The Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service Customer Service & Contact Center Individual & Team Awards Judging Committee | The American Business Awards®

Customer Service & Contact Center Individual & Team Awards Judging Committee

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Ricky Arriola

Chief Executive Officer, Inktel Contact Center Solutions, Miami, Florida, United States

Ricky Arriola is the Founder and CEO of Inktel Holdings Corp, a leading business process outsourcing and customer experience company with operations across the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Nairobi, Kenya. Under his leadership, Inktel has become recognized for its high-performance culture, client service excellence, and innovation in customer engagement, serving Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and consumer brands. He has been honored as an “Ultimate CEO” by the South Florida Business Journal From 2015 to 2023, Ricky served two terms as a Miami Beach City Commissioner, chairing the City’s Finance Committee and overseeing a nearly $1 billion budget. He spearheaded voter-approved General Obligation Bond programs totaling nearly $600 million to fund infrastructure, parks, public safety, and cultural projects. Ricky is deeply committed to arts and culture, serving since 2004 on the Board of Trustees of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, including a term as Chairman, where he helped secure the landmark $30 million gift that named the center. Nationally, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and was an early organizer of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) Miami Chapter. In his local community, Ricky proudly supports Big Brothers Big Sisters, Best Buddies, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, and The Children’s Museum. Ricky earned his B.A. in Economics from Boston College, his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from St. John’s University School of Law, his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and a Master’s Degree in Urban Policy from the University of Southern California. An avid athlete and adventurer, he has completed marathons on multiple continents and Ironman triathlons worldwide.

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Ashish Anand

Director, Marriott, Bethesda, Maryland, United States

With over 18 years of experience in software engineering, cloud infrastructure, and network automation, Ashish currently serves as the Director of Network DevOps at Marriott International. Throughout his career, Ashish has led numerous global digital transformation initiatives and innovation projects, delivering enterprise-scale cloud transformation projects.

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Bharatkumar Boina

Software Engineer Senior Advisor, University of Hartford Apex, North Carolina, United States

Data Engineer and Technology Lead with 12+ years of IT experience. Expertise in Business Intelligence and Data Architecture solutions. Lead projects working with stakeholders, non-technical and technical users from cross-functional teams. Expertise in healthcare data analytics, product and project management.

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Poonam Garg

Founder, U.S. Bank, Plymouth, United States

Poonam Garg is a technology executive and platform engineering leader known for simplifying complexity and driving technology transformation at enterprise scale. She is the host of Beyond the Legacy, a storytelling podcast that captures the wisdom of retired and seasoned leaders. Through thoughtful, heartfelt conversations, she uncovers the lessons, turning points, and human stories behind careers

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JoAnn Kay

Chief of Staff, Avanti Systems USA & GraduationSource, Greenwich, Connecticut, United States

A distinguished leader in service excellence, bringing five decades of expertise, insight, and proven results across diverse industries. She takes pride in providing the best possible solutions to unleash happiness. Her proven success is built on experience with Fortune 500 Co., UST, Sara Lee, & JAG. She shares her trusted tips to create moments of magic that bring connection & heartfelt smiles.

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Revekka Palaiologou

Co-Founder & CEO, Dion, New York City, New York, United States

Revekka Palaiologou is a technology founder, former Bloomberg software engineer, and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. She is the Founder & CEO of Dion, a members-only social platform turning intentional gestures, like buying a drink, into real-world social capital. Previously, she built mission-critical financial systems at Bloomberg and is known for shaping products that influence behavior & culture.

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Sathishkumar Palanisamy

Expert Enterprise Architect, Discover Financial Services, Prosper, Texas, United States

Enterprise Architect with 15+ years in banking, financial services, and payments, delivering secure, compliant, and scalable architectures. Hands-on technical leader across cloud-native and multi-cloud platforms, microservices, APIs, and real-time data. Expertise in data engineering, DevSecOps, open source, and AI architectures including AI Agents, GenAI, and RAG.

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Ronith Pingili

Senior Salesforce Engineer, Block, Newcastle, Washington, United States

Ronith Pingili is a Senior Salesforce Engineer with 10+ years of experience building scalable, compliant CRM platforms. He specializes in automation, integrations, and AI-driven solutions that improve customer experience, reduce risk, and deliver measurable business impact across large enterprise environments.

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Jaseem Pookandy

Salesforce Development Manager, Beyond Finance, Aurora, Illinois, United States

Salesforce Development Manager with more than a decade of Salesforce implementation in various industries such as insurance sector, automotive industry and debt resolution.

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Vikramrajkumar Thiyagarajan

Oracle EPM Manager, Medline Industries, LP, Buffalo Grove, Illinois, United States

Vikramrajkumar is a technology and enterprise transformation leader specializing in Oracle EPM, AI-enabled financial modernization, and large-scale system strategy, with experience across healthcare, finance, and global enterprises. As an IEEE Senior Member, inventor, and published researcher, I focus on driving impactful innovation, operational excellence, and global enterprise advancement.

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Arun Muthuraj Vedamancikam

Chief Architect/Automation Architect, IgniteIPA, United States

Arun is a product-focused solutions architect with over 17 years of experience, specializing in AI/ML architecture and implementation to turn complex business problems into scalable, automation-led products. He enjoys taking ideas from zero-to-one and pushing them toward robust, deployable, and commercial-ready solutions.

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Eir Welch

Director of Customer Success, Kobie Marketing, Palm Harbor, Florida, United States

As the Director of Customer Success for Kobie’s Contact Center, Eir empowers teams to drive measurable impact for clients through loyalty-centric, AI-enabled customer support. She is responsible for overseeing Customer Success, QA/Training, and digital enablement across nine programs, setting the strategy for how people, process, and technology come together.

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Matt Woody

First Vice President, First Financial Bank, Cincinnati, United States

Matt Woody is the Senior Director of Consumer and Business Contact Centers at First Financial Bank, bringing over 25 years of customer contact center management experience to his role. His leadership journey has included key positions at Fidelity Investments, Fifth Third Bank, and First Financial Bank, where he has consistently driven operational excellence and championed customer experience.