Leadership
AscentAI is a global team of compliance experts, technologists, and business professionals committed to helping financial services firms thrive by reducing the cost and complexity of regulatory compliance.
Together, we’re building a new kind of technology, powered by AI, that promises to fundamentally and dramatically change how financial services firms approach and manage regulatory compliance – eliminating manual processes, dramatically increasing accuracy, saving costs, and most importantly, operating with confidence.
AscentAI Leadership Team
Chris Junker
Chris is an experienced business leader with more than 30 years of experience in the software industry and has a proven track record of accelerating innovation and driving sales at high-growth software companies. He has had the privilege of working at established public companies such as iManage (HP), Interwoven and Autonomy, as well as start-ups, with a focus in SaaS, Legal Content Solutions, Artificial Intelligence, IoT and Big Data. In addition to his most recent position as CEO at Gauge Telematics, an IoT asset management platform company, Chris served as the CEO at, Complia Health, Microsystems Inc. (now Litera), SpringCM (now DocuSign), Fios, Inc. (now DTI). Chris holds a BS in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University and lives in Long Grove, Illinois with his wife and golden retriever Nelly.
Mark Holmes
Mark has spent the last 20 years in the Financial Services Industry. Prior to joining Ascent, Mark was the Founder & CEO of Waymark Tech, a UK-based regulatory horizon scanning and change management company. Mark was inspired to start Waymark through his exposure to the problems and manual work of understanding and staying on top of regulatory obligations. Mark is a former regulatory & product programme manager for Traiana and held various roles with HSBC, Nomura, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley. Outside of work, Mark is a keen sportsman – playing rugby, participating in open water swimming events and more recently Hyrox. As a Type 1 diabetic – Mark uses his achievements in sports to spread awareness of the condition and how it does not have to limit what you can achieve. He is a Speaker Volunteer for Diabetes UK.
Ed Lloyd
Ed has over 25 years of growing software companies. For the past 17 years Ed has grown RegTech SaaS businesses, serving on Executive Committees/Boards overseeing Sales (Direct and Indirect, Inside and Field), Marketing, and Customer Success globally. Ed’s teams throughout the years have helped deliver significant growth and increased footprint in new verticals and geographies, that resulted in taking two of them to successful exit – Accuity to a FTSE 100 (RELX), the other, Alacra, ultimately to NICE Actimize. More recently, Ed lead the Sales and Marketing efforts at Encompass Corporation and also as CRO Themis, accelerating revenue growth, and expanding Into new geographies globally.
With P&L ownership, Ed has also helped Founders raise Series A and Series B funding from Institutional (VC) and Private Investors for some of these ReTech SaaS firms. He typically has worked with new technologies including one of the first AI RegTech sales to a Tier 1 Bank in the industry. Ed’s experience covers both direct and indirect sales, and specialises in building go to market strategies, and executing on them, be that in turnaround, scale-up or even start-ups.
A specialist in delivering hyper growth by leading the organic growth engine as well as integrating acquisitions, Ed is a firm believer in customers for life, and ensuring clients understand the real value of what they are buying.
Ed holds a BA (Hons) in Financial Services, and lives in south west London with his wife and two children.
Ellen Krueger
Ellen is dedicated to creating a client-centric culture and an enjoyable customer journey. Her entire career has been driven by the pursuit of ensuring client satisfaction and exceeding expectations. Over the last seven years, she has become a customer experience leader within the SaaS industry. At Ascent, Ellen and her team focus on helping regulated firms leverage the full power of the company’s Regulatory Knowledge Automation, so they can comply with regulation more easily. Ellen has a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Kris Craw
Kris is an experienced product leader, technologist, and legal professional with over 15 years combined experience in the technology and legal industries. He has worked in the Chicago tech industry for the last six years in product and technical roles across the SaaS, FinTech, and artificial intelligence spaces. Prior to working in B2B SaaS, he worked as a technologist and field researcher of classified technologies for the USAF, and spent time as a state public defender in Colorado. He has a J.D. from the University of Denver, a BIS in Finance from Angelo State University, and is a USAF veteran. When not at work, Kris enjoys outdoor hobbies, geek culture with his teenage son, and is a sucker for a good Chicago patio or food fest.
Alexandra Lehr
Alexandra specializes in finding new ways to streamline the complex world of regulatory research and compliance. At Ascent, she leads a team of legal analysts and helps them apply their expertise to advanced technologies. Together, Alexandra’s team collaborates with Ascent’s data science and engineering experts to blend legal analysis, machine learning, and natural language processing in support of the company’s Regulatory Knowledge Automation solution. Alexandra earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and her Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Robb Verna
Robb is a highly experienced B2B Marketing leader with deep expertise in accelerating revenue growth and driving client success in startup, mid-sized, and Fortune 100 enterprise IT, FinTech, and HealthIT firms. His approach combines a pragmatic, sales-oriented mindset with relentless marketing execution to promote brand visibility, generate opportunities, accelerate wins, and build customer advocates. Robb’s experiences at IBM and Bank of America Merchant Services instilled the values of data-driven Marketing and robust Go To Market strategy, while his experiences at Greenway Health, private equity firms, and startups honed his Sales-driven approach to revenue growth and value creation. Robb holds a Bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in Maryland and resides in the Atlanta metro area with his wife and 2 children.
AscentAI Board of Directors
Scott Goebel
Scott Goebel is a Partner and Co-Founder of Edgewater Equity Partners and serves on the Board of Directors at AscentAI. He is a seasoned leader with a distinguished record of success across client-facing consulting teams, product development, and global compliance, legal, and risk management functions.
As a strategic thinker rooted in financial and operational realities, Scott has consistently delivered results throughout his career. He believes in fostering high-performing organizations through open communication and clear accountability. Prior to joining Edgewater, Scott held several senior roles at Fidelity Investments, including as General Counsel for the Asset Management Division and Head of Fiduciary Oversight, which included product, finance, compliance and operations teams.
Scott spent over a decade driving Fidelity’s mutual fund board business and contract negotiations, emphasizing the importance of relationships built on shared values and honest dialogue. An expert in fund distribution and investment product development, he has worked extensively with global lawmakers and regulators. He also championed Fidelity’s corporate governance function and oversaw the firm’s proxy voting policies.
Scott’s early career includes 20 years as a lawyer, serving both in-house and at Ropes & Gray LLP. A U.S. Army veteran, he developed his leadership style while on active duty.
He holds a JD from Cornell Law School and a BA from Princeton University.
Joe Bradley
Joe Bradley is a Partner at Edgewater Equity Partners and a Member of the Board of Directors of AscentAI. Known for his strong financial acumen and deep experience in helping technology firms accelerate revenue, Joe is a key advisor to AscentAI’s growth strategy and global expansion.
Prior to co-founding Edgewater, Joe was a Partner at Beacon Equity Partners.
In addition, he is a former Member of the Board of Directors and Chief Financial Officer of Exari Systems and a former Member of the Board of Directors and Chief Financial Officer of Anaqua, Inc.
Joe earned his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, MS in Environmental Engineering from Northeastern University, and undergraduate degree from The College of the Holy Cross.
Lars Bjork
Lars Björk lead Qlik as CEO from a start up to a global leader in the BI and Analytics space and was a member of the company’s board of directors. He oversaw the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in 2010 on the NASDAQ, which was recognized as one of the year’s top tech IPOs.
Lars is recognized as an authority on driving company culture through an accessible management style, with articles appearing in the New York Times, Forbes and Harvard Business Review. He was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the technology category in 2010.
Before Qlik, Lars held several positions as CFO at companies such as ScandStick and Resurs Finance. He has an MBA from the University of Lund, Sweden
Lars is now an active advisor, investor and Board member in the tech start up scene in both Europe and the US.
Gordon Caplan
Gordon R. Caplan is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dutchess Management LLC, a strategic advisory firm dedicated to helping clients navigate complex business challenges and promoting social good through philanthropic ventures.
Prior to establishing Dutchess Management LLC, Mr. Caplan was the Co-Chairman of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP from 2015 to 2019. He led the private equity practice and built one of the largest private equity practices in the world. Mr. Caplan was the Chair of the Private Equity Practice at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP from 2010 to 2015 and the Chair of the Venture Capital Practice from 2005 to 2010. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Connecticut Telephone from 2004 to 2006.
Mr. Caplan was named a “Dealmaker of the Year” by American Lawyer in 2018 and featured in publications on M&A, private equity, corporate governance, and high-technology transactions. He has lectured on private equity and technology transactions at Columbia University Graduate School of Business, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Fordham Law School.
Mr. Caplan received a JD from Fordham Law School in 1991, where he was an Editor of the Fordham Law Review in 1990, and a BA from Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences in 1988. Mr. Caplan is a member of Fordham’s Law School’s Dean’s Planning Council, and a Board Member of Publicolor and was the Chairman of the Board of Publicolor from 2014 to 2018. He received the 2016 Louis J. Lefkowitz Public Service Award from Fordham Law School.
Gordon also serves as a voice for criminal justice reform, spearheading the Prison Visitation Fund (prisonvisitationfund.org), a non-profit dedicated to keeping families together during a loved one’s period of incarceration.