James Paat is a recognized industry expert in the field of e-business and data integration. His more than 20 years of experience working with Global 1000 companies to identify, build and implement e-business and data-integration strategies led to his founding of Sypherlink in 2001. At Sypherlink Mr. Paat is responsible for establishing and executing the company vision and direction across all functional areas, including strategic, business and product development, innovation, sales, marketing, account management and customer support. A serial entrepreneur who was inducted into the prestigious "Forty under 40" class by Columbus, Ohio’s Business First newspaper in 2001, Mr. Paat was also founder, president and chief operating officer of EC Outlook, a business integration company providing business process management solutions.Under his leadership from 1998 through 2000, EC Outlook raised $36 million in funding, grew to 150 associates, and secured several global 500 customers, including marquee names Bristol Myers Squibb, BASF, DuPont, Ciba Vision, Bausch & Lomb, and Sun Microsystems. Mr. Paat has also held sales, consulting and management positions at other e-business providers CheckFree Corporation and Sterling Commerce. While at Sterling, he was the worldwide leading sales account manager in 1998. An acknowledged industry subject matter expert and experienced presenter, Mr. Paat is called upon to speak at industry events around the world, such as at The Data Management Association international conference, The Data Warehouse Institute conference, the IT Forum, EC Expo, and local and international user groups. He has been featured by such media as CNNfn, World Business Review, Electronic Commerce World, and The Columbus Dispatch and Business First (Columbus, Ohio).