Leadership

Executive Leadership | Board of Directors

Executive Leadership

  • Kevin Taweel, CEO
    • Since co-founding Asurion in 1994, the company has grown from a small 40 person operation to become the leading global provider of technology protection products with over 10,000 employees worldwide, partnering with many of the world’s top companies and brands. Prior to founding Asurion, Kevin served as Chairman of Mill River Corporation, an investment company. He also worked with many Fortune 500 companies to develop and execute corporate strategies and financial plans while working in Mergers & Acquisitions for the investment bank Salomon Brothers. He earned an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and holds a Bachelor`s degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University. Kevin currently serves on the board of ResponseLink. Kevin is also a former recipient of the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
  • Bret Comolli, Chairman
    • Bret holds responsibility for the management, growth and success of Asurion’s overall business operations. He brings more than thirty years of proven leadership, business management and consulting experience to Asurion’s executive team. Bret’s prior business experience includes CEO, COO and General Manager positions at companies such as Excite@Home, Kendara, Risk Management Solutions and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He also worked at McKinsey & Company, consulting to Fortune 500 companies on strategic, operational and organizational issues. Bret graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and earned an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He serves as an officer of the Board of Directors for CTIA - The Wireless Association. He is also on the Board of Directors of Stanford Hospital and Clinics and on the Stanford Business School Management Board.
  • Charles A. (Chuck) Laue, President
    • Chuck is responsible for NEWAsurion`s global Legal, Regulatory, and Underwriting operations, US Business Development, as well as Operations in Europe and Latin America. Prior to this position, Chuck served as President of lock\line, a leader in specialty consumer protection products, which merged with Asurion in January 2006. With almost 25 years of insurance industry experience, Chuck began his career with Kemper Insurance in Chicago, after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Business from Eastern Illinois University. He subsequently worked for Lockton Companies, Inc. in Kansas City, the nation’s largest independent insurance broker, developing and marketing insurance programs for some of the nation`s largest companies. Chuck founded and served as President of lock\line, a startup within Lockton Companies, Inc., where he grew the company into a leading provider of protection programs for wireless and other consumer services companies. He continued to serve as President through its acquisition by DST Systems, Inc. He is an active supporter of animal welfare in Kansas City including his role as Chairman of Heartland SPCA (www.heartlandspca.org).
  • Cindy Christy, President - Americas
    • With more than twenty years in the telecom industry, Cindy leads the company's sales and channel operations with a focus on growing its presence across the Americas. Prior to joining Asurion, Cindy held several executive positions with Alcatel-Lucent including President of the Americas Region, President of Lucent Technologies' Network Solutions Group, President Mobility Solutions Group and Chief Operating Officer of the Lucent's Wireless Networks Group. She began her career in 1988 at AT&T Network Systems where she held a variety of management positions in marketing, product management and project management. Cindy serves on the board of Crown Castle International Corporation and holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from The American University.
  • Andrew Cole, CEO, Europe
    • As CEO of Asurion Europe, Andrew leads the organizations growth and expansion. Prior to assuming this role, Andrew served for two years as Asurion’s Chief Marketing Officer building a world class marketing strategy, research, marketing communications and product development team. Andrew’s background includes significant operations and strategic expertise. He has partnered with industry leaders such as Apple, Google, Verizon, AT&T, SK Telecom, Orange, GM/Onstar and Sprint Nextel among others. He formerly served as President of CSMG ADVENTIS, a leading provider of strategy consulting services focused on the communications, computing and media industries. In addition, he served as Communications Practice Leader for the global management consulting firm, A. T. Kearney, and was a consultant with the LEK Partnership in London. Andrew has served on the Board of Directors for Geoworks, and Board of Advisors for Japan’s NTT DoCoMo. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of Bristol (UK) and earned a master’s degree in Management Studies from the University of Oxford, School of Business Administration (UK).
  • Chris Corrado, Senior Vice President, Technology Solutions, Governance and Asurion Mobile Applications
    • As Senior Vice President, Chris oversees Asurion’s expanding information technology, project management areas and Asurion Mobile Applications. Most recently, he was the Chief Technology Officer at eBay overseeing site operations, information technology, and security. Prior to eBay, Chris was with AT&T Wireless, where he was Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President. While at AT&T Wireless, he oversaw the alignment of the company’s technical infrastructure with its business strategy. Prior to joining AT&T Wireless, Corrado was the head of the Security Solutions Practice at Wipro Technologies. In addition, he held CIO and CTO positions domestically and abroad at three marquee investment banks; Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley. All of these firms set the standard for outstanding use of technology in the financial services industry. Chris also helped Merrill Lynch manage through the 9/11 tragedy, restoring their capital markets businesses. Chris started his career as a programmer and project manager at IBM.
  • Tony Detter, Senior Vice President, Handset Protect Product Management and Operations
    • With more than fifteen years of technology and leadership experience, Tony and his team are responsible for the product management, development, planning and commercialization of all Handset Protection products and the end-to-end customer experience. Tony joined Asurion in 2003 with responsibility for executing Asurion's acquisition strategy prior to his role as the senior executive leading Asurion’s 3,500 employee Customer Care operation to provide superior customer service in every transaction. Tony has also lead the supply chain portion of Asurion’s successful merger integration and Asurion’s Technical Assistance Care Center, improving the integration of Asurion’s supply chain organizations and customer care organization. Prior to joining Asurion, Tony spent almost a decade with Hewlett-Packard, where he held a variety of operations and marketing roles, including worldwide product management for the company’s Intel server line. He also built the product marketing function for two software companies and also handled all technical direct sales. Tony earned a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration from Stanford University where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.
  • Jim Flautt, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Management Operations
    • Jim is responsible for leading Asurion's supply chain management operations. Prior to this role, Jim led the program management teams for Asurion’s handset insurance, warranty management, roadside assistance businesses. Before joining Asurion in 2002, Jim worked at DigitalThink, McKinsey and Co. and served in the US Navy as a Nuclear Submarine Officer. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the United States Naval Academy, as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Philosophy from Cambridge University and an MBA from Stanford University.
  • Mark Gunning, Chief Financial Officer
      In his role as Chief Financial Officer, Mark has broad responsibility for all aspects of Asurion’s financial strategy and operations. He has nearly 30 years of financial management experience, including nearly 15 years as Chief Financial Officer. Mark’s career spans many well-known Fortune 100 and NASDAQ 100 companies, such as Expedia, AT&T Wireless and AirTouch Communications where he held senior leadership roles. Mark has spent most of his career in wireless telecommunications and has been instrumental in growing, scaling and expanding early stage companies into large global enterprises generating billions in annual revenues. He began his career as a manager at Price Waterhouse. Mark received degrees in accounting and management from the University of Utah.
  • Peter Hirschmann, CEO, Asia Pacific
    • Peter Hirschmann currently serves as CEO-Asia Pacific and is responsible for all facets of Asurion’s Asian operations. Prior to joining Asurion, he served as Managing Partner of Bain & Company’s Hong Kong office. Peter led Bain’s Asia Technology practice, building a go-to-market strategy for a $30 billion dollar technology company which doubled local office revenue to $23 million, and led the largest software merger in history by creating an integrated company with combined annual sales of $6 billion. He has also worked with J.P. Morgan Securities and China Direct Investment Management. Peter holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Politics & Economics from Middlebury College, and a Masters of Management Degree from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
  • Sean McKinless, Senior Vice President, Global Operations

    • Since his start with Asurion in 2005, Sean has developed a comprehensive Global Operations Center of Excellence that encompasses all facets of Asurion’s Customer Facing Operations. Sean is currently responsible for leading NEWAsurion’s Global Supply Chain, which consists of six facilities across five countries; Asurion’s Customer Care Operation’s, which includes six North American Customer Call Centers; and NEWAsurion’s Program Management teams. Sean has more than 25 years of experience in Strategic Planning and Procurement, Manufacturing, Inventory Management, Logistics and Customer Experience Transformation. Prior to joining Asurion, he was Group Vice President: Strategic Procurement/Consumer Demand Chain for Albertson’s, a national grocery chain.  Sean was instrumental in centralizing all procurement, processes, and tools that generated significant savings. Prior to his work for Albertson’s, Sean held key leadership positions with Dell and Mercedes-Benz. While with Dell for more than six years, Sean led the enhancement of the organization’s global supply chain process. This included demand forecasting, procurement and management of 300 suppliers and the support of five global manufacturing facilities. In addition, he developed strategies and tools, which optimized inventory levels to record lows for the company and the industry. A U.S. Navy Veteran, Sean has an MBA from the University of Baltimore and a BA from the University of Maryland.

  • Colleen Mullens, Senior Vice President, Customer Care
    • Colleen oversees the operations for Asurion’s seven North American customer care centers. With over twenty-eight years of experience in global telecommunications, with leadership roles in customer care, sales, and manufacturing, she most recently served as President, WorldWide Customer Service, for AT&T. Recognized as one of the nation’s top customer care leaders, she has led both global and domestic business operations and has achieved success in managing many start-ups and business transformation strategies. The cornerstone in all these achievements was establishing an outstanding track record of enhancing the end-to-end customer experience by focusing on development of high performance teams, commitment to employee satisfaction, and teamwork. Colleen holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Sue Nokes, Senior Vice President, Customer Solutions
    • Sue spearheads the expansion of Asurion’s portfolio of products and services in new markets as well as with new clients. She also plays an integral role in introducing new products to existing clients, while further building upon our client relationships. She brings with her more than 20 years of experience in transforming organizations through creative strategies and achieving exceptional results. In her most recent role as Chief Customer & Operations Officer with T-Mobile, Sue’s leadership was recognized in Wireless Week for positively changing the face of the customer experience in the Wireless Industry. Sue led T-Mobile from “worst to first” in Customer Service Satisfaction in just 18 months, according to J.D. Power & Associates. Under Sue’s leadership, T-Mobile won 7 consecutive J.D. Power awards for the Best Customer Service in Wireless. As COO, Sue focused on the customer experience in the retail channel, and drove customer and revenue growth. She was again recognized with 2 consecutive J.D. Power awards for the Best Customer Experience in Retail. Also during Sue’s tenure, T-Mobile was recognized by Business Week as one of the top 25 Customer Service Champions. Sue has also launched successful customer service initiatives with retail giant, Wal-Mart.
  • Gus Puryear, Senior Vice President, General Counsel
    • Gus Puryear began service as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Asurion in April 2010. Prior to joining Asurion, Puryear served for more than nine years as general counsel for CCA, a NYSE-listed company based in Nashville. Puryear previously worked in a variety of political and legislative roles in Washington, D.C., including working with the Vice President of the United States and serving as counsel to both a U.S. Senator and the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs’ Special Investigation into illegal and improper fundraising during the 1996 federal elections. Before his work in Washington, Puryear was in the private practice of law in Nashville after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Rhesa H. Barksdale of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. Puryear earned his law degree with honors from the University of North Carolina and received a B.A. with highest honors from Emory University. Puryear also serves as a Director of NBT Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiary, Nashville Bank & Trust Co. He is active in the Nashville community and serves on numerous charitable boards, and also currently serves on the Board of Visitors of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  • Gerald Risk, President
    • In his role as President, Gerald is responsible for Asurion's day-to-day operations, customer service, and financial and strategic performance. Gerald is a long serving member of the Asurion management team who brings a wealth of business, entrepreneurial and financial leadership skills to his role. Prior to serving as President, Gerald was Asurion’s Chief Financial Officer. Gerald first joined Asurion's management team as CFO in 1999 and has helped Asurion achieve rapid growth since that time. Prior to joining Asurion, Gerald helped a variety of clients, from Fortune 500 firms to early stage start-ups, execute their strategic and financial plans as an investment banker with Goldman, Sachs & Co. in San Francisco, Hong Kong and New York. Gerald has also worked for Hambrecht and Quist, LLC, and Toronto Dominion Capital. He holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and a bachelor's degree in commerce with honors from Queen’s University in Canada. Gerald is on the Board of Trustees at University School of Nashville and serves on the Board of Directors of Copayment Solutions, Carillon Assisted Living and QMC Telecom.
  • Rodney Schlosser, Senior Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships
    • Rodney leads Asurion’s team charged with developing new and growing client relationships. His primary responsibilities include business development and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Asurion, Rodney was Director of Marketing and Vice President/Sales for Southwestern Bell Wireless. He has been a panelist at numerous wireless industry seminars and has spent his entire career marketing subscription-oriented products, including work at Time Warner and The Disney Channel. Rodney is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He currently serves on the City of Dallas Parks and Recreation Board and is prior Chairman of the City of Dallas Library Board.
  • Vijay Velamoor, Senior Vice President of Human Resources
    • Vijay Velamoor serves as Senior Vice President of Human Resources. He is responsible for the formulation and implementation of Human Capital strategies and programs and positioning the people resources of Asurion as a competitive advantage. The Human Capital strategies and initiatives encompass all aspects of the Employee Life Cycle - talent acquisition, development, reward, retention and the engendering of Asurion`s core values in the organization. With more than 25 years of experience both in the US and internationally, at companies such as AT&T Wireless, Nextel, Airtouch/Vodafone, Harrah`s, and Xerox, Vijay has a proven track record in building world class HR organizations and practices. Vijay has a Master`s degree in Human Resources from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay, India.