Co-founder & CEO

JAMES GILLESPIE

GrayMatter co-founder and CEO Jim Gillespie has been leading industrial digital transformations for more than 30 years.

Jim focuses on curating technology and guiding the digital process, enabling assets and people to become smarter and more visible. GrayMatter co-innovates with companies in manufacturing, water/wastewater, power and oil and gas markets to deliver custom fit operational technology programs and solutions ranging from process control, MES, predictive analytics and other trends.

Jim is on the board of the Carnegie Science Center and the Pittsburgh Technology Council. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University (Engineering) and Duquesne University (MBA).

Co-founder & VP, Advanced Industrial Analytics

CARSON DRAKE

Carson Drake is the Vice President of Digital Transformation for GrayMatter.

A seasoned MES and Manufacturing Intelligence expert, Carson Drake has been combining automation best practices with emerging technology to solve complex business problems for over 25 years.

After graduating with honors from Fairmont State University in West Virginia, Carson quickly gained valuable plant-floor knowledge in the manufacturing marketplace; working at Modicon with motion, PLC and HMI technology across the United States in assembly plants, packaging plants and in a variety of industries.

Carson is tasked with handling our key manufacturing accounts directly as well as directing our overall manufacturing team.

Chief Marketing Officer

KERRY MCQUONE

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Kerry is an experienced leader who translates communication and marketing goals into strategies that define company vision.

Formerly an executive at Cox Media Group, she is an experienced storyteller and brand champion.

Chief Revenue Officer

ALAN HINCHMAN

With more than 20 years of experience managing the technology and automation deployments in water and wastewater plants across North America, Alan is the Chief Innovation Officer for GrayMatter.

He most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer of The Water Initiative, a team of global business executives and renowned scientists who develop water systems to fit local conditions.

Prior to The Water Initiative, Alan was the Global Market Director for water and waste water industries at GE Digital. In this role, he led a team responsible for the strategic marketing of GE Digital’s water and waste water offerings.

In addition, he has considerable experience with energy, oil and gas and commercial buildings offerings.

Chief Administrative Officer

MANDY UREY

Mandy oversees the entire business process from start to finish, making sure all steps put the customer first.

She is also head of talent acquisition and culture at GrayMatter, working with all departments to create a consistent, positive vibe.

Chief Financial Officer

JIM TERRELL

Jim is an accomplished financial executive and leader that brings to GrayMatter significant experience in a wide breadth of industries (technology, professional services, manufacturing, financial services, and education), geographies (New York, London, Hong Kong and Pittsburgh), and companies (KPMG, GE Capital, ICG, Alcoa, and EDMC).

Jim earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting degree from the University of Notre Dame, is a CPA and member of the American Institute and New York State Societies of Certified Public Accountants.

Chief Technical Officer

JOHN BENITZ

John is the Vice President of Professional Services at GrayMatter and has over 34 years of experience with engineering projects from conception through specifications, design, enclosure, QA testing FAT/SAT, training, documentation and installation support.

He specializes in Process Control & Instrumentation Design SIS/SIL safety systems; HMI, PLC/DCS Programming, and SCADA Systems

John is also a senior ISA member and a voting member of the ISA’s HMI standards committee.

VP, Cyber

KEMELL KASSIM

Kemell Kassim is the Vice President of Cyber for GrayMatter. Kemell has over 15 years of experience with GrayMatter, with significant experience in the oil & gas and power industries.

Prior to joining GrayMatter, he spent years commissioning power generation plants with Babcock and Wilcox as well as being a successful consulting engineer in the water/wastewater market.

Kemell specializes in combining software and hardware with data to deliver business results as well as utilizing new technologies like industrial mobility, the cloud and virtualization to benefit Energy customers.

VP, Sales & Customer Success

JOHN GEHAN

John leads our internal business development, sales and customer service teams. His teams prides themselves on customer relationships and quick, knowledgeable assistance to customers and outside sales resources.

John is a very process oriented, efficient leader with experience creating and improving process at all levels of the business.

Chief Operating Officer

DESTON DAY

Deston leads GrayMatter’s services team. He has over 20 years of experience in the automation and engineering industry and most recently led teams at Contech Control Services and Emerson Automation. He has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

General Manager, HTSE powered by GrayMatter

MATT GROMEK

Matt is the General Manager of HTSE powered by GrayMatter.  He has over 26 years of experience with automation and engineering projects including estimating, design, procurement, FAT/SAT, installation support, startup/debug, validation/verification/qualification, and project management.

Matt’s expertise is in pharmaceutical packaging equipment and implementation of serialization systems.

HTSE powered by GrayMatter has provided automation solutions for some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical, chemical, food/beverage, medical device, and manufacturing companies. The intense focus on these industries has resulted in technical fluencies, foresights, and insights honed through 1000+ client projects.