Mike Gault – Co-Founder and CEO
Mike Gault is co-founder and CEO of GuardTime. He started his career as a scientist holding a Post-Doctoral Fellowship of the European Commission conducting research in Japan on the mathematical modeling of quantum effect devices. He then had a 10-year career in the mathematical modeling and trading of financial derivatives, initially at Credit Suisse Financial Products, then as Managing Director and co-head of trading at Barclays Capital Japan.
He is the co-founder and Director of Umami Sustainable Seafood, the largest tuna aquaculture company in the world.
Mike received a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from the University of Wales and an MBA from the Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA Program in Hong Kong.
Bart Matusow – Chief Operating Officer
Bart Matusow is GuardTime’s COO. He has 20 years of experience in the financial industry covering money markets, commercial paper, foreign exchange, corporate bonds, and derivatives. Previously he was a Director at Credit Suisse.
Bart received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and English from Rutgers University.
Tim Fitzpatrick – Chief Financial Officer
Tim Fitzpatrick is GuardTime’s CFO. Previously he was General Counsel to a $3 billion NYSE-listed company. Prior to that he practiced law in the corporate finance practice of international law firms in the United States and Hong Kong.
Tim received an MBA from the Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA Program in Hong Kong, A JD from UCLA School of Law, an MA in Political Science from UCSD, and a BA in Political Science from Hamilton College.
Jian Tan – General Manager China
Jian Tan is the General Manager of GuardTime China. He brings to GuardTime over 15 years of diverse experience in Intellectual Property Management, Telecommunications, and Data Management in both China and the United States. Previously he helped found AvePoint and served as the Vice President of Development at the data management solution provider. Prior to joining GuardTime, Jian provided business and technology consulting at British Telecom and operated in both the United States and China for four years.
A native of China, Jian has an MBA from the Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA Program in Hong Kong, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from New York University, and Bachelor’s degrees in both Chemistry and Intellectual Property from Peking University in Beijing.
Takashi Yanagihara – General Manager Japan
Takashi Yanagihara brings more than 25 years of experience in technology business development in Japan and China. Previously he was the founder and Vice Chairman of EC-One China, a software development company mainly for software outsourcing from Japanese companies. During the latter period of Mitsubishi Corporation of 20 years, he served as the General Manager of the IT department in Shanghai, China and initiated the investment business into mobile contents provider Linktone.
Takashi received a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Waseda University.
Peter Rajnak – General Manager Singapore
Peter Rajnak has nearly 20 years of experience in the IT industry in Asia, 18 of which were spent with IBM Singapore where he was one of the initial members of IBM’s Software Group in Asia-Pacific. From 2000, Mr. Rajnak specialized in security, identity risk and compliance solutions, and was responsible for establishing the Security division within IBM’s Tivoli Software in South-East Asia. Prior to joining GuardTime, Peter also served as a Business Development Director for Security and Identity software in Oracle Asia-Pacific.
A native of Slovakia, Peter received a Master of Science (Hons) degree in Economics & Business Management from Economics University in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Raul Vahisalu – General Manager Estonia
Raul Vahisalu has nearly 20 years of experience in the telecom and IT industry in Estonia, managing development and implementation of high-tech concepts and projects. From 1998, he specialized in telecom value-added services development and was the creator of mobile parking, ID card public transport ticketing and mobile positioning services for the largest Estonian mobile operator. Prior to joining GuardTime, he served as a Business Development Lead for Security and M-commerce solutions and worked in Finland, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia for four years.
A native of Estonia, Raul received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Entrepreneurship and Technology Development from Tartu University, and a Master of Social Sciences degree in Information Management from Tallinn University in Estonia.
