About Us: Management Team

Herb Satterlee, CEO
Herb Satterlee most recently served as the Chairman and CEO of DigitalGlobe, Inc. The company provides satellite imagery and analysis solutions to markets including forestry, mining and national defense. DigitalGlobe also developed the AgroWatch suite of analysis products that growers use for highly accurate crop management decisions. During the last eight years, he helped the company achieve a 240 fold increase in revenues. Herb began his professional career with The Boeing Company, where over a period of 17 years he had major responsibilities in both program management and strategic business planning. This experience led to his selection as CEO of Resource 21, a satellite imagery provider focused on customers involved in production agriculture, food industries, earth science and US national security.

Prakash Ramachandran, CFO
Prakash Ramachandran is a professional with over 18 years of experience in Asia and the USA. Most recently, he was VP of Finance at Sonicity Inc., a software start-up in San Francisco funded by Sony. Previously, Prakash was CFO of Sonex Group, a business firm headquartered in Hong Kong. He is a Chartered Accountant from India and a member of the Institute of Management Accountants of U.K., and he holds a Masters degree in Management from the Stanford University Business School.

Dr. Michael O'Connor, CTO
While a graduate student at Stanford University, Dr. Michael O'Connor led the team that invented the first-ever farm tractor steering control system using GPS. The project, sponsored by John Deere, ultimately produced four Ph.D. dissertations and was the seed for the AutoFarm product line. Michael obtained his B.S. from M.I.T. in 1992, M.S. in 1993, and Ph.D. in 1997 from Stanford University. Dr. O'Connor was recently named to the 2003 list of the world's 100 Top Young Innovators by Technology Review Magazine.

Pierre Rouleau, Vice President of Sales and Service
Pierre Rouleau, prior to joining the AutoFarm team, served as the CEO and General Manager of Cultiva, Inc., created in 2001 to bring an alternative approach to Guidance Systems in Agriculture. Cultiva and Novariant merged in August of 2005. Pierre Rouleau brings over 25 years of experience in Agriculture. He started as an Aerial Application Pilot and owner of one of the most predominant businesses in the field. He was part of the development of the first advanced GPS Guidance Systems for Aerial Application in the early nineties. He created Pestechcon, Inc. to market the AgNav Guidance System, still thriving today. Mr. Rouleau joined Satloc, Inc. of Arizona in the mid nineties and became the General Manager of its GPS Business Unit after the Satloc acquisition by CSI Wireless. This Business Unit has evolved into Hemisphere GPS today. He holds a Masters Degree in International Business Administration from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona.

Tom Morgan, Vice President of Marketing
Tom Morgan is a seasoned agricultural marketer with over 25 years experience. He has several agronomy degrees and an MBA. He has worked with farmers bringing them solutions to their problems through innovative technologies in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Australia.

Ray Vallejo, Vice President of Operations
Ray Vallejo heads up the Operations organization which includes Customer Service and Quality. Ray Vallejo brings 25 years of diverse operations and manufacturing experience in start-up, turn-arounds, and billion dollar companies. Mr. Vallejo's product and service experience includes; medical diagnostic imaging, wireless, computing, broadcasting, networking, video serving, 3D graphics, storage, consumer electronics, and professional service. His billion dollar and public company experience includes; SGI (Silicon Graphics, Inc.), Siemens, and Gould. As employee #40 at SGI he helped build and lead a global Manufacturing organization for 7 years resulting in annual sales of $400M and a successful IPO. Mr. Vallejo's previous positions include; COO for AccuImage Diagnostics (a public company), COO for Imedia Corp., VP of Operations for Malibu Networks, Sr. VP of Operations for BridgeWave Communications, VP & GM for Reply Corp., VP of Operations for Maxoptix, Vice President of Operations for Zapex Inc, Sr. Director for SGI.