VIP Software Executive Leadership
Meet the leaders driving innovation across the P&C insurance technology ecosystem.
James Makris
Founder, CEO & President | VIP Software Corp.
"James Makris is a serial entrepreneur and technology executive with more than two decades of experience building and scaling high-growth companies across software, insurance, and business services. Prior to founding VIP Software in 2014, he co-founded 1Source, Inc., which became the largest Toshiba/Konica Minolta dealer in Ottawa before its successful acquisition by Toshiba.
Throughout his career, James has been actively involved in the insurance technology sector as both an operator and investor, contributing to the growth and strategic development of multiple InsurTech companies and platforms across the claims ecosystem. He continues to work closely with emerging technology companies, industry partners, and insurance organizations focused on innovation, workflow modernization, and data intelligence.
Under James’s leadership, VIP Software has grown into a leading technology partner within the P&C insurance industry, delivering automation, analytics, and intelligence platforms that help carriers, IA firms, and service providers operate more efficiently and profitably."
Michael Battis
Chief Revenue Officer | VIP Software Corp.
Michael Battis has been part of VIP Software since day one, helping scale the company from an early-stage startup into a growing technology platform serving the P&C insurance industry. Over more than 13 years, he has advanced through multiple leadership roles spanning finance, enterprise sales, and revenue operations, giving him a unique end-to-end understanding of both the business and the industry.
As CRO, Michael leads strategic growth initiatives, enterprise partnerships, and revenue expansion efforts across carriers, IA firms, and service providers, while helping shape the long-term commercial vision of VIP Software.
Chris Kennedy
Senior Vice President, Operations | VIP Software Corp.
Chris Kennedy brings nearly 15 years of leadership experience from N-able, where he helped build and scale global sales development and customer success operations across North America. Throughout his career, Chris has focused on creating scalable systems, aligning teams, and driving structured revenue growth through repeatable execution.
At VIP Software, Chris leads operational strategy and growth initiatives, helping transform emerging products and market momentum into scalable, long-term execution across the organization.
Alex Dunn
Chief Technology Officer | VIP Software Corp.
With more than 20 years leading enterprise technology and solution architecture initiatives, Alex has built and integrated complex systems across Fortune 1000 companies, SaaS platforms, and high-growth startups. Before joining VIP Software as CTO, he led enterprise consulting and infrastructure operations roles at Mavenlink and ZeroLag Hosting.
Alex drives innovation, scalable solutions, and aligns technology with business goals to deliver measurable value across the organization.
Sara Lasseter
Vice President of Operations | VIP Software Corp.
Sara Lasseter has played a critical role in scaling operations, customer success, and data intelligence initiatives across VIP Software for more than five years. With experience spanning client services, executive operations management, and strategic planning, Sara has become a key leader behind VIP's operational infrastructure and partner experience.
Today, Sara leads operational strategy and oversees VIP's growing mimia™ data ecosystem, helping carriers, IA firms, and service providers better understand industry trends through advanced analytics, Power BI reporting, and data-driven insights. Her cross-functional leadership has also supported marketing initiatives, customer success programs, and enterprise partner engagement across the organization.
Artie Makris
Vice President of Marketing | VIP Software Corp.
Artie Makris has spent more than a decade leading strategic marketing, brand development, and growth initiatives across the technology and SaaS industries. Prior to joining VIP Software, he held leadership roles at N-able, where he focused on strategic marketing operations, revenue growth initiatives, and partnership development within large-scale channel ecosystems.
At VIP Software, Artie leads the company's market positioning, product branding, go-to-market strategy, and digital growth initiatives, helping shape the public vision and industry presence of platforms including RateIQ™, VIP Connect™, and VIP Wallet™.
Jason Brandes
Vice President of Sales | VIP Software Corp.
Jason Brandes brings a strong combination of insurance industry expertise and enterprise technology sales leadership to VIP Software. Prior to joining the company, he held leadership and consulting roles at EagleView and Homee, where he specialized in carrier relationships, virtual adjusting technology, underwriting solutions, and scaling SaaS-driven insurance operations.
At VIP Software, Jason leads enterprise sales and strategic carrier engagement initiatives, helping expand adoption of the company's technology platforms across insurers, IA firms, and service providers throughout the claims ecosystem.
Gabriel Vella
Director of Product | VIP Software Corp.
Gabriel Vella brings a unique combination of product strategy, systems integration, infrastructure engineering, and enterprise SaaS experience to VIP Software. Over the past decade, he has architected and delivered complex CRM, ERP, and workflow platforms while working across AWS, Azure, automation, and enterprise-scale SaaS environments.
At VIP Software, Gabriel leads product strategy and platform modernization efforts across the P&C insurance ecosystem, including the development of VIP Connect™ and critical integrations with Guidewire ClaimCenter, Xactimate, Snapsheet, and Cotality. He has played a key role in stabilizing enterprise carrier integrations, modernizing legacy infrastructure, and driving scalable product innovation across the organization.
Benny AI™
Chief Intelligence Hound (CIH) | RateIQ™
"Benny AI™ is the intelligence engine and conversational operating layer behind RateIQ™, designed to help carriers, IA firms, and independent adjusters make faster, smarter, and more profitable decisions across the claims lifecycle. Embedded directly into the platform experience, Benny powers the Ask Benny™ interface — transforming complex operational, pricing, and market data into actionable insights through natural conversation.
Benny continuously analyzes anonymized claims data, regional market trends, vendor performance, fee schedules, and operational workflows to surface benchmarking intelligence, strategic recommendations, and predictive insights in real time. Its role extends beyond automation, serving as the engagement and intelligence layer that drives adoption, retention, and workflow optimization across the RateIQ™ ecosystem.
Through integrations with RateIQ™ and VIP Connect™, Benny AI™ acts as the connective intelligence layer across the platform — helping insurance organizations modernize operations, improve decision-making, and unlock greater visibility into performance and profitability."