Ashley Head

Chairman

Ashley began his career with Chase Manhattan Bank, where he rose rapidly through the ranks of technology and online banking. He then joined MasterCard, where he ultimately ran the whole of Africa.

After 30 years in the corporate world and recognising the opportunities within eCommerce, he started his own company called Proc Cyber, a processing business focused on the online gaming industry. He grew this business from scratch to a company valued at over £60 million in just 3 years. Recognising the broader applicability of the underlying antifraud solutions, he merged with Datacash in 2006, where he assumed the role of Chairman and took 50% ownership of the company.

Under his leadership, Datcash grew to a market leading position amidst a virtual plethora of competitors. In 2010 Datacash captured headlines, when MasterCard purchased the company at a 53% premium for £333 million.

At the time of the acquisition, he was quoted, saying, “The deal was a very special dream”… adding “it’s been interesting meeting some of the MasterCard guys again and comparing how much hair we haven’t got.”

Ashley Head continues to lead a vibrant portfolio career and continues to give back. He now serves as Chairman of Ukash and also acts as an investor – and more importantly – a mentor to several growth businesses and entrepreneurs.

Mark Goldspink

Chief Executive Officer

After leaving university with a PhD in Chemistry, I was lucky enough to join a large multi-national oil company (Texaco Inc.) who provided a framework in which I was allowed to develop my skills and capabilities in an array of new and exciting roles. In order for me to successfully execute these P&L jobs, I was provided with first class business training and development, for which I am still very grateful.

As well, as the outstanding business training, my background as a research Chemist always afforded me the opportunity to pursue innovative solutions. However, these new innovations have always been practical and provided immediate returns in the pursuit of operational excellence. In a nutshell, I am passionate about streamlining processes in a way to drive greater efficiency. A good example of this is was when I was Retail Director of Texaco In Europe and turned the business around by $100m.

Having spent over 12 years in the oil sector, I moved into payments in 2000. I believe that oil companies really changed the face of the credit card industry, as they took cards many years before the high street retailers. Despite this linkage, moving into the payment sector was a big leap which has been very exciting. No more so than the 5 years I spent at Retail Decisions as Managing Director and then as Vice President for CGI Inc, working on some very large payment outsourcing opportunities.

However in 2013 I was lucky enough to start working with Ashley Head, who is highly recognised in the payment sector, on rejuvenating The ai Corporation (ai). I am really fortunate to work with an outstanding high performing team, who are driven to re-engineer the current fraud and payment processes. Lots to do – very exciting times.

Hilary Russell

Chief Financial Officer

As a qualified accountant with a degree in Maths and Statistics from St. Andrews University, I have spent over 20 years in a variety of senior finance roles across several industries.

My role as Group Financial Controller at Telegraph Newspaper Group first introduced me to the power of emerging technologies, with the launch of online newspapers revolutionising the way in which readers consumed information. I gained insight into the importance of reviewing and adapting business strategies in a changing world to optimise financial performance and create opportunities for growth.

Prior to joining The ai Corporation, I worked as a Business Manager for schools in the highly competitive, independent education sector further broadening my financial management and business development experience. A varied role encompassing all non-teaching operations of a school from finance and procurement to compliance and Health & Safety, I further refined my skills in prioritising and multi-tasking in a dynamic organisation.

My responsibilities at The ai Corporation include ensuring the continued financial stability of the organisation whilst underpinning our strategic direction during a period of significant annual growth. Central to this role is the requirement to ensure strong corporate governance including ensuring that the group policies and procedures support the ever-changing needs of this innovative business.

David Nunn

Interim Chief Technical Officer

David has been in the payments industry for the most part of his career, starting out at Citibank in New York back in 1992, and moving on to various positions in the industry, including project manager at Citibank in Germany and Belgium, an assignment working for The Saudi-British Bank in Saudi Arabia and then Operations Manager at Retail Decisions before working there as the Chief Technical Officer.

David then joined CGI, project managing the CGI Horizon 3 platform. David then transferred his expertise in software development, project management and operations / infrastructure into a successful IT consulting career in the financial services industry, working with companies like international fuel card services provider, WEX; helping to implement their international fuel card processing platform for Shell. Now, David is the CTO for the company. He is PRINCE2 certified.

Piers Horak

Chief Commercial Officer

I found my way into the exciting world of payments and risk whilst completing my studies in finance. I began my career with Digital Outsource Services as a Fraud Risk Analyst working 24/7 shifts, investigating and making decisions on transactions for some of the largest online gaming Clients in the world. I then went on to Head up the eCommerce and Risk Team responsible for the end-to-end online payment solutions and strategy for existing markets as well as entry into new global markets, I was also responsible for driving the ecommerce fraud and risk strategy and operations.

In 2008 I moved to Datacash, now owned by MasterCard, to run the Fraud Operations, providing fully managed fraud prevention technology and services to all the major high street brands and their online business. This included managing teams providing 24/7 Risk Alert management, rules optimisation and strategy, implementation and specialist fraud account and relationship management. After the MasterCard acquisition of Datacash I spearheaded the white labelling of the Datacash solutions so that Acquiring banks could offer their merchants value added end-to-end services as their own. After this I went on to head up Fraud Product and Risk and was responsible for defining the global fraud and risk services strategy and product pipeline. In this role I focused on managing 5 key areas including; product development, product management, commercial expansion, general fraud & risk operations and specialised risk services.

Outside of work, I actively support several philanthropic organisations including Chiva Africa, a charitable organisation that provides support for young children with HIV and Aids, and The Children’s Trust UK’s leading charity for children with brain injury; giving children with brain injury the opportunity to live the best life possible.

Nick Walker

Chief Operations Officer

My ‘working life’ began in the Royal Navy where I served on HMS Leander and HMS Ark Royal, working on communication and weapon systems. This gave me a solid grounding in my work ethics that are still with me today; working smart, hard and giving the absolute best I can, while always striving to do better. After the Navy I studied Electronic Engineering, while working for an EPOS developer and manufacturer, I was ‘hands-on’ developing some of the early EFT and POS machines that were deployed to retail fuel stations around the world.

I started out as a ‘techie’, then had a great opportunity to grow and boarded my skills within a business that I helped set up. Establishing and  managing various departments from development, project management, customer services, manufacturing, sales and business development; I finally joined the senior management team, taking the business to a full listing on the London Stock Exchange. That experience put me in good stead for my next career step, joining Retail Decisions (ReD), where I was very much involved in developing the business from a UK only, one product business, into a leading global fraud detection, fuel card and payment solution provider. My time at ReD included running various types of operations, covering fraud prevention, payments and fuel cards around the world, including South Africa (my home for many years), China, USA, Australia and LATAM where I worked with some very capable people, some of whom I now work with at ai.

At ai, as COO, I am responsible for all operational departments in the company including fraud & analytics, support and change management by building a best in class operations team.

James Quickfall

Global Accounts Director

I started my career in Customer Services, predominantly in the telco space, running B2B and B2C call centres for O2.  This gave me a strong service ethic and an appreciation of the importance of communication with Clients, both written and spoken.  In combination with my passion for languages, I have continued to place huge importance on building long-lasting business relationships and how we work together both locally and internationally.

After O2, I managed the European service operation for Psion computers before moving into the dynamic and ever-changing fraud and payments industry in 2002, where I have remained until now.  I joined Retail Decisions (ReD), now owned by ACI, in January of that year and held a number of roles including Head of Client Services, Head of Marketing and latterly taking responsibility for the Channel Sales team, working with payment processors, banks, third parties and direct Enterprise Clients.

After 10 years at ReD, I was offered the opportunity to gain some direct banking experience when I joined Elavon, a European acquirer and part of US Bank.  There, I ran the 3rd Party Sales channel working with some of the largest Independent Sales Organisations in the UK and abroad.

I joined ai in 2013 in the role of Commercial Director.  Here I am responsible for most of ai’s European business and with direct responsibility for several strategic Clients.  It is a privilege to work as part of a highly motivated and capable team.

I live in Surrey with my wife and two children, who help me to occupy what I used to call my ‘spare time’.

Sanjeev Chevireddy

Head of QA

After obtaining engineering degree in Computer Science from University of Mysore, I have worked as a Quality Assurance professional in  variety of IT sectors in a span of over 18 years.

During the last few years, I have worked with Department for Education as Automation Consultant. I was responsible for implementing automation strategy and framework from scratch for the new Data Collections program. I predominantly worked as a consultant, implemented QA policies, process and procedures by identifying gaps between AS-IS and TO-BE process and implemented automation frameworks from scratch for few organizations.

I joined ai in 2021 in the role of Head of QA. Here I am responsible for ai’s product’s quality. One of the main goals being the reduction of escaped defects to customers thus increase in customer satisfaction.

I live with my wife and kid who keeps me busy most of the time. In my spare time I play chess with my wife and love watching cricket.

Rebeka Goodale

Head of Solution and Innovation

Rebeka Goodale, Head of Solution and Innovation for The ai Corporation, is a strategic, change-driving senior industry leader with over 22 years’ expertise in leading complex change programmes and innovation. She is recognised as an industry-wide expert and thought leader.

In her transition to The ai Corporation, Rebeka is primarily focused on developing and implementing the strategic vision and direction for the Solutions and Innovation team. In her spare time, Rebeka is an avid community volunteer, novice bike rider and amateur world travelled. She is married with two children.

Ralf Andreas

Head of Security and Architecture

My interest in all things Information Technology related started out as a scholar where I started writing code and upgrading friends PCs to earn some pocket money. To add an academic underpinning to the passion, I went on to obtain a Commerce Degree in Information Technology and Business Administration.

My first formal role was as a Software Engineer at a software start-up in Mannheim, Germany where we developed Distributed Sales Force Automation Solutions. The early 90’s/ pre-internet era were an intense and exciting period and growth in the IT sector was fast paced. As the company grew and expanded into the UK, US and India, my role grew, and I became head of the global Information Technology team.

In the late 90’s SAP acquired the business. I managed the technology merger and then stayed on with SAP for another 2 years before deciding to return to South Africa to head up the Information Technology division for another start-up – this time a Cellular Service Provider in Cape Town.

The early 2000’s saw a monumental growth in mobile technology. My role was to design and implement the information, billing and provisioning systems for a dual network Service Provider. A very intense and exciting period which culminated in a merger of our subscriber base with MTN and Vodacom. Over the next few years, I continued to consult as a solutions architect for several other Service Providers.

In 2003 I joined Retail Decisions SA, a company that specialized in payment fraud prevention solutions. My initial role was as program and technical lead for projects that saw us implement industry wide pre and post auth fraud prevention systems for the South African Banking and Retail community. I remained with Retail Decisions SA in the capacity of General Manager/ Head of Operations until 2016 when the company was acquired and merged into ACI.

I joined AI in 2016 and looked after several key accounts in Africa and the Middle East, before taking on the current role of Head of Security and Architecture.