Enabling the
OMNICHANNEL CONTACT CENTER
For Over a Decade
About Us > Management Team
Enabling the Agile & Omnichannel Contact Center for Over a Decade
Management Team
CFO & CMO
Joe Newsum brings over 20 years of diverse experience to the CFO and CMO roles at OpenMethods. Previously, Joe was the COO at Goal Zero, the 9th fastest growing company in the U.S. (2013 Inc. 5000), where he led the Operations, Marketing, and Product Development teams to a successful acquisition. Prior to Goal Zero, Joe held multiple senior positions at Sports Authority, including SVP of Marketing, where he managed a $120 million budget, and SVP of Store Operations, where he led 15,000 associates and managed a $200+ million payroll budget. Joe has 7 years of experience as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company and Mercer Management Consulting, and held multiple leadership roles in ecommerce and communications start-ups. Joe has an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth with High Distinction, and a B.S. in Science, Technology & Society from Stanford University.
Ankur Patel
VP, Product Development & Engineering
Ankur Patel leads product development and engineering and is responsible for the full SaaS offering where he leads a team of engineers across the stack. Before joining OpenMethods, Ankur was head of web applications at VPI (Voice Print International), where Ankur’s team built the full WFM and WFO suite including analytics, quality, coaching, and interaction playback. After 5 years of scaling the product and team, VPI was acquired by NICE inc. Ankur holds a B.S in Computer Science from Cal Poly Pomona.
Shannon Lekas
VP, Product & Strategy
As vice president of product and strategy, Shannon Lekas is responsible for OpenMethods product portfolio, go-to-market initiatives and strategic product direction. Prior to joining OpenMethods, Shannon spent many years with both Genesys and VHT where he held various senior-level positions focusing on strategic customers and leading teams in sales, product management, strategy and business development. He successfully led go-to-market planning for new product lines, as well as played an integral role in Premise-to-SaaS business strategy changes. He is passionate about brand engagement and the use of customer in control solutions that make brand experiences, of all types, enjoyable for customers. Shannon holds a Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science from Stephen F Austin University.
Mr. Montgomery is currently the CEO of an advisory business, Montgomery Advisory LLC. He also serves on the Board of Directors at DreamWorks SKG. Previously, he co-founded and was president of Montgomery & Co., a boutique investment bank that was focused on internet based companies. Prior to this, Mr. Montgomery was chief executive officer of Sega Gameworks, a joint venture between Sega, Universal Studios, and DreamWorks SKG. In 1995, Mr. Montgomery joined DreamWorks and was instrumental in raising $1 billion in private equity financing. In 1989, Mr. Montgomery was the vice president and treasurer of the Walt Disney Company and was actively involved in the IPO of EuroDisney, where he later became the executive vice president and chief financial officer.
