About
Leadership

Leadership


Senior Leadership Team


John headshot

John, who was named a 2020 Mid-Atlantic Entrepreneur of the Year, has been responsible for overseeing all aspects of Pie since its establishment in May 2017. He brings over 20 years of experience in tech-enabled insurance and financial services businesses. Prior to Pie, John served on the Esurance executive team for 13 years, where he initially led all of the financial functions from 2000-03 and then became the company’s first Chief Marketing Officer. Under John’s leadership of the marketing team, Esurance premium volume grew from $50 million in 2003 to $1.3 billion in 2013. Esurance was sold to Allstate in 2011 for $1 billion. John holds a B.A. in Economics from Haverford College.

John Swigart

Co-founder and CEO

Dax headshot

Dax is responsible for overseeing Pie's sales, business development, engineering, underwriting, product, and analytics functions. Prior to Pie, Dax was Co-founder and CEO of Valen Analytics, where he oversaw the company’s growth and 2017 sale to Insurity. During his time as a graduate student, he also founded Xertex Technologies, ultimately selling to Centurion Wireless. Dax holds an M.B.A. from the University of Colorado Boulder and a B.S. from the University of Tulsa Collins’ College of Business, where he serves as a member on the Advisory Board. Dax is a proud and long-term member of the Young Presidents’ Organization.

Dax Craig

Co-founder and President

Audra headshot

Audra Foglietta joined Pie in October 2023 as its chief financial officer (CFO) and is responsible for developing and implementing the company’s financial strategy. Audra brings more than 25 years of strategic financial experience to Pie, including 20 years served at Chubb, the world's largest publicly traded property & casualty insurance company. Most recently, Audra was Chubb’s EVP and CFO, Global Operations and Technology and previously held leadership roles including CFO of Chubb’s Westchester excess and surplus division and SVP Global Treasury. Prior to her tenure at Chubb, Audra began her career in finance as a Senior Auditor at Arthur Andersen. Audra is a CPA and holds an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University. She resides in Atlanta, GA and is an avid tennis player in addition to providing financial mentorship to individuals through her church.

Audra Foglietta

Chief Financial Officer

Chris headshot

Chris joined Pie in May 2021 and is responsible for scaling and operating the Software Engineering organization that is responsible for building Pie’s technology products and services. Chris has spent most of his career working on technology designed to disrupt legacy industries such as healthcare and logistics. Most recently Chris served as CTO at NEXT Trucking where he was disrupting the commercial freight industry. Chris holds a B.S. in Physics from Indiana University.

Chris Lankford

Chief Technology Officer

Rick headshot

Rick Poulin joined Pie in September 2022 as vice president of underwriting and now serves as Senior Vice President for Underwriting and Pricing, where he is responsible for overseeing the company’s business planning, forecasting, and loss and expense management. Rick brings the team more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, including more than a decade at Travelers. Most recently at Travelers, Rick was the company’s vice president of workers’ comp where he was responsible for product development, line management, strategy and profitability across the entire line of business. Rick holds a Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Political Science from the University of Vermont, and is an FCAS and a CPCU.

Rick Poulin

Senior Vice President, Underwriting

Lauri headshot

Lauri joined Pie in May 2017 is responsible for recruitment, development, benefits, compensation, and coaching for Pie employees (also known as Pie-oneers). Previously, she led people teams at companies including RapidAdvance, AFP Advisors Network, and Fannie Mae. Lauri has a B.A. in Communications: PR & Journalism from the University of Maryland.

Lauri Putt-Needleman

Chief People Officer

David headshot

David joined Pie as its first chief commercial officer in April 2022 and is responsible for setting Pie’s operational strategy, and overseeing all premiums generated from our insurance agents and brokers. With over 25 years of experience in sales leadership, customer success, business development, and product marketing within the B2B enterprise and SMB markets, David is adept at leading sales teams to win and guiding organizations to deliver on customer success strategies that accelerate retention and growth. At the core of his experience, David brings a passion for strengthening customer relationships, leading teams and setting high-performance standards. Before joining Pie, David was the chief customer officer at SAP, where he led the Customer Engagement Center and SAP Concur’s Global Client Development organization. David holds a B.S.B.A. from American University - Kogod School of Business.

David Samuels

Chief Commercial Officer

Carla headshot

As Pie's Senior Vice President of Claims, Carla Woodard is responsible for planning and directing all aspects of Pie’s claims functions and teams. This includes managing and implementing strategic internal claims and TPA programs. Carla brings over 25 years of claims management experience to the Pie team. Most recently, she spent 15 years at Employers Insurance as the director of claims operations. While there, she managed claims teams, designed claims processes, and led the implementation of claims management software. Carla holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of LaVerne.

Carla Woodard

Senior Vice President, Claims

Leadership Team


Kris joined Pie in July 2023 as vice president of reinsurance and is responsible for developing Pie’s reinsurance programs, building and strengthening relationships with key broker partners, and will serve as Pie’s strategic liaison with AM Best. Kris brings more than 25 years of insurance industry experience to Pie, including most recently spending 9 years at TD Insurance/TD Bank in Canada where he was Vice President of Reinsurance, Corporate Insurance, Underwriting, and Investments. He has a wealth of experience leading reinsurance, corporate insurance, and actuarial teams focusing on both strategic priorities and analytic excellence. Kris has worked in actuarial consulting, primary insurance and reinsurance companies throughout his career. Kris holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Economics from University of California, Berkeley and is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society.

Kris Bagchi

Vice President, Reinsurance

Josh Brost joined Pie in September 2022 as vice president of marketing, where he is responsible for all aspects of marketing including direct marketing, partner marketing, public relations, brand, lifecycle marketing, media, and talent branding. Josh brings nearly 20 years of diverse marketing experience to the Pie team. Most recently Josh led digital and integrated marketing at Bolt, and prior to that he led the growth and integrated campaigns team within the Modern Work marketing organization at Microsoft. Josh holds a Bachelors degree in Journalism from Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Joshua Brost

Vice President, Marketing

Alex joined Pie in 2024 as its deputy chief financial officer. He brings more than 15 years of strategic financial experience to Pie. Most recently, Alex was SVP and CFO, Global Technology at Chubb, the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. Alex held prior strategic leadership roles including Global Technology and Operations Finance Transformation Leader at Chubb and Director, Finance Solutions and Transformation at SEI Investments where he worked the first 12 years of his career in a variety of roles. Alex holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the Pennsylvania State University and resides in Philadelphia, PA where he is married with two children. Alex enjoys traveling, golfing, and is a committed volunteer firefighter.

Alexander Davis

Deputy CFO

Jaime Gilliam-Swartz joined Pie in February 2023 as vice president of services and operations, where she is responsible for overseeing the company’s customer success, operations, and premium audit functions. Jaime brings over 25 years of diverse experience across voice-of-customer programs, customer experience, and shared service operations. Prior to Pie, Jaime led service-focused teams at companies like Eventbrite, Lyft, Intuit, GE and Accenture. Jaime holds a Bachelor’s degree in International History from West Point and served 5 years in the US Army as a communications officer.

Jaime Gilliam-Swartz

Vice President, Services and Operations

Kevin joined Pie in July 2024 as group controller. He brings nearly 30 years of insurance and financial leadership experience to Pie. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the U.S. Insurance and Holding Companies at SiriusPoint, where he led a team responsible for GAAP and statutory financial accounting, planning, and treasury functions. Kevin worked in various senior roles at SiriusPoint since 2005 and has extensive experience in strategic finance, regulatory reporting, and financial transformation. Prior to SiriusPoint, Kevin held roles at Financial Security Assurance, CIGNA and Arthur Anderson. Kevin holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Scranton. 

Kevin Grzelak

Group Controller

Kelly joined Pie in April 2022 as vice president of business development, where she oversees the organization’s team responsible for growing and maturing its insurance agency channel. Previously, Kelly worked with national business development and sales teams at Beam Dental, Paycor, and Vivial. Kelly has a B.A. in Organizational Leadership from Northern Kentucky University.

Kelly North

Vice President, Business Development

Brenton joined Pie in April 2024 as VP of Product and brings nearly 15 years of leadership experience across product management, insurance, e-commerce, and market research. He was most recently a Sr. Director of Product Management for Global Supplier & Merchandising Platforms at Wayfair, where he led a team of 300+ technologists focused on the data, systems, and workflows that power a majority of Wayfair's end-to-end operations. Prior to Wayfair, he worked in innovation strategy and product management at Liberty Mutual Insurance, and led custom quantitative research engagements for many Fortune 100 clients with Kantar. He holds a B.A. in International Marketing and a M.S. in Resource Economics from UMass, Amherst.

Brenton Sellati

Vice President, Product