Leaders, thinkers, dreamers & doers

CEO & FOUNDER

David Suydam

With an exemplary reputation in his field, David’s vast experience as a technology consultant and solution architect has spanned more than 20 years in some of the most complex business environments throughout Canada and around the world. David’s focus on creative solutions is based on a strong belief that traditional software development practices are flawed, and his team routinely demonstrates a better approach with open source, agile methods and cloud computing. Prior to founding Architech, David provided consulting services to leading Canadian banks and telcos.

None of us is as smart as all of us.

Ken Blanchard

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

Ashish Patel

As Architech’s Chief Technology Officer, Ashish is tasked with overseeing and scaling our team providing thought leadership as well as collaborating on innovation with clients as they execute their digital transformation. Ashish has an extensive 16-year track record with various industries applying business acumen and engineering principles to build transformative products from concept to commercialization. His expertise include business, technology & innovation strategy, new product/service development, design thinking & user experience, software engineering, IT architecture & operations, and building high-performing teams. Previous to joining Architech, Ashish was the Chief Digital & Innovation Officer at Grant Thornton and Director of Product Management at TeraGo Networks. He holds a B.Sc in Computer Science and an MBA from the University of Toronto.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

Albert Einstein

CHIEF FINANCIAL & OPERATING OFFICER

Lara Shewchuk

Lara is an accomplished leader with extensive experience guiding operations, finance and administration. At Architech, she is responsible for overseeing the overall financial strategy and direction of the business and ensures the operational health and success of both our Toronto and Krakow offices. Lara leads our Talent & Culture team in building and growing Architech’s “Dream Team” and living our core values each day. Lara is passionate about Diversity & Inclusion and brings a renewed priority to Architech’s goals in this area.

With over 15+ years of experience she has a proven talent in leading and accomplishing unity across cross-functional teams while achieving long-term, strategic growth. Prior to joining Architech Lara held the positions of Chief Financial Officer and VP Operations within private education companies, as well as 10+ years in the entertainment industry. She holds an Ontario CPA, CA designation and a Bachelor of Administrative and Commercial Studies from Huron University College.

If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.

Dolly Parton

HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Dan Partington

As Architech’s Head of Business Development, Dan is responsible for managing a team accountable for partnership growth, new client acquisition and existing account success. Dan has over 10 years of experience in corporate strategy, business development, management consulting and digital strategy and has worked extensively in retail, financial services, loyalty and travel. Prior to joining Architech, Dan was the Director, Strategy & Development at Points.com and Senior Manager, Strategy at Sears Canada. He holds a CMA, CPA designation and MBA from Queen’s University.

I believe that great people make successful projects possible.

HEAD OF ENGINEERING

Vikram Singh

As Architech’s Head of Engineering, Vikram is an empowering leader who oversees the overall engineering division. Vikram works closely with our dream team of developers mentoring, inspiring and leveling-up engineers through training, 1:1 support, and workshops. With over 25+ years of IT experience Vikram holds a proven track record in building and leading successful software development operations, enhancement of large-scale applications, strategy implementation, and agile adoption. He also has a wide range of expertise in modern tech stacks. Prior to joining Architech, Vikram held positions as Director Software Engineering at MidAmerica Consulting.

A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.

Rosalynn Carter

HEAD OF DELIVERY

Pralad Rao

Pralad is a key member of the leadership team here at Architech. As our Head of Delivery, Pralad is engaged in continuously improving our project management, product owner, quality assurance, and support disciplines. He also maintains and applies Agile best practices to build and improve upon world-class digital products. In his role, Pralad leads a highly adaptable, collaborative, and accountable team of experts in order to provide the best value for our clients and their customers. In his 17 years of experience, Pralad has assisted in delivering powerful software for startups, scale-ups, and large enterprises. Prior to joining Architech, Pralad was the Vice President Delivery at ICF International.

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.

Michael Jordan

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER

Daren Hanson

Daren’s roles as the Chief Revenue Officer has him leading the marketing, sales, business development and customer success missions for Architech. Daren is a proven leader and has 25 years of experience driving revenue and market share growth for technology businesses in North and South America, Europe and Asia. He is passionate about diversity and inclusion and developing high performing teams that deliver exceptional experiences and transformative business results for clients. Prior to joining Architech, Daren held leadership roles at MyAbilities, TeraGo and IBM. He holds a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering.

Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts

Winston Churchill

BOARD MEMBER

Corby Fine

Corby is Vice President of Simplii Financial, senior executive dedicated exclusively to the brand, reporting to the head of digital and direct banking within CIBC and responsibility for the overall P&L of a division. He’s done extensive work in developing strategic growth opportunities and has a successful track record of exceeding revenue, operational and net promoter score targets.

He brings diverse industry experience in financial services, automotive, telecommunications, retail, and utilities. Before joining Simplii Financial, Corby served as Vice President Digital Commerce at CIBC, Vice President Customer Intelligence at Rogers Communications. He holds a BBA and an MBA.

BOARD MEMBER

Harp Gahunia

Harp is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years of experience since graduating from the School of Accountancy at University of Waterloo with a Masters in Accounting. Harp started his career at Deloitte, working in the Telecommunications teams of both Toronto, Canada and Sydney Australia offices. In late 2012 he left his most recent full-time role as CFO at Virgin Gaming for the past 4 years, where he spent the last 6 months of his tenure as the acting-CEO, managing all aspects of this global web-based tournament gaming platform.

Harp’s last eight years were spent providing fractional CFO services for various start-ups in and around Toronto. His portfolio of clients or work experience include Bell New Ventures (corporate venturing arm of Bell), EnStream & Suretap Wallet (mobile payments joint venture owned by Bell, Rogers, Telus), Virgin Mobile, Virgin Money (online banking), Virgin Gaming (online tournament gaming platform), Versapay Corporation (publicly traded B2B Fintech specializing in Accounts Receivable automation), TribalScale Venture Studios (hybrid start-up accelerator and VC), Optiva Inc (cloud based billing solution for telcos around the world), and NuAi (B2B AI Operating System Platform). Harp also holds patents related to wearable technologies (Kharaband.com).

Harp has completed over $150M in various debt and/or equity financings for various public and private companies.

BOARD MEMBER

Georgia Woods

Georgia Woods is currently EVP & CIO, Canada Life with responsibility for application delivery, infrastructure, information security and enterprise architecture for the Canada region. Georgia’s career spans more than 30 years in Financial Services where she has had roles in Application Development, IT Operations and has served as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Georgia’s experience is in a wide variety of technologies supporting banking and insurance product development, enterprise fraud capabilities, retail payments and digital and contact centres.

Georgia has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the University of Toronto and an MBA in Financial Services from Dalhousie University.

Georgia was a past Board Chair of a community services agency in Scarborough and currently sits on an industry council representing CIBC for Homeward Bound, an organization that supports single mothers as they transition from living in a shelter to getting on the path of meaningful employment and economic self-sufficiency.

Georgia is a strong advocate for diversity and founded the XX Design Challenge, a hackathon-type event, designed to create opportunities for women to design financial services solutions for women. Georgia relaxes by running, reading, and spending weekends with her family north of Toronto at her farm

BOARD MEMBER

Frank Rochon

Frank was recently appointed as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Supply Ontario. Also, Frank currently brings his proven business and executive counselling leadership and advisory expertise to a selective portfolio of public and private boards in Canada and the United States.

Frank served as Vice Chairman and Managing Partner at Deloitte Canada. In addition, he was a member of Deloitte’s Global Executive and a log standing member of Deloitte Canada’s executive leadership team. During his tenure of 25 years as a Partner, Frank held many of the most senior executive leadership positions at Deloitte.

Frank’s career at Deloitte allowed him to build a robust and distinguished global network of impactful leaders. In addition, Frank devoted his career to serving countless clients across various industries both in Canada and the US.

Frank is an established C-Suite executive and advisor who offers a distinctive blend of financial and managerial expertise grounded in his tactical experience with corporate strategy, governance, M&A coupled with market and operational leadership.

BOARD MEMBER

Jennifer Jones

Jennifer has 20 years experience in marketing, building partnerships, new business and growth strategy across leading industries including retail, eCommerce, financial services, travel, telecommunications and automotive sectors. At the core of her experience is customer engagement and delivering profitable business growth through use of data, analytics and loyalty programs. Jennifer is a passionate customer advocate, business innovator and known for creating shared opportunities and sustainable relationships that drive perpetual value for all parties.

Jennifer was part of the founding team that developed the Aeroplan program and subsequently spun the program out from Air Canada to become the world's first publicly traded loyalty program in 2005. She spent 16 years as a senior executive working with Aeroplan and Aimia leading growth strategy, partnerships, client management and business development. Working with many leading North American Fortune 500 companies including Amazon, Costco, Imperial Oil, Marriott, Starbucks, Bell Canada, Toyota, Sobeys, Best Buy, CIBC, Rexall, Telus, TD and American Express, Jennifer helped organizations grow market share, unlock new revenue and businesses, expand their partnerships, and drive profitable results through use of data, personalization, targeted marketing and loyalty programs. At the end of 2018, Aeroplan was sold back to Air Canada and Jennifer joined Air Canada to lead business development and new ventures for Air Canada's Loyalty and eCommerce business. In January 2021, Jennifer joined Walmart's executive team leading financial products & services, customer strategy and business development. Jennifer started her career in marketing working on the agency side for five years and then moved into customer strategy and business consulting.

Jennifer holds an Honours Degree from the University of Western Ontario and a Masters Certificate in Strategic Alliance Management from Schulich School of Business, York University. She is a senior advisor to various fintechs and early-stage organizations in the Canadian market and a mentor and board member across various industry associations. Jennifer lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.