Board of
Donna Troy
Chairman
(Independent)
Committee Membership:
- Nomination and ESG Committee
- Remuneration and Talent Committee
Donna joined the Board of First Derivatives in January 2018 as a Non-Executive Director and was appointed Non-Executive Chair in January 2020. She has extensive experience in both senior executive and non-executive roles within multi-national technology companies. She is based in Austin, Texas.
Donna has held CEO, division general management and sales leadership roles in organisations including IBM, Partnerware, McAfee, SAP, Dell and Epicor, delivering revenue and margin growth while implementing global go-to-market strategies in businesses from start-up to $8bn in revenue.
Donna holds a Bachelor of Science degree, summa cum laude, in Computer Science from North Carolina State University and in 2017 was inducted into the North Carolina State University Computer Science Alumni Hall of Fame.
Other Appointments:
Donna is currently on the board of directors of Aptean.
Skills Matrix:
Technology industry, strategy, listed company executive, international experience.
Séamus Keating
Chief Executive
Officer
Committee Membership:
None.
Seamus was appointed as CEO in January 2020. He was first appointed to the Board as an independent Non-Executive Director in December 2012 and was appointed Non-Executive Chair in July 2013. He has over 20 years’ experience in the global technology sector in finance and operational roles and has held a number of non-executive roles since 2012.
He was chief financial officer of Logica plc from 2002 until 2010 when he became chief operating officer and head of its Benelux operations. Prior to his role at Logica plc, he worked for the Olivetti Group in senior finance roles in the UK and Italy.
Other Appointments:
Seamus is currently a non-executive director of Compare the Market (CTM) Limited.
Skills Matrix:
Technology industry, finance industry, strategy, listed company executive, accounting qualifications, international experience.
Ryan Preston
Chief Financial
Officer
Committee Membership:
None
Ryan joined the Board of First Derivatives in January 2021 and has responsibility for the Group’s financial operations. Ryan was formerly chief financial officer of Independent News & Media plc and at OVO Energy Retail, having spent the early part of his career at Tesco plc where he was European CFO.
Other Appointments:
None
Skills Matrix:
Technology industry, strategy, listed company executive, international expertise, accounting qualifications.
Virginia Gambale
Senior Independent Director, Designated Workforce Engagement Director (Independent)
Committee Membership:
- Nomination and ESG Committee (Chair)
- Audit and Risk Committee
Virginia joined the Board of First Derivatives in March 2015. A US citizen, she is managing partner of Azimuth Partners LLC, which assists its clients in the development of strategies for growth, innovation and international expansion.
Prior to forming Azimuth, Virginia was a partner at Deutsche Bank Capital Partners and has also held senior management positions such as CIO at Merrill Lynch, Bankers Trust, Deutsche Bank and Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.
Other Appointments:
Virginia is currently lead director of Nutanix, and board director of 10x Banking, Avellino, Consumer Edge, JAMF, Virtu Financial and Regis Corporation.
Skills Matrix:
Finance industry, strategy, technology, international experience.
Usama Fayyad
Non-Executive Director
(Independent)
Committee Membership:
- Remuneration and Talent Committee (Chair)
- Nomination and ESG Committee
Ayman joined the Board of First Derivatives in July 2020. He brings to the Group extensive experience in enterprise technology and a track record of driving business success through growth strategies focused on product innovation. He is currently president and CEO of BMC Software Inc., a global enterprise software company headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Prior to his current role he was president and chief product officer of CA Technologies Inc., a Fortune 500 company acquired by Broadcom Inc., where he was responsible for the vision, strategy, development and success of the company’s portfolio of products and solutions. Ayman holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Cairo University.
Other Appointments:
In addition to his role at BMC Software, Ayman is also a director of Elisity Inc.
Skills Matrix:
Strategy, international experience, technology industry, listed company executive.
Thomas Seifert
Non-Executive Director
(Independent)
Committee Membership:
- Audit and Risk Committee (Chair)
- Remuneration and Talent Committee
Thomas joined the Board in July 2020. Thomas is chief financial officer of Cloudflare Inc., where he is also responsible for the company’s business data analytics and data science. He provides a wealth of expertise across the cloud, SaaS and data analytics, which is highly relevant to the Group’s growth ambitions.
In addition, Thomas has extensive operating experience growing and scaling technology companies across cybersecurity, software and semiconductors. Prior to his current role Thomas was chief financial officer of Symantec Corp, a leading cybersecurity company, where he was responsible for the implementation of transformation and M&A strategies. He was also CFO at Advanced Micro Devices, where he held an interim CEO position.
Other Appointments:
None.
Skills Matrix:
Strategy, international experience, technology industry, listed company executive, accounting qualifications.
Ayman Sayed
Non-Executive Director
(Independent)
Committee Membership:
- Audit and Risk Committee
Usama joined the Board in January 2022. Usama is the inaugural executive director of the Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University in Boston and is also the founder and chair of Open Insights, a company focused on helping enterprises drive full value from their data assets.
He started his career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and after leadership roles at Microsoft Research and Microsoft SQL Server, he became Yahoo’s first chief data officer. From there, Usama became global chief data officer at Barclays in London where he led digital transformation projects that reduced costs and helped create new data products.
Other Appointments:
Usama is also a director of Postprocess Technologies, Inc., Open Insights Group and Open Insights Technology Corporation.
Skills Matrix:
Finance industry, strategy, international experience, technology industry.
Donna Troy
Chairman
(Independent)
Committee Membership:
- Nomination and ESG Committee
- Remuneration and Talent Committee
Donna joined the Board of First Derivatives in January 2018 as a Non-Executive Director and was appointed Non-Executive Chair in January 2020. She has extensive experience in both senior executive and non-executive roles within multi-national technology companies. She is based in Austin, Texas.
Donna has held CEO, division general management and sales leadership roles in organisations including IBM, Partnerware, McAfee, SAP, Dell and Epicor, delivering revenue and margin growth while implementing global go-to-market strategies in businesses from start-up to $8bn in revenue.
Donna holds a Bachelor of Science degree, summa cum laude, in Computer Science from North Carolina State University and in 2017 was inducted into the North Carolina State University Computer Science Alumni Hall of Fame.
Other Appointments:
Donna is currently on the board of directors of Aptean.
Skills Matrix:
Technology industry, strategy, listed company executive, international experience.
Séamus Keating
Chief Executive
Officer
Committee Membership:
None.
Seamus was appointed as CEO in January 2020. He was first appointed to the Board as an independent Non-Executive Director in December 2012 and was appointed Non-Executive Chair in July 2013. He has over 20 years’ experience in the global technology sector in finance and operational roles and has held a number of non-executive roles since 2012.
He was chief financial officer of Logica plc from 2002 until 2010 when he became chief operating officer and head of its Benelux operations. Prior to his role at Logica plc, he worked for the Olivetti Group in senior finance roles in the UK and Italy.
Other Appointments:
Seamus is currently a non-executive director of Compare the Market (CTM) Limited.
Skills Matrix:
Technology industry, finance industry, strategy, listed company executive, accounting qualifications, international experience.
Ryan Preston
Chief Financial
Officer
Committee Membership:
None
Ryan joined the Board of First Derivatives in January 2021 and has responsibility for the Group’s financial operations. Ryan was formerly chief financial officer of Independent News & Media plc and at OVO Energy Retail, having spent the early part of his career at Tesco plc where he was European CFO.
Other Appointments:
None
Skills Matrix:
Technology industry, strategy, listed company executive, international expertise, accounting qualifications.
Virginia Gambale
Senior Independent Director, Designated Workforce Engagement Director (Independent)
Committee Membership:
- Nomination and ESG Committee (Chair)
- Audit and Risk Committee
Virginia joined the Board of First Derivatives in March 2015. A US citizen, she is managing partner of Azimuth Partners LLC, which assists its clients in the development of strategies for growth, innovation and international expansion.
Prior to forming Azimuth, Virginia was a partner at Deutsche Bank Capital Partners and has also held senior management positions such as CIO at Merrill Lynch, Bankers Trust, Deutsche Bank and Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.
Other Appointments:
Virginia is currently lead director of Nutanix, and board director of 10x Banking, Avellino, Consumer Edge, JAMF, Virtu Financial and Regis Corporation.
Skills Matrix:
Finance industry, strategy, technology, international experience.
Usama Fayyad
Non-Executive Director
(Independent)
Committee Membership:
- Remuneration and Talent Committee (Chair)
- Nomination and ESG Committee
Ayman joined the Board of First Derivatives in July 2020. He brings to the Group extensive experience in enterprise technology and a track record of driving business success through growth strategies focused on product innovation. He is currently president and CEO of BMC Software Inc., a global enterprise software company headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Prior to his current role he was president and chief product officer of CA Technologies Inc., a Fortune 500 company acquired by Broadcom Inc., where he was responsible for the vision, strategy, development and success of the company’s portfolio of products and solutions. Ayman holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Cairo University.
Other Appointments:
In addition to his role at BMC Software, Ayman is also a director of Elisity Inc.
Skills Matrix:
Strategy, international experience, technology industry, listed company executive.
Thomas Seifert
Non-Executive Director
(Independent)
Committee Membership:
- Audit and Risk Committee (Chair)
- Remuneration and Talent Committee
Thomas joined the Board in July 2020. Thomas is chief financial officer of Cloudflare Inc., where he is also responsible for the company’s business data analytics and data science. He provides a wealth of expertise across the cloud, SaaS and data analytics, which is highly relevant to the Group’s growth ambitions.
In addition, Thomas has extensive operating experience growing and scaling technology companies across cybersecurity, software and semiconductors. Prior to his current role Thomas was chief financial officer of Symantec Corp, a leading cybersecurity company, where he was responsible for the implementation of transformation and M&A strategies. He was also CFO at Advanced Micro Devices, where he held an interim CEO position.
Other Appointments:
None.
Skills Matrix:
Strategy, international experience, technology industry, listed company executive, accounting qualifications.
Ayman Sayed
Non-Executive Director
(Independent)
Committee Membership:
- Audit and Risk Committee
Usama joined the Board in January 2022. Usama is the inaugural executive director of the Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University in Boston and is also the founder and chair of Open Insights, a company focused on helping enterprises drive full value from their data assets.
He started his career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and after leadership roles at Microsoft Research and Microsoft SQL Server, he became Yahoo’s first chief data officer. From there, Usama became global chief data officer at Barclays in London where he led digital transformation projects that reduced costs and helped create new data products.
Other Appointments:
Usama is also a director of Postprocess Technologies, Inc., Open Insights Group and Open Insights Technology Corporation.
Skills Matrix:
Finance industry, strategy, international experience, technology industry.
