations: Engineering degree • MBA • Ph.D. in Operations Management with focus on business information systems.

Randy Di Bernardo

HR Transformation, Organization Development & Executive Alignment

Randy has advised and coached boards and C-level executives for more than 30 years across strategy, marketing, operations, and organization. He is especially known in people and organization development, having architected Deloitte's Talent Management practice and served as HR Transformation leader at KPMG. His work integrates people, policy, workforce analytics, learning, and implementation into enterprise-wide transformation.

Education / Affiliations: Broad multi-university business education • Charter Member, International Human Resource Information Management (IHRIM) • Author and speaker.

Rashmi Jha

Strategy, Innovation & Applied Business Analytics

Rashmi works across strategy, innovation, analytics, and business systems for Global 1000 companies in Asia and the United States. Her work includes banking platforms serving more than 17 million deposit accounts across more than 1,000 financial institutions, retail forecasting and replenishment redesign, multi-firm supply chain improvement, and healthcare claims-processing applications. She has been recognized through multiple contributor and performance awards.

Education / Affiliations: Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communications, RGPV • Master's in Business Analytics • Fluent in three languages.

Razi Ansari

CEO Advisory, M&A & Regional Enterprise Leadership

Razi is a former chief executive who now advises boards and CEOs on strategy, international mergers and acquisitions, and transformation. His 30-year career spans advisory, executive, training, and implementation roles across three continents and seven industries. As CEO of Al Ghurair Foods, he led a $1 billion business with 9 manufacturing plants, 1,200 employees, and operations in 40 countries. His executive career in chemicals and manufacturing have received top-quality awards.

Education / Affiliations: Bachelor's with honors in Applied Physics • MBA in Marketing • Postgraduate studies at Babson College • Founder-Chair, IBA Center for Executive Education.

Usama Samad

Operational Excellence, Decision Modeling & Technology Alignment

Usama Samad is a consultant and systems-oriented improvement leader known for decision models, gap analysis, and measurable process gains. He has led process teams at Alcatel-Lucent, NEC America, and Verizon, delivering major cost reductions, cycle-time compression, quality improvement, and implementation success. He is valued for training client teams during engagements so capability remains after the project ends. He intensely pursues advancements in decision- and executive-support.

Education / Affiliations: B.S. and M.S., Electrical Engineering • Stanford postgraduate in Strategic Decision Making & Risk Management • ASQ Six Sigma • PMP • SCPM.

Partners combine sectoral and industry experience, implementation expertise, multiple specializations, and ongoing academic affiliations.

Research & Practice Support

Aparecida Goncalves

Administrative Support

Cida supports the smooth functioning of ConfluCore's office and client-facing administrative systems. She is responsible for operational reliability across facilities, communication flow, office organization, and cross-cultural support. Her long exposure to international environments makes her especially effective with the firm's global clientele.

Education / Affiliations: Early education in child care • Further studies at Harvard • Bilingual and cross-cultural administrative experience.

Barbara Kirksey

Senior Editor

Barbara edits and synthesizes ConfluCore's written work for clarity, structure, and executive readability. She brings more than 30 years of experience teaching composition and business writing, more than 10 years teaching ESL at all levels, and international assignment experience including Japan. She also supports cross-cultural and executive communication programs strengthening organization development initiatives.

Education / Affiliations: Undergraduate and graduate degrees from The University of Dallas in English, organization development, and psychology • Former senior professor, DeVry University.

Chris Semmelbeck

Media Editor

Chris supports ConfluCore's multimedia and visual communication capabilities. His work combines business experience with current academic study in arts, technology, and emerging communications, helping the firm remain current in evolving media tools and formats. He brings a creative, cross-disciplinary perspective to production and presentation.

Education / Affiliations: ATEC, University of Texas at Dallas.

Russ Riddle

Legal Advisor

Russ advises ConfluCore on intellectual property protection and legal safeguarding of its original work. He has supported the firm since its inception and is known for making complex legal matters understandable, practical, and business-relevant. His role is especially important in protecting proprietary models, written work, and original concepts.

Education / Affiliations: Intellectual property legal practice and advisory experience.

Ahmad Muaz Qamar

Digital Transformation & Technology Advisory

Dr. Qamar is a globally respected management consultant and recognized computer science professional with over 20 years of leadership experience in AI, software development, digital transformation, and cloud computing. He advises across industries and sectors, combining technical depth with multilingual communication and strong knowledge-sharing orientation.

Education / Affiliations: Ph.D., Computer Science USC • Fluent in Arabic, English, and Hindi/Urdu.

Selected Endorsements

“ConfluCore is a priceless discovery. Their seasoned partners modeled and simulated growth strategies for TopGolf that were foundational and also avoided unintended consequences.”
– Kenneth May
Co-Founder & CEO TopGolf, Former CEO Kinkos

“By providing metaphor and matching to the metaphor, Usman has designed a system to make us all more effective communicators and influencers, and by extension, more effective leaders and managers.”
– James L. Heskett
UPS Foundation Professor, Harvard Business School

“Utilizing ConfluCore in my executive career over two decades, I am captivated by their profound intellect and extensive experience, unparalleled in top management advising and executive development. They are outstanding, distinguished, and yet unassuming in the elite position they maintain.”
– Vinod Nanu
EY Executive Director, CEO Moviynt; Founder Saviynt

“With Usman’s [work], we will now be adding it to systems thinking, working with mental models, sensing emerging realities, and growing leaders as the new sources of genuine distinctiveness.”
– Peter M. Senge
Professor, M.I.T. & Author, The Fifth Discipline