Management Team

Tim Estes - CEO

Tim Estes’ role with Digital Reasoning and intelligent learning systems began before the company came to be.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, where he studied philosophy of language and mathematics, Estes noted a shortcoming in quality and capabilities of the software currently on the market. Namely, available software could not learn over time. This greatly hampered the potential utility of analytics systems. Organizations seeking this insight were forced to rely on third-party firms. Considering the value and sensitivity of corporate data, reliance on third-party analytics was obviously less than ideal.

Estes believed, and still believes, that information should be empowering, and that there is inherent meaning present in all information sets. These beliefs led Estes to conclude that the market was in need of a company that could not only provide intelligent analytics, but that could also provide this software for other organizations to utilize. Thanks to his academic background, he was able to envision a means by which computers could learn to accurately interpret language, and he decided to take steps to make this possibility a reality.

In 2000, Estes, along with Dorothy Currey, founded Digital Reasoning Systems. He became the company’s chairman and CEO. He has retained these positions ever since.

In that time, Digital Reasoning has grown, but Estes’ role essentially remains the same: guiding the company as it refines its offerings and expands its position in the analytics market. In the past two years, the company opened a branch in Washington, D.C. to better provide services for government clients and another in New York that focuses on financial services. In the last 12 months, Digital Reasoning has doubled in size.

Thanks to the success of the company, Estes has begun to establish himself as a leading influencer and advocate for the use of intelligent learning systems and analytics to achieve social good in the realms of industry, government policy, healthcare and academia. In 2012, he was a speaker at the Department of Defense Intelligence Information System (DoDIIS) show in Denver and delivered the keynote address at the O’Reilly Strata Conference + Hadoop World New York event. This year, Estes has spoken at the London Enterprise Technology Meetup, hosted by the London School of Economics, and at GigaOM’s Structure: Data 2013 conference.

Estes plans to continue serving as CEO of the company he founded into the foreseeable future. He hopes to lead Digital Reasoning as it explores new ways of delivering its solutions to more people and markets than ever before. He lives near the company’s headquarters in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, where he is proud to call many talented people his friends.

Rob Metcalf – President & COO

Responsible for the company’s business and sales strategy, Rob Metcalf brings over a decade of experience in technology and information services businesses around the world. Prior to joining Digital Reasoning, Rob helped build software and information services businesses for LexisNexis in Mexico City, Toronto and Raleigh. As Vice President of Operations for Global Practice Management, Rob oversaw numerous acquisitions and key investments at the forefront of the company’s solution strategy. Prior to LexisNexis, Rob worked in Boston and San Francisco with The Parthenon Group, a strategy consultancy. Rob earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and his AB, Summa Cum Laude, from Princeton University.

Matthew Russell - Chief Technology Officer

Matthew leads our development team in architecting scalable web applications and devising innovative ways to embed the company’s core technology platform into both federal and commercial products. Matthew previously led a team to build a classified end-to-end enterprise application for the intelligence community. Matthew served as a trusted technology scout for the Defense Intelligence Agency where he researched and evaluated next generation technologies being considered for the government’s intelligence infrastructure. Matthew has completed over 40 publications on technology, including work that has appeared or is upcoming in scientific conferences, Linux Journal, Apple Developer Connection, and Make: Magazine. His most recent writing efforts entailed authoring Dojo: The Definitive Guide, a tome that provides authoritative documentation about a popular JavaScript toolkit. Matthew is a graduate of the Air Force Academy, where he graduated at the top of his class and earned the prestigious “Dean W. Gonzalez Award”.

Harry Schultz – Sr. VP, Product Development and Solutions

Harry Schultz serves as the Senior Vice President of Product Development and Solutions for Digital Reasoning Systems. He has over 34 years of experience providing technology solutions in a variety of different industries, to include: telephony, entertainment, intelligence, emergency management and state and local governance. In his current role, Harry works closely with the executive team to identify and pursue new opportunities for applying Digital Reasoning’s technology to solve difficult data analysis problems for the government’s intelligence community as well as targeted commercial markets. Harry began his career as a software engineer, developing software for telephone switches, process control and data acquisition systems in a refinery, operating systems for Digital Equipment Corp (VMS), and managing large-scale technology projects in both the public and private sectors. The focus of his last 15 years has been on managing large-scale IT projects and software development groups, with emphasis on team building and developing the processes and environment necessary to support successful software development and deployment efforts.

Mike Miller - Executive Vice President, Sales

Mike Miller is a software industry veteran with over twenty years of experience at a number of leading companies as well as on the Digital Reasoning advisory board. Most recently, he developed the marketing strategy for Xirrus, a maker of high-performance wireless networks. Prior to Xirrus, Miller served as the Vice President of Juniper Networks’ Public Sector for the Americas division and was responsible for the company’s sales, partner strategy and customer satisfaction efforts. Miller, before his time with Juniper, was the head of worldwide sales operations for business process management company Appian. He also served as the Executive Vice President of Sales for the Americas at Managed Objects (which later sold to Novell) as well as SVP and GM of North American Sales for Computer Associates. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Virginia.

Jeff Rice – Vice President, Finance & Corporate Controller

Responsible for accounting and finance including the company’s business plan, Jeff Rice is an accounting professional with over twenty-four years of experience in leadership positions. Prior to joining Digital Reasoning Systems, Jeff served as Chief Financial Officer at First Horizon Insurance and has served as CFO and Controller at several entities including three start ups throughout his career which he began with KPMG. Mr. Rice is also a member of the Air National Guard, currently serving as Vice Wing Commander for the 183rd Fighter Wing. He has deployed three times since 2001 in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Jeff obtained a Bachelor of Science degree with an Accounting major from Eastern Illinois University and is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Bill DiPietro - Vice President, Product Management

Bill brings extensive experience enterprise software with a focus on text analytics and information retrieval for the U.S. Intelligence Community. Prior to Digital Reasoning, Bill spent seven years at the CIA in the National Clandestine Service and the CIO’s office. Bill also deployed enterprise software at Johnson & Johnson, MetLife, and New York Life Insurance.

Mark Naftel – General Counsel

Mark is in charge of legal affairs for Digital Reasoning Systems and brings over twenty-five years of experience in technology related law. He received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and Masters Degree in International Business and Trade Law from Fordham University Law School. His career includes in-house positions with BellSouth, Bell Communications Research, and European telephone companies. He has also worked with several law firms in the United States and Europe, specializing in software licensing, intellectual property rights, regulatory law, corporate law, and drafting and negotiation of technology service and equipment agreements.

Dr. Phillip Michalak – Director of Research

Phillip leads our research team in identifying priorities given the company vision and product commitments. He creates and manages implementation of the research plan, and keeps abreast of technology trends in computational linguistics and natural language processing. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Phillip spent several years doing artificial intelligence research and development for Stottler Henke Associates, before landing in New York. Phillip received his doctorate in Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language and Knowledge Representation from the University of Rochester.