Management

John B. Hayes, Chief Executive Officer

As founder and CEO of FTRANS, John Hayes brings over 30 years of experience in developing technology-based companies. In 1976, John was co-founder and president of the company that built Peachtree Software products, the first microcomputer accounting software. In 1981, IBM selected Peachtree Accounting as one of the primary applications introduced with the new IBM-PC.  In 1981, Peachtree Software was sold to Management Sciences America (MSA), which at the time was the largest software company in the world. John also co-founded Comsell, an early producer of interactive technology, which was sold to News Corporation.  John founded Interactive Health Network / GeoMedica, a producer of health-related interactive online products, which was sold to Reuters.  In 1997, John founded OneCoast Network which was sold to Internet Capital Group in 2000. John was an attorney with Alston, Miller & Gaines (now Alston & Bird) where he practiced securities, banking, and corporate law.  John began his career as a staff member for U.S. Senator Herman Talmadge where he worked on banking and credit issues related to rural economic development.  John was a founder of the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech and has served on the boards of the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Georgia Tech Alumni Association, SciTrek Technology Museum, Leadership Georgia, and other civic organizations.

John earned a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology as well as a J.D. from the Emory University School of Law. 

Kevin Kiernan, Vice President of Sales

Kevin Kiernan brings over 17 years of sales and management experience in the telecommunications industry to FTRANS and is vice president of sales. Prior to FTRANS, Kevin was vice president of direct sales for Birch Telecom and managed a sales organization consisting of over 400 people. Kevin began his career with MCI/Verizon starting as a sales representative and rising to the position of director of sales and service for the Georgia region. In this position, Kevin was responsible for an organization of nearly 100 people, a base of business in excess of $140MM, as well as new revenue acquisition. During his tenure at MCI/Verizon, Kevin always ranked among the top 5% of his peers within the sales organization for sales production. Throughout Kevin’s career, he has used his management and sales process expertise to build highly effective teams which have successfully generated millions of dollars in new revenue as well as a loyal base of clients.

Kevin earned a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Anne M. Roe, Vice President of Operations

Anne Roe brings over 20 years of experience in operations and customer service to FTRANS and is vice president of operations. Prior to joining FTRANS, Anne managed multiple front-line reps and managers at Fortune 100 companies. Anne has an established record of exceeding goals and has enhanced customer satisfaction through employee motivation, process improvement, and facilitating interdepartmental relations. Anne’s focus on customer service and administration has led to increased customer loyalty and profitability.

James D. Lester IV, Vice President of Marketing

Jim Lester brings over 13 years of marketing, sales, and technology experience in the software and financial services industry to FTRANS and is vice president of marketing. Prior to joining FTRANS, Jim was senior director of product management at Equifax, Inc. While at Equifax, Jim was responsible for managing the creation of new products across multiple business units including Equifax’s direct-to-consumer ecommerce, commercial credit, and North American information solutions businesses. Before Equifax, Jim was director of engagement management and senior business development manager with the software development division of American Systems Corporation (ASC), Inc. a $250MM technology outsourcing company. Prior to ASC, Jim was director of marketing and business development for Portable Systems Technology, Inc., a developer of point of sale software applications for the insurance industry. In 1999, its SmartApp product was a Computerworld Smithsonian Award winner, and the company was sold to AFLAC, Inc. Jim began his career with Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Inc. as a systems engineer where he consulted with clients in the wireless communications industry such as GTE Wireless (now Verizon).  

Jim earned a B.S. in Management with a concentration in International Affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

John Chandy, Vice President of Software & Development

John Chandy brings over 12 years of experience building financial transaction systems to FTRANS and is director of development.   While at Opus Software, John worked on multiple financial application development projects such as Western Union's Web-enabled money order system, Delos Payment Systems’ (now CoreCard Software) fraud detection and collection system, PaySys’s online credit decision management system, HDFC’s ATM fraud monitoring software, and HDFC’s TradeNow e-commerce brokerage system.  In addition, John has developed applications for ICICI Bank, Robertson Bank, and HDFC Bank (India).

John earned a B.S in Engineering in Computer Science from the University of Pune (India).