Meet our Leadership Team
Akshay Kapadia
Founder & CEO
Akshay Kapadia built his career by delivering effective sales and marketing support systems for pharmaceutical and life science companies. Prior to launching Conexus, he held senior leadership positions at inVentiv Health, Accenture, Octagon Research Solutions, Cegedim, and Dendrite International. Akshay founded Conexus with a vision to create a nimble, high-quality, cost-effective outsource for the commercial operations of small/mid pharma and life science firms. Akshay has been recognized as a “Veeva Hero” for his innovative implementations and support of Veeva’s market-leading CRM and data management systems. Akshay received a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from the City University of New York and a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science.
Anthony Bianciella
Executive Director, Enabling Business Services
Anthony Bianciella has spent much of his career marketing businesses in the life sciences space in the US and in several countries around the world. His experience spans marketing strategy, digital content creation, and product marketing for software and service-based solutions. His goal throughout his career has been to create a bridge between market demand and the most effective solutions for that demand in a way that is easy to understand and adds value where it’s needed most. Anthony has a Master’s of Science in Computer Science from Steven’s Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers College of Engineering, which has provided him with a solid technical foundation and enables him to connect with the technical side of marketing. Anthony has worked for companies such as Dendrite International, Cegedim, Health Products Research and MTI Technologies.
Brad Pickell
Corporate Controller
Brad Pickell is a Finance professional with a deep understanding of Sales operations and knowledge of Salesforce.com. Brad brings nearly ten years of experience in financial analysis; much of it in a global role, to Commercial operations, Sales enablement, and Strategy & Marketing. As a certified Salesforce.com administrator with a B.S. in Business Administration from Susquehanna University, Brad functions seamlessly in helping structure and organize Conexus in the best manner to meet client commercial and sales operations needs. Brad has easily made the leap from the client side to a understanding and caring service provider.
Ernie Payne
Senior Vice President & General Manager, Commercial Services Practice Group
Ernie Payne began a 20+ year career in Commercial Operations after six years in the US Army as a Combat Engineer. While gaining valuable experience in position of increasing responsibility, Ernie has achieved success at every level. So much so, that he has become a “go to” person in the industry. This graduate of Bloomsburg University has deep understanding of client needs as well as industry offerings have allowed him to expand his role beyond operations and into Business Development. So much so , that in his previous role with Physicians World, he was the Director of Business Development while maintaining strong influence on fulfillment and operations. We take immense pleasure in having him with us at Conexus.
Phil Portantino
CHRO
Phil Portantino has 30+ years of increasing levels of Human Resource management experience; much of it international. He has served as a specialist in the areas of Learning & Development, Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Compensation, and Benefits. Having begun his career in the area of Finance, it was natural for him to spend many years in the Financial Services industry before moving into the Life Sciences; where he has spent much of the last 20 years. Phil has a Bachelor’s degree from Villanova University and he earned an M.B.A. from Monmouth University. He is using his long, broad, and deep HR experience to attract and retain the best talent for Conexus to help its clients prosper.
Praveen Chandrasekhar
CIO
Praveen Chandrasekhar is an accomplished senior IT leader in the pharmaceutical industry. Over his 20+ year career, he has held increasingly responsible roles in R&D, IT infrastructure, and commercial operations IT. Praveen is an authority on IT solutions for drug development, supporting the entire life cycle from discovery through clinical trials to commercialization. His expertise includes enterprise architecture, master data management, analytics, business intelligence, CRM implementation, and data warehousing. Praveen has a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Southern University at Baton Rouge and a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from PSG College of Technology.
Sandy Tammisetty
Vice President & General Manager, Veeva Services Practice Group
Sandhya (Sandy) Tammisetty is a truly versatile technologist with a focus on client’ sales operations processes and needs. She has 10+ years of professional experience, the last four of which were spent supporting commercial divisions of pharma and life sciences companies. She graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India and has a Masters degree in Computer Science from Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ. Her education and work experience provide her with true data management, Veeva configuration, and Veeva Vault administration expertise. She is another of Conexus’ fierce working moms.
Sunitha Venkat
Vice President, Data Services & Insights
Sunitha Venkat specializes in translating complex business questions into actionable insights. She has over 20 years of professional software engineering experience; the most recent ten years of which were spent in the pharma and life science sectors in data engineering specializing in business insights. Before joining Conexus, Sunitha was the Director of Business Insights for Ashfield Health. She is graduate of Dr. M.G.R. Educational 7 Research Institute University in Chennai, India. She is a fierce team player, business partner, and proud working mom.
Akshay Kapadia built his career by delivering effective sales and marketing support systems for pharmaceutical and life science companies. Prior to launching Conexus, he held senior leadership positions at inVentiv Health, Accenture, Octagon Research Solutions, Cegedim, and Dendrite International. Akshay founded Conexus with a vision to create a nimble, high-quality, cost-effective outsource for the commercial operations of small/mid pharma and life science firms. Akshay has been recognized as a “Veeva Hero” for his innovative implementations and support of Veeva’s market-leading CRM and data management systems. Akshay received a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from the City University of New York and a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science.
Anthony Bianciella has spent much of his career marketing businesses in the life sciences space in the US and in several countries around the world. His experience spans marketing strategy, digital content creation, and product marketing for software and service-based solutions. His goal throughout his career has been to create a bridge between market demand and the most effective solutions for that demand in a way that is easy to understand and adds value where it’s needed most. Anthony has a Master’s of Science in Computer Science from Steven’s Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers College of Engineering, which has provided him with a solid technical foundation and enables him to connect with the technical side of marketing. Anthony has worked for companies such as Dendrite International, Cegedim, Health Products Research and MTI Technologies.
Brad Pickell is a Finance professional with a deep understanding of Sales operations and knowledge of Salesforce.com. Brad brings nearly ten years of experience in financial analysis; much of it in a global role, to Commercial operations, Sales enablement, and Strategy & Marketing. As a certified Salesforce.com administrator with a B.S. in Business Administration from Susquehanna University, Brad functions seamlessly in helping structure and organize Conexus in the best manner to meet client commercial and sales operations needs. Brad has easily made the leap from the client side to a understanding and caring service provider.
Ernie Payne began a 20+ year career in Commercial Operations after six years in the US Army as a Combat Engineer. While gaining valuable experience in position of increasing responsibility, Ernie has achieved success at every level. So much so, that he has become a “go to” person in the industry. This graduate of Bloomsburg University has deep understanding of client needs as well as industry offerings have allowed him to expand his role beyond operations and into Business Development. So much so , that in his previous role with Physicians World, he was the Director of Business Development while maintaining strong influence on fulfillment and operations. We take immense pleasure in having him with us at Conexus.
Phil Portantino has 30+ years of increasing levels of Human Resource management experience; much of it international. He has served as a specialist in the areas of Learning & Development, Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Compensation, and Benefits. Having begun his career in the area of Finance, it was natural for him to spend many years in the Financial Services industry before moving into the Life Sciences; where he has spent much of the last 20 years. Phil has a Bachelor’s degree from Villanova University and he earned an M.B.A. from Monmouth University. He is using his long, broad, and deep HR experience to attract and retain the best talent for Conexus to help its clients prosper.
Praveen Chandrasekhar is an accomplished senior IT leader in the pharmaceutical industry. Over his 20+ year career, he has held increasingly responsible roles in R&D, IT infrastructure, and commercial operations IT. Praveen is an authority on IT solutions for drug development, supporting the entire life cycle from discovery through clinical trials to commercialization. His expertise includes enterprise architecture, master data management, analytics, business intelligence, CRM implementation, and data warehousing. Praveen has a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Southern University at Baton Rouge and a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from PSG College of Technology.
Sandhya (Sandy) Tammisetty is a truly versatile technologist with a focus on client’ sales operations processes and needs. She has 10+ years of professional experience, the last four of which were spent supporting commercial divisions of pharma and life sciences companies. She graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India and has a Masters degree in Computer Science from Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ. Her education and work experience provide her with true data management, Veeva configuration, and Veeva Vault administration expertise. She is another of Conexus’ fierce working moms.
Sunitha Venkat specializes in translating complex business questions into actionable insights. She has over 20 years of professional software engineering experience; the most recent ten years of which were spent in the pharma and life science sectors in data engineering specializing in business insights. Before joining Conexus, Sunitha was the Director of Business Insights for Ashfield Health. She is graduate of Dr. M.G.R. Educational 7 Research Institute University in Chennai, India. She is a fierce team player, business partner, and proud working mom.
