Meet our leadership team

David Kristal

David Kristal
David is the founder, CEO and Co-Chairman of Augeo, and the Executive Chairperson of Figg. In this role with Augeo, David is active in all aspects of the firm's activities, especially when it comes to new ideas and strategic and technological innovations.
As a graduate of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, and Stanford University’s School of Law, David began his career at the law firm of Winthrop & Weinstine, PA.
Outside of Augeo, David serves on the boards of AmpliFi and the Star Tribune Media Company. He is also very active in philanthropic activities and volunteers on a number of other boards, where he actively participates in early stage commercial efforts or support through Augeo.

Juan Sabater

Juan Sabater
Juan joined David as a partner to build and scale Augeo in June 2006 following a career as an investment banker, principally at Goldman Sachs & Co., where he was a Managing Director, served in the leadership group of the Investment Banking Division and led the idea generation efforts for the Investment Bank's U.S. private equity coverage team. Juan is Co-Chair of the Board of Augeo and focuses on supporting the company's strategic initiatives and finance team, as well as assisting with Augeo's client-development efforts.
In addition to Augeo, Juan serves as Co-President and Partner of Valor Equity Partners, a leading growth-focused private equity firm recognized for its investments in a broad range of transformative companies, including Anduril, GoPuff, Misfit Markets, SpaceX and Tesla. Juan joined Valor in 2008, initially as an Advisor, and then on a full-time basis in 2010. Juan serves as a Director on the Board of Directors of Addepar and Harmony Biosciences, and as an Observer on the Board of Directors of Dataminr and BlueVoyant.
In addition to his Augeo and Valor responsibilities, Juan serves on the Boards of Directors of several charitable and professional organizations nationally and in New York City, including The Frick Collection, Girls Who Code and Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, where he Chairs the Board of Directors. He also is the Co-President of the Board of The Hewitt School. He sits on the Advisory Board of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and served on the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School. He was appointed by President George Bush to the President’s Advisory Council on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center. He is also a founding member of the Advisory Council of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, an initiative of the Obama Foundation. Juan serves on the Boards of the New America Alliance and the National Association of Investment Companies, both of which promote diverse participation in the private equity industry.
Juan is formerly an officer of the U.S. Army Reserve.

Erik Sorensen

Erik Sorensen
Erik's role includes leading product development, project management, security compliance, in addition to supplier management and customer service functions of Augeo. He is based in Chicago and has been with Augeo since 2005. Previously, he led the company's client services function and product teams.
Prior to joining Augeo, Erik led a regional marketing team for The Princeton Review.
In his free time, Erik enjoys spending time with his three children and his wife Maria, and sneaking in the occasional round of golf.

Juliann Gilbert

Juliann Gilbert
Juli has over a decade of experience in the loyalty and engagement industries with responsibility for marketing programs, brand management, PR/communications and corporate initiatives. Prior to Augeo, Juli developed and implemented marketing strategies for financial institution loyalty programs.
Juli spends her time leading the marketing team and provides strategic direction focused on digital marketing approach, planning, execution and analysis across Augeo's core business units. She has successfully implemented loyalty and engagement solutions across Augeo for hundreds of clients focused on creative leadership, UI/UX design, end user insights, data and measurement, and segmentation.
Juli attended St. Ambrose University in Iowa, double majoring with a BA in Marketing and Management, in addition to a minor in Organizational Leadership. Juli is an avid Chicago Bears fan and loves football Sundays with her husband and four-legged beagle bulldog.

Boris Kopilenko

Boris Kopilenko
Boris joined the company in 2010, and is responsible for Augeo's Software Development, IT Infrastructure and BI teams. His team is responsible for building and maintaining the platforms that run each Augeo program. Boris earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis.
Before Augeo, Boris worked for UnitedHealth Group and the OptumHealth Care Solutions business unit, where he was Director of Business Reporting.
When he is not at work, Boris enjoys spending time with his family at their cabin in Wisconsin.

Scott Burns

Scott Burns
Scott is the Chief of Staff and joined Augeo as part of the Structural acquisition in 2022. He continues to drive strategy and growth for Structural in shaping the future of work.
Prior to Structural, Scott co-founded GovDelivery, a digital marketing platform for the public sector that is used by thousands of organizations and hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Scott started his career at McKinsey & Co. and is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
Outside of Augeo, Scott serves on the Board of the Star Tribune Media Company and is an active volunteer in civic and youth sports organizations.

Mike Garsin

Mike Garsin
Mike joined Augeo through the acquisition of Brand Networks, an Augeo company—a social media marketing pioneer. He is responsible for driving strategy to advance our Social Activation division in shaping the future of AI-optimized advertising investment, authentic employee advocacy and data-driven brand collaborations.
With over two decades of experience in founding and growing technology companies, Mike co-founded Brand Networks in 2006—spearheading the development of the brand’s award-winning social media advertising technologies.
Mike is a graduate of the University of Rochester and lives in Rochester, NY with his wife and three children.

Tim Miller

Tim Miller
Tim joined Augeo in 2008 as part of the BenefitProtect acquisition, where he was one of the founders focusing on securing many highly-recognized clients. He now oversees the company's most diverse business unit and is an expert at quickly creating dynamic solutions in multiple markets.
His decades in the membership, healthcare and insurance marketplace has provided a vision to secure substantial strategic partnerships and growth paths for Augeo.
As a Pittsburgh native, Tim is a rabid Steelers fan and is always hoping for another Super Bowl win. He now resides in Arizona, the Grand Canyon State, where he intends to hike "rim to rim" as a bucket list accomplishment.

Joan Wells

Joan Wells
Joan joined Augeo in 2021 and serves as Augeo’s President, Experience. Joan’s previous role as CEO and co-founder of Wellington now powers her role at Augeo, where she guides the Experience business supporting all live and virtual experiences and community building initiatives. Prior to Augeo, Joan spent the last 26 years developing strategies that provided true end-to-end stakeholder strategy and event solutions for clients as authentic partners. Under her leadership, the company saw an explosive level of growth, both in size and revenue.
Joan enjoys traveling with her husband and family, and serving on boards focused on social justice and education. When she is not relishing winter and summer sports in the mountains, she is balancing each day with the very best coffee and yoga.

Kenneth Greer

Kenneth Greer
Ken is Augeo's change agent, trend visionary, technology geek and creative spark. He is known as the go-to-guy for big ideas, and his one-of-a-kind combination of creative and strategic marketing skills has been the driving force behind the transformation of both consumer and business-to-business enterprises within the company.
He received his master's degree from Stanford University and a B.A. from Carleton College.
Ken is nationally recognized for innovative thinking and has a unique ability to create compelling brand value. He has even earned two gold records for his marketing efforts in the music business.

Ron Lancaster

Ron Lancaster
Ron joined Augeo in 2022 and serves as Chief Product Officer. His experience as CTO with Structural has transitioned to Augeo where he provides expertise and guidance on product and engineering for the Structural platform. Prior to this role, Ron spent over 20 years in technology and served as CTO at Pearson VUE where he was responsible for products and services at the world's largest assessment organization.
Ron has a master's in software engineering from the University of Minnesota and is an avid learner—currently focusing on AI and tech leadership. Away from work, he enjoys time with his wife and family and cycling the Twin Cities' paved paths.

John Sirvydas

John Sirvydas
Since 2015 and with over 30 years of experience in IT, management and consulting. John provides results-driven experience to Augeo's strategic and enterprise product initiatives—and also serves as Augeo's Chief Information Security Officer.
John has a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Prior to joining the Augeo team, John held executive level positions at RewardsNOW, Inc, ClearBlue Security, LLC, Zaio Corporation, Realink Corporation and Sema4, Inc.
Outside of Augeo, John has a complicated relationship with hitting little white balls and chasing them down. His latest hobby is chasing after his grandson…and he's having a ball doing it!

Jennifer Vanselow

Jennifer Vanselow
Jennifer began with Augeo's sister company, Embers, over 20 years ago, and has been with Augeo ever since its inception in 1999.
Throughout her years with both companies, Jennifer has worked in all areas of accounting, human resources and finance. Currently, Jennifer leads Augeo's finance team, plays an active role in acquisitions and manages the company's financials and cash flows. She holds a BS in Accounting from Augsburg College, and is a Certified Managerial Accountant.
In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys boating on the river in the summer.

Danny Kristal

Danny Kristal
Danny manages Augeo's in-house legal matters including day-to-day legal requests from employees, business leads, clients and vendors. He also works closely with Augeo's HR team and manages the national corporate offices.
He joined the company after nearly 10 years as the co-owner of a commercial general contracting business that self-performed masonry, concrete and carpentry services. During Danny's tenure, that business grew from $8 million to over $20 million in annual revenue.
When not hanging with his wife and 3 kids, Danny enjoys cycling (pedal and motor!), smoking ribs and playing hockey. Danny is a certified private pilot, however, has not flown in over 20 years, so do not ask to go for a ride!

Alicia Schimke

Alicia Schimke
Alicia's role includes infrastructure and security objectives, as well as coordinating IT strategies and solutions with business partners for the organization. She originally joined the team as a contractor in 2014, with a mission of leading the team in the creation of a revolutionary new software platform (Encore!) and formally joined Augeo in 2019 through the acquisition of MotivAction.
She holds a BA from Gustavus Adolphus College, with a double major in Mathematics and Communications—the first at Gustavus with that combination.
With hobbies as diverse as her education, Alicia enjoys skydiving (you can routinely see her falling from the sky on weekends in Baldwin, Wisconsin), puzzles with her daughter and running (outside only – no treadmill!). If you hear snoring during a meeting with Alicia, it's quite possibly her adorable French bulldog Brioche, more commonly known as Augeo's mascot.

Patty Saari

Patty Saari
Patty brings 20 years of engagement and loyalty experience across Employee, Channel and B2B audiences. Her roles have spanned client strategy, product development, program design and delivery. She leads the Account Management team responsible for implementing and supporting a growing suite of award-winning, platform-driven engagement services across Augeo’s global client portfolio.
From a young age, Patty’s roots in family business have cultivated a passion for connection, partnership and loyalty. Prior to joining Augeo in 2018, Patty’s professional path included successive leadership roles in the loyalty marketing industry and even a brief departure to partner with her husband to launch a 3D printing business still thriving today. She earned her BA in business management from the College of St. Benedict.
When not visiting clients or in our Twin Cities’ offices, Patty loves traveling with her husband, friends and family and soaking in any musical event she can find.

Leslie Dickerson

Leslie Dickerson
Leslie brings more than 20 years in client services to her current role as Senior Vice President, Experience with Augeo and is instrumental in delivering transformational experiences for our clients and their diverse audiences. She is responsible for the day-to-day operations and teams for our onsite, virtual and hybrid meetings, incentives, events, gifting and community building initiatives.
Leslie serves on the Metro Lutheran Ministries Board of Directors and Kaw Prairie Board of Trustees—and she supports a variety of civic and philanthropic initiatives throughout the Kansas City Area. Leslie received her degree from Kansas State University enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids, spending time outdoors, traveling and challenging herself in the kitchen with new recipes.

David Kristal

Juan Sabater

Erik Sorensen

Juliann Gilbert

Boris Kopilenko

Scott Burns

Mike Garsin

Tim Miller

Joan Wells

Kenneth Greer

Ron Lancaster

John Sirvydas

Jennifer Vanselow

Danny Kristal

Alicia Schimke

Patty Saari
