Leadership Team
Content Guru brings together talented graduates with industry professionals. Learn
about the team that leads this dynamic environment.
Senior Leadership Team
Sean Taylor
Sean Taylor
Global CEO
Co-founder & Global CEO of Content Guru
Sean is heavily involved with the strategic direction of Content Guru, working at a technical level with the core teams that define high-level product design and commercially on the company’s go-to-market strategy, including the establishment of key partnerships.
Previous Experience
Before co-founding Redwood and Content Guru, Sean worked in the engineering team of Rhetorex Inc. (acquired by Lucent), a pioneer in the field of Computer Telephony, both in the UK and in San Jose, California. He was a member of the CBI’s Enterprise Forum and is currently part of its AI Working Group.
Charitable Work
In January 2018 Sean was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for the Royal County of Berkshire, and he serves with numerous charitable and voluntary organizations in the area, including as a Trustee of Berkshire Community Foundation (BCF), a charity specializing in the care of vulnerable adults and children. Having represented Berkshire at county level in cross-country running as a teenager, he is now President of Bracknell Athletics Club.
Education
Sean holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Electronics and Computer Science from King’s College, University of London and maintains links with the university through the annually awarded Redwood Technologies Prize for Best Performance in the MSc Telecommunications and Internet Technology programme.
Martin Taylor
Martin Taylor
Deputy CEO
Co-Founder & Deputy CEO of Content Guru
Martin Taylor is one of the co-founders of Content Guru, responsible for strategic market development and the company’s public sector practice. The coiner of the storm® brand and a leading innovator in the field of cloud-based enterprise communications, Martin is a regular speaker at international conferences and in the media.
Previous Experience
After graduating from King’s College, University of London, with a BSc(Hons) in Business Management, Martin worked as a futures market analyst in Asia. He returned to the UK to help launch Redwood Technologies in 1993, developing new overseas territories – particularly emerging markets – and adapting Redwood’s powerful and unique core technology for new sectors.
A pioneer in real-time billing, Martin’s early work with deregulated telecommunications operators led directly to the multi-tenanted, multi-level, multimedia accounting nature of Content Guru’s storm® services. Martin also devised a number of important interactive media and payment applications that are today commonplace around the world.
Interests
Martin sits on the CBI Intellectual Property Committee and on the Advisory Board of the Department of Management at King’s College London, where he delivers occasional lectures on strategy and entrepreneurship. In his spare time Martin is a keen runner, having once been the Berkshire cross country champion and competing, along with Sean, in the English Schools Cross Country Championships.
Robert Mansfield
Robert Mansfield
CTO
Chief Technical Officer of Content Guru
Robert Mansfield is the Chief Technology Officer at Content Guru. As CTO, he oversees the strategic international development of storm and the management of future product releases, with responsibilities ranging from software development to network design and security.
He has a key responsibility for managing and implementing the software development methodologies that underpin Content Guru’s communications architecture, and has been instrumental in introducing Agile development techniques and KanBan organizational processes across the business.
Previous Experience
Robert joined the Group in 1996 from Lucent Technologies Computer Telephony Products division (formerly Rhetorex Inc.), where he worked from graduation, having started in technical support and finished as Engineering Manager. He graduated from King’s College London with a BEng (Hons) in Electronics and Computer Science.
John Rees
John Rees
COO/CCO
Chief Operating Officer at Content Guru
John Rees works as Content Guru’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer, managing the development of key accounts and driving expansion into international markets, particularly the US. Responsible for the commercial strategy of the company since 2010, John gained experience developing businesses during his time at 8el, a UK-focused voice and data carrier that he co-founded. John’s main area of responsibility was overseeing the financial and commercial day-to-day activities of the business. These included management and financial reporting, the business model and legal and supplier relationships.
Education & Interests
John graduated from Durham University with a BA (Hons) degree in Business Economics. An avid cricket fan, until recently he was captain of his local team, and he continues to manage the grounds alongside playing hockey and spending time with his family.
Chris Sykes
Chris Sykes
CMO
Background & Interests
Chris founded QBox.ai, the world’s leading enterprise AI chatbot performance management & testing solution, supporting customers such as Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Sky & Vodafone. Established in 2019, QBox was acquired by Silicon Valley HQ’d Cyara inc. in November 2023.
Chris was also CEO and Founder at Volume, a tech-focused B2B digital marketing agency focused on impactful content and campaigns. While leading Volume, he supported big-brand clients including BP, BT, Dell, Oracle & Virgin Media Business.
In his spare time, Chris is a keen cook (nearly making the cut for Master Chef) and an avid collector of vodka (display only). His free time is spent with the family, and chasing his four-year old son, aptly named ‘Chase’.
Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey
CFO
Chief Financial Officer at Content Guru
Paul Harvey was appointed as Content Guru’s CFO in January 2022 with responsibility for all accounting, treasury, tax, procurement, and financial planning activities at Content Guru.
Previous Experience
Prior to joining Content Guru, Paul spent 15 years at Travelport (a global travel technology company) working in a number of different finance roles including 3 years in Atlanta, USA as head of Travelport’s US finance function and most recently leading the M&A function for Travelport.
Paul qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1992 and spent over 13 years at Deloitte gaining extensive experience across Audit, M&A and other advisory services.
Paul brings a wealth of experience in managing and developing finance functions and teams as well as helping sales, technology and executive teams in delivering upon their strategic goals.
Education & Interests
Paul graduated from Oxford University with a BA (Hons) degree in Physics. In his spare time he enjoys skiing, sailing and spending time with his family.
Jason Dyson
Jason Dyson
CISO
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Jason Dyson is Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Group Data Protection Officer at Content Guru and oversees information security, risk management, compliance and audit, customer assurance, resilience and data protection.
Education
He has a BSc (Hons) in Business Studies from the University of Hertfordshire and his experience includes managing his own business, authoring several security books and strategic leadership roles in high availability environments across the private and public sector. Prior to joining Content Guru in 2024 Jason was a Security Advisor and CISO within the UK Government.
He is a Certified Information Security Manager, a Fellow of the Security Institute, a Certified Protection Professional and holds professional membership of the Chartered Institute for IT, Business Continuity Institute and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Interests
In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, skiing, hiking and a braai.
Mick Wayman
Mick Wayman
CSO
Chief Sales Officer
Mick Wayman joined Content Guru in January 2025 to lead the company’s global sales organization. In this role Mick sets and executes the sales strategy for UK & Ireland and international territories, focusing on long term mutual value creation with existing customers and new growth opportunities in all markets.
Previous Experience and Interests
Mick has over 35 years’ experience in the telecoms and solutions market. He has held senior positions in British Telecom, Telefonica O2 and Vodafone – in roles spanning sales leadership, customer service and operations.
Mick has worked in customer environments in the UK and internationally, working with high value customers in Public Sector, Corporate and Wholesale markets . Mick has extensive experience in regulated environments, developing end-to-end customer experience strategies and a consistent track record of delivering growth and high performing teams
Andrew Davison
Andrew Davison
Non-Executive Director – SEP
Non-Executive Director – Scottish Equity Partners (SEP)
Andrew Davison is a Non-Executive Director and led SEP’s minority investment into Content Guru’s parent, Redwood Technologies Group.
Previous Experience & Education
Andrew has over two decades of experience investing in technology companies. During that time, he championed ground-breaking innovations, with a particular interest in the Internet of Things (IoT), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technologies. Andrew has invested in over 160 companies, helping founder-led teams reach their goals in the tech sector. He sits on the board of businesses across a wide range of sectors, from luxury fashion to financial regulation, and more.
Andrew graduated from the University of Dundee, where he earned an MA Hons in Accountancy. Prior to joining Scottish Equity Partners, he held various roles in investment firms, such as the 3i Group, and Grainger & Co.
Regional Leadership Team
Matt McKernan
Matt McKernan
SVP Sales – Americas
Senior Vice President of Sales – Americas
Matt McKernan is Senior Vice President of Sales for the Americas. He joined the company in 2023, where his strong experience leading large-scale enterprise and public center teams is key in supporting Content Guru’s continued growth in North America.
Previous Experience & Education
Matt brings over 25 years of sector knowledge to the role and an impressive track record of helping scale businesses including Verint, inContact, and NICE. In his previous role as the Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales at inContact, Matt built and led a high-performing sales team that focused on the Fortune 1000 segment.
Matt holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of South Carolina, and an MBA from the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business.
Interests
In his spare time, Matt enjoys an active lifestyle of golfing, skiing, pickleball, tennis, fishing, and working out. An avid fan of all Atlanta teams, Matt attained a full scholarship at the University of South Carolina with the USC Football Team.
Andrew Casson
Andrew Casson
VP of Public Sector Sales – Americas
Vice President of Public Sector Sales – Americas
Andrew Casson is Vice President of Sales for the Americas. In this role, he has responsibility for overseeing the company’s expansion within the Americas. This builds on Andrew’s years of experience advising Content Guru on major contracts within the US market.
Previous Experience & Education
After finishing his M.S. in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Andrew started his career at Bell Laboratories, before moving to Avaya for five years. He has spent the past 15 years supporting Federal Government clients in a trusted advisor role. In this position, he has received recognition for support of the Nuclear Security Summit, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial in 2010, several G20 summits, The Annapolis Conference, and countless other special events on behalf of the US Department of State.
In his spare time, Andrew is an avid skier, and enjoys spending time with his family.
Michael Van Den Brink
Michael Van Den Brink
Regional Commercial Director (EU)
Regional Commercial Director (EU)
Michael van den Brink is the Country Manager of Content Guru B.V., the Dutch branch of Content Guru. He joined the company in March 2013, bringing a wealth of management experience in the Dutch market from KPN, where he was serving as Director of Sales for Large Enterprise.
Education & Previous Experience
After graduating from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences with a degree in Business Administration, Michael joined KPN’s Business Market division as a Project Manager, from which he rapidly progressed to the role of Implementation Manager for new releases of sales tools aimed at the consumer market.
Following this, in December 2003 he became an Account Manager for the key Rotterdam region, where he worked with numerous large enterprise customers, before becoming a Key Account Manager for the Corporate Market across the entire Netherlands. Michael then moved on to become a Sales Manager at Newtel Essence, gaining experience in the contact center and customer relationship management (CRM) environments.
Interests
A keen swimmer, Michael was Chairman of his local water polo and swim club for five years, and still enjoys the sport regularly. He does a lot of running, both for sport and after his three children.
Barbara Caspers-Zarini
Barbara Caspers-Zarini
Regional Director (DACH)
Regional Director (DACH)
Barbara Caspers-Zarini is the Regional Director for Content Guru in the DACH region. In this role, she is responsible for driving the expansion of Content Guru as a CCaaS leader in the German, Austrian, and Swiss markets.
Previous Experience
Prior to joining Content Guru, Barbara worked for Avaya Deutschland GmbH. As Managing Director, she was responsible for the entire German enterprise business. Prior to this, Barbara worked for 17 years at BT Global Services, first as a Global Account Director, before holding several sales management roles across global & enterprise customer segments, as well as selected global systems integrators.
Interests
Barbara is a keen chef with a global outlook and loves to learn about other cultures through their cuisine. She also enjoys spending time in nature, taking part in sports both in and above water, and is an enthusiastic golfer.
Graeme Walker
Graeme Walker
Manager Director, Scotland
Manager Director, Scotland
Graeme Walker is Regional Director for Scotland at Content Guru, working from its Scottish headquarters in Glasgow. He joined Content Guru in 2020 and is responsible for key Scottish enterprise and public-sector clients, as well as driving strategic in-country growth.
Education and Previous Experience
Since graduating with an honours degree in Marketing and Business Management, Graeme has spent over 20 years operating in the large enterprise and public-sector marketplaces in the UK. He has held senior leadership positions at Vodafone, Virgin Media Business, Transunion and Compass Group, spending the last decade operating in Director roles within the technology sector. Throughout his career, he has followed a client-centric approach to drive consistent growth through partnerships and the implementation of market-leading technology.
Interests
Graeme is a former rugby player, and former Scottish schools swimming champion. In his spare time, he enjoys rugby, football, fitness, dog walks, and family holidays.
Justin Hamilton Martin
Justin Hamilton Martin
SVP Sales (UK&I)
Senior VP Sales UK & Ireland
Justin Hamilton-Martin is responsible for driving growth in UK & Ireland across various vertical sectors.
Previous Experience
With leadership roles over the past 27 years in the telecommunications, and cloud contact technology space, Justin has, built, expanded and sold multiple cloud-based businesses. His proven track record is in creating and deploying business strategies, while fostering relationships in fast moving environments. By fostering a growth mindset, Justin attains positive outcomes for all his stakeholders.
Interests
Justin enjoys creating and renovating engineering projects when he is not driving his children to running or field hockey fixtures, while keeping himself fit through various sporting pursuits, both on land and at sea.
Technical Team
Richard Manthorpe
Richard Manthorpe
Product Director
Product Director
Richard Manthorpe is Product Director at Content Guru. In this role, he is responsible for defining and executing the product roadmap, pricing, UI & UX, technical documentation and customer experience centers. He joined in 2009 and worked in Project Management, before setting up and running the Product function in 2017.
Previous Experience
Richard earned a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science and Cybernetics from the University of Reading. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, outdoor pursuits, and volunteering as a Scout Leader.
Mushfaqur Rahman
Mushfaqur Rahman
Operations Director
Operations Director
Mush is responsible for Engineering Operations, overseeing the deployment and operational management of storm®. He has been with Content Guru since 2008, starting in its Engineering Services team as a Support engineer, then working in Project Management. Since 2017, he has worked in the Operations team, where he was promoted to head the team, managing its operations in the Americas, AsiaPac and Europe.
Education & Interests
He is a graduate from University College London (UCL) in Electronics and Electrical Engineering (BEng) and has an MSc in Telecoms from King’s College London. In addition to following Manchester United, he enjoys skiing and fishing.
Chris Franklin
Chris Franklin
Head of Development Engineering
Head of Development Engineering
Chris Franklin is the Head of Development Engineering at Content Guru, responsible for managing the company’s Research & Development arm and coordinating product strategy. His focus on innovation keeps emerging technologies and capabilities such as AI at the forefront of Content Guru’s development efforts while ensuring the team continues to optimize and expand core technology to support storm’s global scaling.
Previous Experience & Education
Chris joined Content Guru in 2017 from GlaxoSmithKline, where he spent 7+ years as a CPMS (Clinical Pharmacology Modelling and Simulation) Development and Technologies Manager, and previously, Principal Technical Lead.
Chris completed a PhD in Scattering Theory with Applications to Muon Catalyzed Fusion and Positron H2+ Collisions at The University of Nottingham, having previously graduated from St Johns College, Oxford, with a BA in Mathematics. While at university, Chris was awarded the Thomas White Scholarship, St. John’s College, Oxford (1989) and was in the final 12 for the British Mathematics Olympiad team (1987).
Matthew Chadd
Matthew Chadd
Project Management Director
Project Management Director
Matt has worked as part of the Redwood Technologies Group since 1995. In Content Guru, he oversees the Project Management team, responsible for delivering end-to-end cloud solutions through storm®. Matt’s primary areas of focus are the company’s highly-successful utilities and healthcare deployments, which have won multiple industry awards for innovation and reliability.
Education & Interests
Matt joined Redwood Technologies as a new graduate, having received a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science and Business Computer Systems at the University of Gloucestershire, and retains a fascination for all things technological. He is particularly excited about how developments in AI and Natural Language Processing will transform our daily lives, and he follows the progress of self-driving cars with interest. Matt has always loved travelling, and remembers his visits to other parts of the world fondly, especially his time in Peru and scuba-diving in Egyptian waters.
Rhys Harris
Rhys Harris
Head of Engineering Services
Head of Engineering Services
Rhys Harris is Content Guru’s Head of Engineering Services, managing the service management function and the technical support teams. Prior to this role, he worked both as a Support Engineer and Service Manager at Content Guru. Rhys oversaw the team’s achievement of ISO20000-1 accreditation for service management.
Education & Interests
Rhys holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Bristol. He has a keen interest in astrophysics and is learning to be an amateur astronomer, an interest cultivated during time spent with his grandfather as a child.
Jacob Gaudoin
Jacob Gaudoin
Head of Accelerator Projects
Head of Accelerator Projects
Jacob Gaudoin is the Head of Accelerator Projects. He has worked at Redwood Technologies Group since 2006, starting out as an Engineering Services Support Engineer. He has worked in a number of technical roles: support, operations, data networking, software development, service management and, more recently, leading the Accelerator team in delivering critical projects. He has worked with a variety of customers and partners including AXA, Citrix, Deutsche Telekom, KPN, Microsoft, Rakuten, TCS and Vodafone.
Education & Interests
Jacob has a Physics degree from the University of Bath. Outside of work he enjoys rock climbing, skiing and hiking.
Commercial Team
Sam Fuller
Sam Fuller
Customer Success Director
Customer Success Director
Sam Fuller is Customer Success Director for the Redwood Technologies Group, with responsibility for driving value for the Group’s clients.
Sam works closely with customer-facing teams at every touchpoint in the customer journey, ensuring that the company’s own CX reaches the high standards delivered by its end users.
Previous Experience
Sam has over 20 years of experience in creating outstanding customer experience. From finance to utilities to tech, Sam has worked to place the customer at the center of business practise.
As Head of Customer Services for UK Power Networks, Sam revolutionized the way the utilities sector provides customer contact. UKPN is now ranked as the number one organization in the UK for CSAT. Previously, Sam worked as Area Manager for Barclays bank, and as Head of Experience for Bulb.
Education
Sam has a BA (Hons) in Leadership, Business, and Engagement from the Nottingham University Business School.
Jonty Shipley
Jonty Shipley
Marketing Director
Marketing Director
Jonty Shipley joined as Content Guru’s Marketing Director in 2020, with responsibility for marketing globally. He oversees all awareness and acquisition activities, including events, digital, PR, partner marketing and analyst relations.
Previous Experience & Education
Prior to joining Redwood Technologies, Jonty spent 14 years working in technology companies, most of which in marketing. Most recently this included working at Skyscanner and, previously, 9 years at Amazon. Before his roles in tech, Jonty worked in management consulting and investment banking for Roland Berger and Barclays Capital.
Jonty graduated from Cambridge University with a BA and MEng in Engineering and has an MBA from London Business School. In his spare time he enjoys travel, sports and spending time with his family and dog.
Craig Miller
Craig Miller
Director, Major Accounts
Director, Major Accounts
Craig Miller is Vice President EU, APAC & Americas at Content Guru. In this role, he takes responsibility for the company’s established markets such as the US, Europe, and Japan, as well as for driving strategic growth in new territories.
Previous Experience & Interests
Craig has more than 25 years of experience in organizations spanning in size from global enterprises to pre- and post-funded start-ups. He has held senior positions in Vodafone, Cable & Wireless, Computer Sciences Corporation (now DXC Technology) and Whitbread PLC. Throughout his career he has delivered business growth, focusing on developing value for clients through the deployment of technology to solve business issues.
In the early days of Content Guru, Craig worked closely with the founders to develop a go-to-market partnership with Cable & Wireless that has become the bedrock of the current partnership with Vodafone.
In his spare time Craig is a qualified rugby referee and coaches at both Club and County level.
Edward Winfield
Edward Winfield
VP Global Partnerships
VP Global Partnerships
Edward Winfield manages the development of key partner relationships and driving growth into international markets, focusing on building a global partner eco-system. He has worked with the company since 2007 when he worked for Cable and Wireless and then Vodafone Global Enterprise, where he had extensive experience selling storm to a variety of customers. Since joining Content Guru in 2017, he has built and managed a variety of new routes to market. He manages a range of key partners to deliver value within their consult, build and run practices – by driving opportunities globally and helping them with their market strategy and proposition development.
Education & Interests
Edward graduated from Teesside University with a BA (Hons) in Public Management, specializing in regulated communications and utility markets. He is an avid car enthusiast and owns a Time Attack race car that he races in sprint events. He is married and enjoys hiking with his wife and rescue dog.
Michael Brook
Michael Brook
Senior Commercial Legal Counsel
Senior Commercial Legal Counsel
Michael leads the global legal function at Content Guru, and is influential in defining the company’s risk & compliance strategy. Michael interfaces with customers, partners and vendors to conclude software license agreements, provides commercial counsel to the Board, and oversees Content Guru’s intellectual property portfolio.
Previous Experience
Before joining Content Guru, Michael was Group Head of Legal & Company Secretary at RED Global. Michael has also held legal roles with Travelex, Reinsurance Group of America and IDE Group.
Education & Interests
Michael was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 2013, having graduated from Kaplan Law School and obtained a First-Class LLB from the University of Kent. In his spare time, Michael enjoys playing and watching sports, music, theatre and travel.