About Tehama

Paul Vallée is the founder and CEO of Tehama and a serial entrepreneur who has spent his career at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies that enable the exchange of work over the internet.

When founding Pythian in 1997, Paul envisioned a future that allows anyone to work from anywhere. Perceiving an opportunity for the Internet and related technologies to unlock human potential, he set out to apply and invent technology that could securely connect global workforces to enterprise IT systems.

Paul was a pioneer in remote connectivity technology and lays claim to the first application of IPSEC VPN technology to enable enterprises to consume services over the internet. Paul founded Pythian as a data-centric services business with a focus on remote work, and under his leadership, the company developed groundbreaking tools that enable teams to work and interact seamlessly and securely even when dispersed across multiple continents. It is at Pythian that Tehama was born, then launched to the public in 2018, and now spun out to develop its opportunity to help global enterprises seeking to secure their services supply chain.

With Tehama now independent, Paul has redoubled his commitment to the future of work. Tehama’s Virtual Office as a Service technology makes it easy for enterprises to manage, onboard and audit third-party vendors, remote teams, and freelancers by providing compliant, secure, cloud-based virtual desktops available on-demand globally.

Paul is a sought-after speaker who was named 2016’s Diversity Champion by Canada’s Women in Communications and Technology, is active in the Council of Canadian Innovators, and the CIO Strategy Council.

In addition to his role as CFO at Tehama, Rob is an adviser to and investor in start-up technology firms, with over 20 years of experience in software industry finance, operations, and M&A. Previously, he led M&A for IBM’s analytics business after having led the post-merger integration of Cognos into IBM. Rob started his software career with Object Technology International where he served as CFO and COO. He has accreditations as a CPA, CA, and CMA and has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa.

Nabeel Youakim has decades of experience in the End User Computing (EUC) industry. As Chief Development Officer at Tehama, he is responsible for providing strategic guidance spanning all areas of the business to accelerate success for Tehama’s next-generation Desktop as a Service platform.

Prior to joining Tehama, Youakim provided business development and consulting services, advising businesses, technology providers, and investment firms on technology trends, investment opportunities, and go-to-market strategies. Before that, he spent 22 years at Citrix Systems, Inc., where he most recently served as Vice President, Products & Solutions Architecture. Youakim was also Vice President, Product Management & Strategic Partners, in these roles he has led various teams of product managers and architects responsible for the Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop roadmaps and developing the Citrix Cloud. While at Citrix, Youakim also held several other executive leadership positions supporting product development, strategic alliances & sales for the APAC region and Australia. He also led the development of Citrix’s global strategic relationship and engagement with Microsoft. Under his leadership, Citrix was named Microsoft Global ISV of the year for both 2003 and 2005 and Citrix has won this award many times since. Earlier in his career, Youakim held director-level positions in sales and marketing at Microsoft.

Bev Hemish is a seasoned senior administrator with more than two decades of experience. At Tehama, she is the CEO’s executive partner and a key member of the executive leadership team. Bev plays a critical role in facilitating the strategy and execution of Tehama’s business goals and company-wide corporate communications. She is recognized for her exceptional project management skills and ability to create accountability across the organization. Before Tehama, Bev held an executive assistant position at Pythian and worked closely with the management team, helping document and improve processes for optimal productivity and business sustainability.

Kevin Haaland is a proven leader with over 20 years of leadership experience. He is results oriented with a track record of leading agile teams from concept though to delivery and adoption of software solutions.He has significant experience as a development leader in multi-national, globally distributed organizations as well as emerging startups.Kevin has lead teams responsible for the Eclipse open source platform, IBM Cognos business intelligence teams and was the director responsible for the creation and launch of IBM Watson Analytics, a SAAS offering which delivered breakthrough innovations as a data discovery tool and predictive analytics solution.Kevin is an internationally recognized software professional, having received the ACM Software System award in 2011.

Terry is a passionate and accomplished business, strategy, and sales leader in the technology industry. He has worked with a range of companies, from startups to scaleups, to recognized pioneers and visionaries such as Accenture, Cisco, SAP, Adobe, and now Tehama. Terry has earned a reputation for breakout thinking and breakthrough work in the most complex business environments and geographies.

He also works with community and professional organizations, including the Institute on Governance (where he served on the National Board and as Board Chair), the National Board of the Certified Management Consultants of Canada (Board Member and Chair of the Public Policy Committee), TechNation Canada (as a member of the National Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the Public Policy and Advocacy Committee, and Chair of the Public Sector Business Committee) and the Imagining Canada’s Future initiative.

Terry is also a Fellow and Member of the Association of Public Sector Information Professionals (DPI) Advisory Board, a member of the Internet Society’s IoT Security and Digital Access Advisory committees, the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association, the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada’s National Capital Board, and the boards of the Ottawa Hunt Golf Club and the Royal Ottawa Hospital Foundation for Mental Health.

Lee-Anne has held VP positions at a number of leading Ottawa businesses, spanning more than 20 years. Her background includes work in a number of different sectors, from manufacturing and consumer goods to healthcare and software development. She acts as an industry leader to college and university students through the Mindtrust Leadership Program. Lee-Anne is a CPA, CMA, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Honours Accounting degree from the University of Ottawa.

Thomas has more than three decades of experience as a lawyer in both in-house roles with technology companies like QNX/BlackBerry and Nortel and private practice with the Prowse Technology Law Office and as a partner and associate in the Ottawa office of a major Canadian law firm. Thomas, whom his peers selected to be included in The Best Lawyers in Canada in the Technology Law specialty, is a frequent speaker on technology law matters and an active member of professional associations including the Canadian Technology Law Association. He is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and has an LL.B. from Queen’s University and a B.A. from the University of Saskatchewan.

With nearly two decades of experience in the IT services industry, Jaymes has implemented more than 1,000 virtualization, end-user computing, and access delivery projects for clients ranging from global enterprises to local and regional small and medium businesses. At Tehama he focuses on business first outcomes for customers and partners, helping them leverage Tehama to get real-time to value benefits for projects and IT workflow efficiencies in place around the contingent workforce that focus on security and compliance.

Jaymes designed and developed the Virtualization Oriented Architecture™ (VOA), a methodology that closely aligns business strategies with IT infrastructure solutions. His white papers and articles have been endorsed by the industry’s top virtualization experts and innovators. He has also been a speaker at numerous high-profile industry events, including VMworld, Citrix Synergy Best Practices for Xendesktop, and Autodesk University. Jaymes is recognized by CRN for the top virtualization practice in North America in 2012 and by Tech Elite 250 #1 Virtualization Practice for 2011 to 2015.

Jaymes is studying Advanced Computer Security at Stanford University. He also enjoys spending time deep inside a virtual reality holodeck battling monsters.

Ken has been moving data around the world for more than 20 years – including physical clouds via satellites and aircraft, and virtually between cloud computing providers and telecommunications service providers. At Tehama he plays a key role in securely connecting customers to data, and ensuring the stability of Tehama’s underlying infrastructure.

Pol Desmarais is a product leader focused on delivering user-centric experiences.

Pol began his career in the animation industry where he worked on three animated feature films and several television shows, including the daytime Emmy award winning Arthur animated series.

For the past 15 years, Pol has been devoted to delivering user-centric products from video games to mobile applications and enterprise software.

At Tehama, Pol is determined to understand the customer’s needs, desires, and pain points to ensure the delivery of valuable solutions.

Julia is an HR leader with over a decade of experience. Since 2016, she has worked with Tehama’s Executive Team to lay the foundations of Tehama’s People & Talent growth strategy.

Julia has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. She holds numerous professional HR certifications, is a keynote speaker on talent management trends, and in 2014 won the Vision Award for Innovation in Talent Acquisition.

Outside of work, Julia enjoys volunteering, traveling, and spending time with her family & friends at the cottage and by the pool.

Carson is an experienced delivery leader who is responsible for IT, procurement, vendor management, and cloud financial management at Tehama.

Recognized by Ottawa Business Journal as Ottawa’s Top 40 Under 40, Alifiya is an award-winning entrepreneur and marketing professional. Since leading her business to a successful exit in 2014, Alifiya has led marketing programs and teams at Pythian and most recently led product marketing initiatives for Ross Video’s Robotics, Cloud Services, and Production Workflow portfolios. At Tehama, Alifiya is responsible for marketing strategy, building brand awareness, and establishing marketing engines that drive customer acquisition.

Jason leads the Customer Success team at Tehama with a driving passion for delivering the best outcomes for his customers. He brings more than 15 years of experience managing international support and services teams covering technology, software, and hardware with an intense customer-centric focus.

Mick is a highly accomplished sales and business leader with 25+ years IT and Telecommunications industry experience and leadership. He has a strong background in Enterprise, Channel sales and high growth pre-IPO Start-ups.

Mick has a proven history of building, coaching and leading channels and direct sales teams in the US and Internationally with an equally successful track record of developing and executing impactful strategies to build Partner ecosystems, accelerate Sales transformation and developing new markets to drive top line growth.

Experience includes: Channels development, Managed Service Providers, Cloud Computing, Telecommunications, Development of Growth Markets, Financial Service Industry, End User Computing and SaaS.

Karen Chase is regarded as a strong relationship builder and practitioner of effective communications. At Tehama, Karen manages industry and government programs, with interests that span the whole of our business. She seeks business growth and research-based funding opportunities, manages complex application processes, and oversees contractual project reporting requirements. Representing Tehama, Karen is also an active contributor on industry-specific Canadian standards councils

Before Tehama, Karen held senior and director-level positions across major sectors including defense and security, professional services, life sciences, and commercial real estate. Her roles included managing and mentoring personnel, managing operations and facilities, contracts management, complex government and private sector proposal management, and developing detailed processes and procedures for document control and reporting.

Karen obtained her Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Ottawa, Telfer School of Management.

Chuck oversees the security and compliance aspects of Tehama. Tehama’s compliance standards continue to evolve over time, inspiring confidence in the product as well as including it in our customer’s own compliance regimes.

Chuck is a 20-year software development veteran where he focused on security features in both telecom and remote work industries. He has brought that deep technical knowledge to the secure development life cycle of the Tehama product.

Mark heads the Technical Support team at Tehama, bringing 15 years of technical support leadership in various disciplines the Information Technology and Identity Management space. At his core, Mark understands that the most valuable asset an organization can have are their customers. Mark is driven by providing the best possible user experience, and technical & support needs of his customers.