Say hello to our Leaders

Anji Maram is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CriticalRiver Inc., where he sets the company’s long-term vision and ensures its execution is tightly aligned with client needs and industry direction. Since founding CriticalRiver in 2014, he has led its expansion into a global technology services firm, focused on delivering high-quality, customer-centric solutions at scale.

With over two decades of leadership in enterprise IT, Anji plays an active role in shaping client strategy—listening closely to feedback, making data-informed decisions, and ensuring clients receive consistent, reliable service delivery. He sets clear quality standards across the organization and drives strategic investments in tools, talent, and technologies to meet and exceed client expectations.

Everything CriticalRiver delivers is designed to continuously add value to existing customer investments—enhancing outcomes, not just adding capabilities.

Anji also forges key alliances that strengthen CriticalRiver’s offerings, enabling clients to access comprehensive, future-ready solutions. He encourages continuous process improvement and fosters a culture where responsiveness, innovation, and accountability are central to client engagement.

Before CriticalRiver, Anji held leadership roles at Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and Selectiva Systems Inc., where he led large-scale delivery and architecture initiatives. He was instrumental in building the foundation of Medville Corporation, reflecting his long-standing focus on purpose-led leadership.

An alumnus of UCLA Anderson, University of Louisiana, and BITS Pilani, Anji continues to guide CriticalRiver with clarity, consistency, and a strong focus on long-term client success.

Chandrasekhar Chandragiri is the Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of CriticalRiver Inc., where he combines financial expertise with deep technology insight to help clients align their business goals with sound financial strategy. With over 20 years of experience in enterprise consulting and finance, he serves as a strategic partner—driving value through disciplined planning, risk mitigation, and performance optimization.

As CFO, Chandra plays a key role in ensuring that client engagements are financially sustainable and strategically sound. He oversees budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis to track performance, identify variances, and guide decision-making. His focus on transparency and compliance ensures clients operate within industry standards while maintaining agility in fast-moving markets.

Chandra also supports clients in evaluating ROI on technology investments, helping them prioritize projects that deliver measurable impact. He identifies operational and financial risks, from regulatory shifts to project delays, and builds strategies to address them proactively.

Beyond finance, Chandra fosters partnerships with technology providers to strengthen client solutions and contributes to internal efficiency by collaborating across teams to reduce costs and improve outcomes. His leadership supports CriticalRiver’s reputation as a reliable, financially sound partner.

Prior to CriticalRiver, Chandra held leadership roles at IHireRite Inc., Oracle Corporation, IBM Global Services, and Sun Microsystems, gaining a comprehensive view of enterprise systems and delivery operations.

An alumnus of BITS Pilani, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and UCLA Anderson School of Management, Chandra brings analytical clarity, financial discipline, and strategic foresight to client engagements and company growth.

Tarun Srivastava serves as the Head of Global Growth at CriticalRiver Inc., where he works as a trusted advisor to clients—helping them unlock greater value from their existing technology investments while aligning with their future ambitions.

With over 18 years of experience across business development, engineering, and digital strategy, Tarun partners with clients to co-create growth roadmaps that are both practical and visionary. He helps clients navigate complex transformation journeys, bringing together the right mix of solutions, speed, and scalability—particularly in areas like Generative AI, digital platforms, and data-led innovation.

Tarun’s approach goes beyond sales—he engages deeply with client leadership to identify opportunities, structure tailored engagements, and accelerate time to value. His cross-functional experience allows him to balance short-term priorities with long-term strategic goals, making him a true extension of the client’s team.

Before CriticalRiver, Tarun spent over a decade at Altimetrik as Senior Client Partner, where he led large enterprise accounts, managed high-value deals, and drove consistent growth. His early experience at Wipro Technologies, Capgemini, and Perfetti Van Melle shaped his strong foundation in both technology and business consulting.

Tarun holds an MBA in Marketing Management from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune. Today, he plays a key role in helping CriticalRiver’s clients grow with confidence— through strategy, partnership, and a relentless focus on business outcomes.

Enayathulla Shaik (Enay) is a Partner at CriticalRiver Inc., leading operations across India and the APAC region. He is responsible for driving regional growth, shaping business strategy, and overseeing the execution of high-impact initiatives.

Enay works closely with clients to deliver agile, scalable solutions that meet evolving business needs, ensuring technology investments translate into real, measurable outcomes.

With more than 20 years of experience in techno-managerial business development roles, he has consistently delivered innovative software solutions for Tier 2 organizations and emerging startups. Since joining CriticalRiver in 2017 as Vice President of Operations, Enay has played a key role in strengthening the company’s delivery capabilities and expanding its regional footprint.

Prior to CriticalRiver, he founded Opent IT Services, where he built and scaled technology platforms with a hands-on leadership approach. He also held senior roles at Selectiva Software Solutions, AnalytixDS, Aztec Software and Technology Services, Bristlecone, and Polaris Financial Technology—leading enterprise modernization and data-driven transformation programs.

A passionate technologist and believer in purposeful innovation, Enay is known for his guiding belief: “Tech is the Future. The Future is Tech.” He is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and is currently based in Hyderabad, India.

Narayana Murthy K serves as the Head of Global Delivery at CriticalRiver Inc., where he leads delivery operations across India, the Philippines, Brazil, Costa Rica, and the USA. He works closely with clients to align delivery strategies with business goals, ensuring that every engagement is executed with consistency, quality, and efficiency.

With over 30 years of experience, Murthy helps clients achieve operational excellence by optimizing resource allocation across geographies and time zones, enabling round-the-clock service and cost control. He ensures that project managers and delivery teams are focused on timelines, quality benchmarks, and proactive communication—creating an environment of trust, predictability, and transparency.

Murthy also drives continuous improvement across delivery processes, introducing new tools and technologies that boost efficiency and value for clients. His leadership supports long-term relationships, with a focus on meeting and exceeding expectations at every stage of delivery.

Prior to CriticalRiver, Murthy held senior roles at HCL America, Tech Mahindra, GSPANN Technologies, and served as Chief Digital Officer at ImAvatar Technologies. He began his career as a Computer Scientist at DRDO and has led programs for multiple Fortune 100 clients.

Murthy holds an MCS from Andhra University and an MBA from IGNOU. Based in Hyderabad, he brings strategic discipline, global delivery expertise, and a strong client-first approach to every engagement.

Kaniska Mandal leads CriticalRiver Inc.’s Data & AI Solutions Studio, where he helps clients unlock the full potential of their data to solve business challenges, improve efficiency, and drive growth. He works closely with enterprises to define data and AI strategies, identify practical use cases, and implement scalable, secure solutions aligned with business goals.

With over 24 years of experience in data engineering and machine learning, Kaniska guides clients in selecting the right platforms, building strong data foundations, and deploying AI models that deliver measurable outcomes.

Under his leadership, CriticalRiver delivers products like FinCoPilot—an AI-powered financial automation platform that helps enterprises optimize operations and enhance decision-making. He in instrumental in building Solutions and Accelerators using new AI/ML Technologies.

Kaniska also supports clients in developing internal AI capabilities through training, enablement, and long-term adoption planning—ensuring sustainable value from every investment.

Before joining CriticalRiver, he led AI innovation at Sparkflows, and held leadership roles at CVS Health, Walmart Labs, Cisco, Siemens, and Dell, driving data and AI initiatives across global enterprises.

He holds a master’s degree in computer science from Georgia Tech, and brings deep technical expertise, product vision, and a client-first mindset to every engagement.

As CriticalRiver Inc.’s Global People Leader, Arundhati Ashoka drives the company’s global talent strategy—overseeing recruitment, development, engagement, and retention across geographies. Her leadership is central to building a high performance, inclusive culture that supports innovation, collaboration, and long-term growth.

Arundhati helps clients benefit from high quality, engaged teams by ensuring the right talent, skills, and culture are in place to deliver consistent results across every engagement.

With a strong foundation in human resources and customer relations, Arundhati brings over two decades of experience across multinational organizations. She has consistently championed diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is known for creating people first environments where individuals and teams thrive.

An alumna of Bangalore University, Arundhati is based in Austin, Texas, and continues to shape the global workforce at CriticalRiver with empathy, clarity, and purpose.

As Growth Leader at CriticalRiver Inc., Rohit Yadav brings over 23 years of experience in digital and product engineering services. He leads high-impact initiatives across North America, working closely with clients in the Hi-Tech sector to unlock new opportunities through technology-driven growth.

Rohit helps clients identify and act on strategic growth levers—whether through digital product innovation, process modernization, or scalable engineering solutions that align with evolving market demands.

Known for his deep commitment to customer success, Rohit focuses on helping organizations harness innovation in ways that deliver measurable outcomes. His leadership is rooted in strategic insight, execution excellence, and a passion for solving complex challenges through modern technology.

Before joining CriticalRiver, Rohit held leadership roles at HCL Technologies and R Systems (a Blackstone company), where he built strong customer partnerships and scaled delivery operations. His expertise continues to shape forward-looking strategies that drive value, transformation, and sustained growth.

Angela Carter leads growth strategy at CriticalRiver Inc., driving global expansion, deepening enterprise relationships, and accelerating business development across high-potential markets. She plays a key role in strengthening the company’s presence through client-focused execution and scalable go to market initiatives.

Angela helps clients navigate complex transformation goals by aligning the right capabilities, partnerships, and solutions to deliver sustained business value and competitive advantage.

With over 20 years of experience, Angela has helped top technology and consulting firms achieve sustainable growth through solution sales, global account leadership, strategic partnerships, and alliance development. Her approach combines long-term vision with an ability to deliver immediate business outcomes.

Previously, she held leadership roles in consulting and tech-enabled services at global consulting firms and the Big 4, where she led the Oracle service practice and managed key client relationships.

A graduate of the University of Colorado, Angela lives in San Mateo with her husband, son, daughter, and their beloved pets. Outside of work, she enjoys hitting the ski slopes and spending time outdoors.

Christopher Vialva drives enterprise growth at CriticalRiver Inc. as Growth Leader and Client Partner, focused on designing high-impact strategies that unlock value and build large revenue portfolios. His work spans executive engagement, solution shaping, and full lifecycle client success.

Chris helps clients accelerate transformation by aligning technology investments with business outcomes—ensuring every initiative delivers measurable value and strategic impact.

With more than 25 years of experience across the technology spectrum—from software development to enterprise cloud architecture—Chris brings a rare blend of technical depth and business acumen. He has managed P&Ls of up to 200 million dollars and led complex digital programs across diverse industries.

Before joining CriticalRiver, he held leadership roles at Thoughtworks, Cognizant, Infosys, and American Express, where he guided enterprise transformation initiatives and built trusted C-level partnerships.

A strategic thinker and Enterprise Solutions Architect, Chris works closely with C-suite leaders and delivery teams to align business outcomes with technology investments. He is an alumnus of Nova Southeastern University and Pace University and currently lives in San Francisco.

As a Growth Leader, Manav Puri is involved in crafting CriticalRiver Inc.’s business development strategy while building strong relationships with clients and stakeholders.

Manav helps clients drive long-term value by aligning technology solutions with business objectives, ensuring each engagement delivers both strategic impact and operational results.

With over 20 years of experience driving revenue growth and building high performing teams in the IT services industry, Manav is known for his executive relationships and effective stakeholder management at the C-suite level.

At CriticalRiver, he leverages his expertise in competitive planning, pricing strategy, demand generation, and sales operations to expand customer footprint and strengthen the company’s value offerings.

Prior to joining CriticalRiver, he worked as Vice President – Client Services at Amiseq Inc and Director – Client Services at Virtusa.

Manav holds an MBA in Marketing from IBS Hyderabad. When not working, he enjoys relaxing by the beach and discovering new local coffee shops.

Subbarao Kapila, known as Subbu, serves as Growth Leader for the MENA region and Global Presales at CriticalRiver Inc. He leads multiple strategic practices across digital transformation and business integration, with a strong focus on accelerating growth, enhancing delivery impact, and building long term client value.

Subbu helps clients translate complex transformation goals into clear, executable strategies that improve efficiency, reduce risk, and deliver sustained business outcomes.

With over 25 years of experience in the IT services industry, Subbu brings deep expertise in crafting strategic roadmaps, building global engineering and presales teams, and delivering scalable solutions that drive both top line and bottom-line growth. Since joining CriticalRiver in 2020, he has played a key role in strengthening global delivery and presales operations, ensuring business continuity and sustained expansion across critical markets.

Before CriticalRiver, Subbu held leadership roles at Cyient, where he led Global Delivery, Innovation, Sales, and Presales functions. He also worked with Satyam Computer Services (now Tech Mahindra) and GE-IBC, leading strategic initiatives in business development and client engagement.

Subbu holds a degree in Engineering from Marathwada University and a Management degree from GITAM University. He is also a research scholar. Based in Hyderabad, he continues to drive enterprise growth through customer-centric strategy and operational excellence.

Alan Marcus leads the Salesforce Solutions Studio at CriticalRiver Inc., driving strategy, innovation, and delivery across the company’s Salesforce practice. He helps clients unlock the full potential of Salesforce by aligning advanced solutions with business goals and delivering measurable results.

Alan works closely with stakeholders to design and implement scalable end to end Salesforce solutions spanning Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Experience Cloud that streamline operations, enhance customer engagement, and enable data driven decision making.

With over 20 years of experience, Alan is one of the ‘First 500’ Salesforce certified professionals and helped shape the platform’s early education programs. He was the lead architect behind dataloader.io, the top-rated app on Salesforce AppExchange.

He specializes in high performance solutions powered by AI driven automation, chatbots, predictive intelligence, and recommendation engines, helping clients accelerate growth and maximize ROI from their Salesforce investments.

An alumnus of the University of Montana – Missoula, Alan is based in San Leandro, California, and is known for his people first leadership and ability to build teams that deliver purposeful transformation.

Reet Sibia Gwari is the Global Marketing Leader at CriticalRiver Inc., where she partners closely with clients to amplify their voice and position them as industry leaders. Through co-authored thought leadership, executive interviews, and success story campaigns, Reet ensures clients are not only seen but heard across the industry.

She creates strategic platforms—webinars, media features, analyst briefings, and speaking engagements—that allow clients to share their vision, highlight real-world impact, and shape industry conversations. Under her leadership, CriticalRiver’s marketing function becomes a growth lever for clients—supporting their credibility, expanding their reach, and turning shared success into influential narratives.

With over 20 years of experience, Reet brings the insight and executional depth to craft stories that resonate with decision-makers and stakeholders, helping clients build trust and visibility in competitive markets.

Jithesh Manoharan leads CriticalRiver Inc.’s NetSuite Solutions Studio, where he helps clients improve operational efficiency and business scalability through tailored Oracle NetSuite ERP solutions. He works closely with organizations to assess challenges across finance, supply chain, and HR, and designs ERP systems that streamline workflows, automate manual tasks, and provide real time visibility into business performance.

With more than 20 years of global experience in ERP, cybersecurity, cloud transformation, and enterprise architecture, Jithesh oversees the full delivery cycle—from system design and customization to data migration and third-party integration—ensuring stable implementation and long-term value.

His focus is on enabling clients to reduce costs, enhance compliance, and make faster, data driven decisions through connected operations and intelligent financial management. He leads high performing teams that deliver outcomes aligned with strategic goals and enterprise growth.

In addition to his role at CriticalRiver, Jithesh is the Founder and CEO of Techcloudpro, a certified Oracle NetSuite Solution Provider known for its proprietary SuiteSpots™ Connectors and enterprise cybersecurity offerings through CyberArk. He also heads Zietra, an AI driven Industry 4.0 platform, and Zyre, an intelligent talent matching engine, expanding his leadership across the broader technology ecosystem.

A trusted advisor to C level executives, Jithesh combines strategic vision with operational execution to deliver ERP solutions that support sustainable transformation.

As Business Development Leader at CriticalRiver Inc., Jacqueline Craig spearheads a high performing team focused on strategic territory planning, innovative marketing, and opportunity creation. Her ability to build trust-based relationships with C-level executives has played a key role in securing long term partnerships and accelerating the company’s growth across target markets.

Jacqueline helps clients identify untapped opportunities and align with the right solutions and teams—ensuring long term success through meaningful collaboration and value driven engagement.

With over 20 years of experience, Jacqueline has consistently driven business success across roles in sales, strategy, and client engagement. Prior to joining CriticalRiver, she held leadership positions at Miracle Software Systems as Senior Business Development Executive, MuSigma as Chief of Staff, and PragmaEdge as Head of North America Sales.

A proud alumna of Northwestern University, Jacqueline is a passionate advocate for women in technology. She founded the Tri-Valley Women in Tech Circle and contributes actively to the Women in Leadership League at San Jose State University. Her commitment to inclusion and community extends to mentoring at the Therapeutic Riding Center and volunteering with the Tim Tebow Foundation’s Night to Shine initiative.

Jacqueline’s leadership is defined by integrity, purpose, and a deep belief in growth—both for the business and the people around her.

Pani Peddi leads CriticalRiver Inc.’s ERP Solutions Studio, where he helps clients design and implement integrated enterprise systems that unify finance, operations, procurement, and HR. He works closely with business and IT leaders to translate complex requirements into scalable ERP solutions that drive automation, improve compliance, and support data driven decision making.

With over 24 years of experience in finance, accounting, and enterprise technology, Pani guides clients through the full ERP lifecycle—from planning and implementation to post go live support. His solutions help eliminate silos, streamline processes, and provide real time visibility into performance.

He brings deep expertise in ERP Financials, Projects, Distribution, and Global Compliance, with strong knowledge of US GAAP, IFRS, FASB, SOX, and incentive compensation. His experience spans large scale process reengineering and enterprise transformation across global operations.

In addition to his role at CriticalRiver, Pani is a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Financial Analyst, and law graduate. He holds a JD and MS from Ferris State University, Michigan, and certifications across ERP, cloud, cybersecurity, and compliance domains.

Previously, he held leadership roles at Apolis, RJT Solution Beacon, and served as Director at ASCENT (AIMS). Based in Chicago, he is an active member of ICAI, ICFAI, and the Bar Council of India, and frequently speaks on corporate compliance and enterprise advisory.

Thomas Rowan is the Delivery Leader for Energy & Water Solutions at CriticalRiver Inc., where he oversees the successful execution of complex programs for utility clients across the electric, gas, and water sectors. With a strong focus on driving operational efficiency and business transformation, Thomas ensures the delivery of high-impact solutions that help utilities modernize systems and optimize performance.

Thomas helps utility clients translate business goals into actionable technology roadmaps, delivering solutions that improve reliability, customer service, and operational agility.

A seasoned IT and management consulting professional, Thomas has served as both project director and solution architect, leading utilities through every phase of large-scale system integration—from strategic planning and solution selection to implementation and business process reengineering. His expertise lies in translating technology into actionable results that improve service delivery, streamline operations, and enhance customer experience.

Thomas brings deep domain knowledge in Customer Service and Billing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), and Smart Grid technologies. His ability to align technology with utility business goals makes him a trusted leader in delivering innovative, measurable outcomes.

In his role as an independent director at CriticalRiver Inc., Raju Reddy leverages his extensive experience and expertise from the technology and venture capital sectors.

As a Venture Partner and Principal at SVQ, he has been a tech entrepreneur for over 20 years and a venture angel for a decade, with 30 investments yielding significant successes including two exits and a prospective 100X+ Unicorn IPO.

Reddy’s career began at Intel, followed by his role as Founder and CEO of Sierra Atlantic, which was acquired by Hitachi in 2011. He currently holds advisory positions in several innovative companies like Eltropy, Flam, SciSpace, GreyOrange, HealthCube, Hover, Modern Meadow, Quizizz and Seclore.

Raju is an active TiE Silicon Valley charter member and served as Convener for TiEcon 2016. He previously served as the Chairman of BITSAA Intl., the alumni body of BITS Pilani university.

At CriticalRiver, Reddy’s expertise in operational leadership and investment acumen plays a pivotal role in shaping the company’s strategic direction and growth.

As a senior advisory board member at CriticalRiver Inc., Phaneesh Murthy brings extensive expertise from his time at leading IT firms, including Infosys and iGate.

In his previous role as a Global Sales Head at Infosys Ltd, he was widely credited for escalating the organization’s revenues from $2 million to $700 million in less than a decade. Joining iGATE as CEO in 2003, Phaneesh led the company until 2013. Under his leadership, iGATE’s revenues soared to approximately $1.2 billion, firmly establishing it as a significant player in the global outsourcing market.

With a career that spans various pivotal roles including Managing Director and Worldwide Head of Sales and Marketing, Phaneesh is recognized for his visionary approach.

His role is central to shaping CriticalRiver’s operational strategies and sales initiatives, laying the groundwork for a successful IPO and future advancements.

Phaneesh holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad as well as a BS from the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai.

Tony serves as the Vice President and Head of IT at Five9. He has previously held leadership positions at AT&T, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Tiburon, and Wind River Systems.

Tony has more than 20 years of experience in business and IT transformation, and a reputation for building and leading high-performance global, cross-functional teams in highly matrixed organizations. He is skilled at developing and delivering strategic solutions to further key business objectives.

Tony is based in Pleasanton, California. He holds a BBA from Simpson and an MBA in Computer Information Systems from California State University – Hayward.

As Advisory Board Member at CriticalRiver, Venkat brings 25+ years of IT experience with expertise in hyper-growth companies. At present, he serves as the Chief Information Officer at Ichor Systems Inc. He has previously held leadership positions at Neo Photonics Corp, JDS Uniphase Corp., and Oracle Corp.

Venkat’s experience spans global service delivery, applications development, support, IT security, strategy, and transformation, with a proven track record in each area. He has been a featured speaker on subjects such as technology, cloud, and IT transformation.

Venkat is based in San Ramon, California, and holds a BS in Engineering from PSG College of Technology, India.

Ghanim is an innovative and results-driven leader focused on achieving exceptional results in highly competitive environments that demand continuous improvement. He specializes in driving projects and customer service improvements while building partnerships with key business decision-makers. Ghanim enjoys building and motivating cross-functional teams to exceed expectations.

At present, Ghanim is Board Member and Acting CEO at the B7 Group of Companies in the UAE. He has held several other high-impact positions dealing with strategic planning, megaprojects, customer relationship management, commercial excellence, innovation, and digital technology.

Ghanim is based in the UAE.