Join TiE Pittsburgh and Synechron for an in-person financial technology focused panel, featuring Pittsburgh-based experts. Attend for a panel/question and answer discussion, and networking opportunities. 

This free event will be hosted on Thursday, October 14 from 6PM-8PM at the CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. Doors open at 6PM and the panel kicks off at 6:30PM. Bottled soda, juice and water will be provided. 

In compliance with Carnegie Mellon University guidelines, in-person attendance will be capped at 50 people. At this time, masks are required of all attendees, including panelists. Guidelines and safety measures will continue to be monitored and communicated. Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions or concerns.

Venue address:
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Tepper School of Business, 3rd Floor
4765 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Read more about the experts who comprise our panel!

MODERATOR 

Ganesh Mani, TiE Pittsburgh Charter Member

Ganesh Mani is an adjunct faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University. Ganesh co-founded Advanced Investment Technology (combining investment management and machine learning), which was acquired by State Street Corporation, creating its Advanced Research Centre for helping manage multibillion-dollar institutional portfolios. Ganesh has contributed to several other AI start-ups, including an entity that’s now part of Nasdaq-listed iCAD, employing machine learning techniques for early cancer detection. Ganesh, following a BTech in Computer Science from IIT-Bombay, received his MBA in Finance and a PhD in AI from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is past-president as well as current board, charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE.org), Pittsburgh chapter; and, on the advisory board of the FDP Institute. Ganesh’s work has been patented, featured in a Barron’s cover story, in academic journals and in a recent keynote (https://www2021.thewebconf.org/).

 PANELISTS

Sandeep Kumar, Managing Director and Head of FinLabs, Synechron 

Sandeep Kumar is a proven business operations strategist and technology expert with over 30 years’ experience in capital markets consulting. He has worked with some of the world’s largest buy- and sell-side firms to design and implement transformative, global technology solutions that enhance operating models, streamline data capabilities and increase revenue. Sandeep is head of the Synechron Financial Innovation Labs (FinLabs) Accelerator program developed for the financial services industry. He has been instrumental in the conception of Synechron’s blockchain accelerators which streamline operations, simplify complex data synchronization and consolidate fragmented business functions and in Synechron’s artificial intelligence accelerators helping clients to understand how they can bring techniques like NLP (natural language processing), RPA (robotic process automation ), and machine learning into their businesses. He is currently spearheading our next Accelerator program focused on providing solutions for banks to participate in the payments innovation. He is also responsible for all fintech partnerships dealing with emerging technologies in data, data science, DLT and related areas. Sandeep is an alumnus of the prestigious Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.

Ilana Diamond, Managing Partner of 412 Venture Fund 

As Managing Partner of 412 Venture Fund, Ilana leads fund activities, including sourcing, evaluating and investing in the Pittsburgh region's most promising startups.

Previously,  Ilana was a  Managing Director of Riverfront Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on investing in high-growth early-stage companies. She also served at Innovation Works as Managing Director of Hardware and was the founding Managing Director of  AlphaLab Gear,  where she led a team that helped startups make rapid progress through the early stages of product and customer development.  Earlier in her career,  Ilana led and grew tech companies from startup to exit — building management teams, raising venture capital, and managing mergers and acquisitions from both ideas of the table (buyer and seller).

Ilana frequently serves in leadership roles on boards of private companies and not-for-profit organizations. Her academic background includes a B.A. in Biological Sciences and Economics from Northwestern University, and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Roseanne Silva,  Senior Vice-President and Business Chief Technology Officer & Security Director at PNC Financial Services Group

Roseanne Silva is a Senior Vice-President and Business Chief Technology Officer & Security Director at PNC Financial Services Group. She is responsible for the delivery of technology infrastructure, cyber security, fraud prevention, physical security, and quality engineering services for Corporate & Institutional Banking. In addition, Rose is a PNC certified Women’s Business Advocate and the founder of PNC’s women in tech resource group, Tech Connect. She also serves as the business sponsor for the PNC partnership with the National Center for Women & IT (NCWIT) through which she takes an active role in building a diverse workforce and embracing a culture of inclusion. Rose has over 30 years of experience in technology infrastructure operations, employee technology, application development, quality engineering, and program management, including mergers and acquisitions. In addition to her work at PNC, she has held positions at Financial Data Services (Fiserv), Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), and Control Data Corporation. In 1994, Rose was named among the Open Computing “Top 100 Women in Information Services”, in 2005 she was one of the top 10 PNC Performance Award winners, in 2013 she led the PNC Technology Diversity & Inclusion Council to win the Diversity Council Honors Award, and in 2019 she was awarded the Carnegie Mellon University Alumni Service Award. Rose earned her M.S. in Information Networking at Carnegie Mellon University, her B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Minnesota and is a certified PMP of the Project Management Institute. She is active in her community as a volunteer trip leader for Venture Outdoors, a mentor for the Greater Pittsburgh Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentor 2.0 STEM program, a mentor for Strong Women, Strong Girls, a committee member of the Pittsburgh Foundation Scholarship Advisory board, and a an active member of the Executive Women’s Forum, the Women in Payments Association, and the Carnegie Mellon University alumni community.

Rulonna Nielson, Chief Operating Officer, Community Capital Technology, Inc. 

Rulonna has spent much of her career as an entrepreneur, advisor and executive with early- and growth-stage FinTechs, nurturing new companies and concepts from inception to scaling, with direct operational, client service, product, go-to-market strategy, leadership, and team-building experience. Currently, she is COO at Community Capital Technology Inc. (CCT), a B2B loan trading exchange and business intelligence platform providing financial institutions a simpler, smarter and more cost-effective way to buy, sell and/or participate out loans of any type

 Prior to CCT, Rulonna was Managing Director, U.S. at Opportunity Network, an international, P2P business networking platform, where she was instrumental in launching the firm's first U.S. bank partnership and growing the firm’s North American footprint. Her experience building FinTech partnerships was cultivated while she was COO of WealthTouch, Inc., a private wealth data aggregation and financial reporting technology platform, where she secured and grew relationships with top global private banks and family offices, helping to scale the company from $20Bn in assets under reporting to over $200Bn. The firm was acquired by Archway Technology Partners, a SaaS family office solution provider (2014), which was subsequently acquired by SEI (2017, now SEI Archway). She received a B.A. in Government, with honors, from Harvard College and subsequently completed advance studies in international politics and economics at Cambridge University, U.K.