Leadership

LEADERSHIP


Giridhar Akkineni

Founder and President

Recognizing the need to more effectively manage the front and back office functions of the successful staffing business he founded in 1998, Giridhar Akkineni looked for an end-to-end software solution that automated his daily business operations. "When I did the research and found there was nothing out there, I realized there was a huge opportunity to empower thousands of staffing and recruiting firms like mine with an integrated, All-in-One solution that a business of any size could afford. Knowing that I had the technical experience, I couldn't wait for someone else to do it."

Undaunted by the challenge, with his entrepreneurial spirit and technical expertise, Giridhar began developing his vision of an All-in-One business solution. Foreseeing the potential of the Internet and the changing software delivery model, he left the staffing industry and founded Akken to focus on developing its revolutionary on demand business services software system – Akken Staffing™.

Since 2000, Giridhar's passion and conviction took Akken from an innovative concept to being a competitive player in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) market, offering the most comprehensive integrated solution for the staffing and recruiting industry.

Giridhar holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronics from India and a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.


Timothy Quirk

Vice President of Marketing

Timothy Quirk has served as the vice president of sales and marketing since October 2006. This position includes responsibility for new client acquisition strategies, tactics, prospecting, positioning, brand awareness, and lead generation activities.

Prior to joining Akken, Tim served as senior product manager, secure identification products, for Digimarc Corporation. In this capacity, he transformed its aging $60 million flagship product line, improving product performance and customer satisfaction while closing business in new domestic and international markets. Prior to his tenure with Digimarc, Tim held increasing levels of responsibility in sales and marketing positions with Forrester Research, NeoMedia Technologies, and Inc.com, a spin-off of Inc. Magazine, which, similar to Akken, offered SMBs one login to all their business applications from its website. Tim has more than eight years of experience in high technology sales, marketing, business and product development, strategic planning, and operations.

Tim holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship from Babson College.


Shirley Jones

Vice President of Sales

A results oriented leader, as Akken's vice president of sales since May 2007, Shirley Jones formulates the strategic direction of the sales force, participates in planning how Akken is taking its software system to market, and develops the structure of the sales team, whom she hires, trains, and motivates. With more than twenty years of intimate familiarity with the staffing and recruiting industry, Shirley understands the critical need for a tool that streamlines the staffing process. When she first learned about Akken’s revolutionary integrated technology, Shirley was “blown away. I wanted to be a part of a company that was new, progressive and growing. To me, being a pivotal part of doing that is exciting.”

Prior to Akken, Shirley held various positions of increasing responsibility within Pro Staff, a staffing business based in Minneapolis, MN. As group vice president of the Northeast region, she was responsible for hiring, developing and leading a staff of 50 including directors, sales, operations, and administrative functions in seven states. As vice president, Shirley generated more than $15 million in new account development sales, and designed and implemented strategic business plans which resulted in more than 80% brand growth.

Before making the move to Pro Staff, Shirley grew her position with Olsten Staffing Services in Bedford, NH from one unprofitable location to six successful operating units in NH, making Olsten a predominant market leader in the state at that time.

Shirley holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore School of Business and Economics.


Prakash Akkineni

Vice President of Engineering

After advising his brother through Akken's early stages, Prakash Akkineni joined the company in November 2007 as vice president of engineering. "I think it is a rare opportunity to enjoy what you are doing and enjoy it with your family," states Prakash.

In this position, he is responsible for managing two teams with a combined total of more than seventy engineers. Prakash's focus is on keeping the communication channel open, their motivation high, and ensuring that both teams are on the same page in meeting the company's aggressive release schedule.

Prior to Akken, Prakash worked in an IT capacity at Videojet, a Danaher company, a manufacturing organization that utilizes a business model of continuous improvement, used to guide and measure everyday activities within the company. Thirteen years of working in a company culture that as a team, focused on being better, exposed Prakash to the other critical components of a successful business operation such as research, product development, sales and support. The experience at Videojet, where Prakash gained the broad business perspective of continually striving to improve, formed the foundation of his team approach management style that he implements today.

Prakash holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Gulbarga University in India.