Leadership

Jay Hutton

Co-Founder and CEO, Jay is both the visionary leader of this new company and at the same time brings day-to-day balance to the team, fostering quick-to-market client opportunities with focused, disciplined attention on the challenges inherent in their execution. Jay draws on his many years of experience as a seasoned software executive with a career spanning more than 25 years. Jay began his career at Gandalf Technologies, an Ottawa-based pioneer of data communications technology in 1988. He later served as Country Manager (Canada) of Ascend Communications during their rapid growth, public offering and ultimate sale to Lucent Technologies in 1999. Jay then spent the next 10 years as President and CEO of a privately financed private company that ultimately went public. Prior to starting VSBLTY, Jay managed the introduction of electronic payment options to New York City’s 13,000 taxicabs that also functioned as in-vehicle media outlets for local news and weather.

Linda Rosanio

Linda serves as Chief Operating Officer of VSBLTY. Linda began her career in the 70’s as a Media Director responsible for her ad agency’s planning and buying of all forms of media, from radio and television to billboards and point-of-sale advertising. Her transition into Client Services gave her the foundation for the start of her own agency in 1985. Linda grew her own company over the next 30 years to 230 people with 100M in sales. It was Linda’s company that served as the incubator for FloorGraphics. Linda’s client service and operational knowledge is deep and wide and includes an in-depth knowledge of the CPG, retail and casino client mentality. Her food and beverage team members were avid students of shopper marketing and her agency served as a roster agency for Coca-Cola, developing and executing national point-of-sale promotions. Linda brings her combined knowledge of media, client service and operations to help drive the continued success of VSBLTY.

Gary Gibson

Bringing more than 20 years of innovation-driven new product development—from concept to scale—under aggressive time-to-market, Gary plays an instrumental creative role as VSBLTY continues to expand our global footprint and our leadership in advanced technology development and deployment in both the retail and security industries. Gary has a philosophy of continuous innovation and improvement on behalf of customers, and in fact holds 12 U.S. patents. He has a well-earned reputation for delivering novel solutions spanning multiple disciplines, including the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning and computer vision. Gary has led global teams to develop software and hardware platforms across cloud, mobile, telecommunications and IoT. Prior to joining VSBLTY, he served as CTO of 5×5 Technologies, Inc. where he created the firm’s technology vision and led profitable operations. Previously Gary spent 11 years as CTO of VirtualMetrix, Inc., where he created the firm’s technology vision, led roadmap and product definition, defined solution architectures and drove execution for the company’s four product lines. He also directed six new product developments.

Fred Potok

Fred is Co-Founder of VSBLTY and brings 20 years of CPG and retail experience as well as his many long-term relationships to his role as the head of global sales for VSBLTY. Fred founded FloorGraphics, a privately-held in-store advertising company in Princeton, NJ where he was Chairman, CEO and President. Fred was responsible for inventing and conceiving the “floor decal” as an advertising vehicle that redefined point-of-purchase advertising on a global level. Fred grew the firm from $1M in 1997 to $70M in 2001. FloorGraphics ranked #11 in Forbes as the fastest growing privately held company in 2003 and #39 on the Inc. magazine 500 list of entrepreneurial firms.

Jan Talamo

Jan Talamo is VSBLTY’s Chief Creative Officer and Head of Brand Strategies. Jan has spent 30 years in the marketing business building campaigns and executing brand growth ideas for clients in both the CPG and Casino/Gaming industries. Jan has served as Chief Creative Officer and Partner for three companies over his career and is most noted for his quick assessment and creative integration of digital technology as it has rapidly and continually changed the client engagement and the point-of-sale landscape. Jan is a compelling presenter and oversees the development of all client and prospective client communications, including the imagining and creation of the extensions of their brand campaigns onto the various VSBLTY digital screen platforms.

Thomas D. Hays, III

Thomas D. Hays, III brings a wealth of financial experience to the VSBLTY Board of Directors. A prominent investor with strong leadership skills, Mr. Hays also serves on the Advisory Board of Egis Capital Partners, a renowned global security investment banking company. He was the recipient of the Refinancing Deal of the Year award from M&A Advisor. Previously he served as Chairman of the Board of the Red Cross of Eastern Pennsylvania, where he remains on the Board. Mr. Hays has also been an active and enthusiastic member of the Men’s Garden Club team that has enjoyed years of great success competing at the world renowned Philadelphia Flower Show. Mr. Hays serves as a strategic collaborator and a trusted advisor to VSBLTY’s executive management team.

Luiz Felipe Barros

Luiz Felipe Barros has a successful track record as an entrepreneur with two successful exits, as an intrapreneur leading industry-recognized business and digital transformation for Fortune 100 companies and advertising agencies, as an angel investor with three successful exits and as Board Member of both private and public-listed companies. With a breadth of knowledge in Business, Marketing, Data, Analytics, Media and Technology, he is an “expert-generalist” that can both understand deep business challenges and consumer needs and translate them into innovative solutions through data, analytics, media, digital, digital products and technology. Luiz was twice named one of the “Most Influential People on the Internet” by a renowned consultancy, recognized by Ad Age as one of the “40 Under 40” global talents shaping the marketing and media industries, and as the “Data & Analytics Leader of the Year” by the Leadership Excellence Awards. He currently serves as a Board Member of VSBLTY, Eletromidia and Bernoulli. He is also a special advisor for Mercado Libre, serving as Corporate Vice President for Loyalty & Entertainment.

Recently Luiz was the Global Senior Vice President of Data, Analytics, Media & Digital Products for Anheuser-Busch InBev. Under his leadership, the company went through a successful fast-paced transformation that put the company on the forefront of data-driven marketing, tripled the marketing ROI, reaching 15% of total net revenue contribution for the company. As a result, he was recognized by the industry with accolades such as “Creative Marketer of the Year” by Cannes Lions in 2022, “Most Effective Marketer” by both Effie Worldwide and WARC in 2022 and “Most Innovative Company in North America” by Fast Company in 2021.

Prior to AB-InBev, Luiz led Business Strategy and Corporate Venture Capital for Philip Morris International based in NYC. He helped the company to craft a new vision for a smoke-free future that will ultimately help the company exit the cigarette industry. As an entrepreneur, Luiz was the founder and CEO of Digital Stars, the leading influencer marketing agency in Latin America.

Amin Shahidi

Amin Shahidi brings more than 25 years of high-impact leadership, digital transformational consulting and consumer/retail expertise to VSBLTY. He is a former senior strategy executive with Sensormatic, where as Vice President Global Strategy, Transformation, Alliances and M&A, Mr. Shahidi was responsible for developing the overall business strategy, including commercial, operating and financial models, capabilities gaps, solution needs and investment planning. Previously he served as Executive Vice President, Customer Services and Consulting, at Software Paradigms International, an international products and services provider for retailers worldwide. His distinguished career also includes senior executive positions at such leading firms as Cerebra Group, LLC, an independent consulting firm; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services; and BearingPoint (formerly KPMG Consulting).

David Roth

David Roth, recognized globally as a WPP retail expert, is CEO of The Store-WPP & Chairman of WPP BAV. Mr. Roth further strengthens the VSBLTY Board as the firm extends its influential role in the rapidly emerging worldwide retail media market. Mr. Roth entered the field of advertising when he joined Bates Dorland. He became Board Director for Strategy, Managing Director of the Consulting and Digital Divisions and CEO of the worldwide Retail and Technology Center of Excellence. Later, Kingfisher’s B&Q plc tapped him for the main Board of Directors as Global Marketing Director and for the management team that led B&Q’s international expansion to Asia, including China and Eastern Europe. An acknowledged expert in branding and consumer change in China, he is a leading authority on Digital, Artificial Intelligence and Voice Recognition in Retail. Roth also advises extensively on the consumer impact COVID has had across the world accelerating radical transformations that will redefine the business of retailing.

Mr. Roth has authored several books and studies, including “A History of Retail in 100 Objects”; “The Third Era of Digital Retailing”; “Smart Shopping–How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming the Retail Conversation”; “and his latest Book, “Brand Stories from Brand Champions”, which celebrates the enduring power of iconic brands. He is also a documentary filmmaker, and he broadcasts and lectures around the world including BBC, CCTV China, Phoenix TV China, CNBC, Yale, CKGSB and Cambridge Universities and The World Economic Forum, Davos.

Alnesh Mohan

Alnesh Mohan is a partner of Quantum Advisory Partners LLP with over 20 years of accounting auditing, and tax experience, providing advisory services to a wide array of companies across multiple industries. Acting on behalf of several public companies, Mr. Mohan has acquired considerable experience in financial reporting, corporate governance and regulatory compliance. Mr. Mohan is currently CFO of Highbury Projects Inc., Premier Diversified Holdings Inc. and Twyford Ventures Inc., all listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. He is also a Director of Premier Diversified Holdings Inc., a TSX Venture Exchange listed company, as well as American Pacific Mining Corp. and HealthSpace Data Systems Ltd., both listed on the CSE.

Jeffrey S. Muller

Jeffrey Muller, President/CEO of Muller Group International which operates in 25 countries, is uniquely able to assist all levels of government as well as national and international corporations and organizations as they face newly emerging challenges in an increasingly complex international security environment. The VSBLTY Advisory Board member is a seasoned professional with a unique blend of over 30 years of military leadership (Navy), federal law enforcement operations (FBI) and national security/counterterrorism/weapons of mass destruction program development and implementation (White House).

 

At the FBI he managed all national and international countermeasures and prevention activities for the Bureau’s National Security Branch, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Directorate and developed customized integrated technology programs to secure the 18 sectors of U.S. Critical Infrastructure. Mr. Muller developed and led the INTERPOL WMD program serving the 190-member countries and has broad domestic and international experience with military forces, police services, national security agencies and intelligence organizations. Mr. Muller also serves as the Executive Director of his Geneva-based NGO, The CBRNE Global Alliance.

 

Mr. Muller is also an internationally acknowledged authority on national security/counterterrorism policy development and implementation, as well as major criminal/national security threat response operations and investigations.

Steve McMahon

Steve McMahon, president & founder of Insight Out, brings a unique analytics and brand strategy perspective to the VSBLTY Advisory Board. Insight Out provides research, analytical and strategic services to clients primarily in the CPG, foodservice and retail sectors, especially those with multi-unit operations. Since 2005, clients have included such leading brands as Aramark, Bob Evans, Choice Hotels, Coca-Cola, Hershey, Honey Baked Ham, Miller Brewing (Molson-Coors), Nando’s and Saladworks, where he also served as CMO for two years.

Mr. McMahon brings to the Advisory Board a long history of leveraging data to yield insights that inform brand strategy. He advises VSBLTY on planned future offerings related to computer vision measurement and analytics, especially as they pertain to the Store as a Medium.

Prior to launching Insight Out, Mr. McMahon was VP of Strategic Planning & Marketing at Aspen Dental, the nation’s largest retail dental practice management firm, where his horizontal growth model helped it to expand from under 50 offices to over 1,000 today in 45 states. Before that, he was CMO at Cinnabon, where he created a licensing business unit that accounts for some 75% of the brand’s $1 billion in retail sales today. Prior to Cinnabon, Mr. McMahon spent 12 years at The Coca-Cola Company in brand, channel, customer and global marketing roles, departing as Managing Director, North America. He also created and led the customer consulting team known today as the Coca-Cola Knowledge & Insights Group.

Mr. McMahon also has served as Adjunct Professor of Advertising in the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Joe D. Jensen

Joe D. Jensen recently retired after a 37-year career at Intel Corporation. An acknowledged retail technology and brand authority, he left Intel as Vice President of the Internet of Things (IoT) Group and General Manager of the Retail, Banking, Hospitality and Education Group. Mr. Jensen has over 10 years of experience leading the team responsible for helping third-party brands and retailers use Intel’s technology to improve their customers’ experience. Previously, demanaged Intel’s low-power embedded processor division, where he led the development of purpose-built system-on-chip (SoC) devices for the embedded market segment. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Jensen managed Intel’s Digital Home Division, leading the team that developed a SoC product for digital set-top boxes.

After joining Intel as a Product Engineer, he spent five years overseeing the company’s embedded Intel architecture division. During his career, he led large multinational teams, worked in both product management as well as strategic planning, built new businesses, and served as a General Manager with P&L responsibility. In addition to leading Intel’s Retail organization, he is well known across the retail industry, and is currently on the Board of Directors for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, advocating priorities and standards across the retail industry.