Speakers

Eric Starkloff is an advocate for the profound impact engineering has on society and the critical role technology plays in serving the public interest. As president, chief executive officer, and a member of the NI board of directors, he’s responsible for accelerating NI’s vision to drive long-term growth and innovation.

Eric began his career at NI as an application engineer and, for more than two decades, has been instrumental in defining and implementing the company’s strategic direction. His leadership is focused on delivering results to NI’s key stakeholders through a strategy that’s built on disruptive technology and informed by customer needs to get accessible technology to market faster.

A deep believer in the importance of diversity in engineering and STEM education, Eric first discovered his passion to Engineer Ambitiously in elementary school—building a wind tunnel to test model airplane designs and learning to code so he could write choose-your-own adventure stories on his first computer. He has since dedicated time to mentoring the future generation of engineers and has served on advisory boards for the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech and the Wireless Networking and Communication Group at The University of Texas at Austin. He’s also a founding member of Urban Roots, an Austin-based sustainable agriculture program that transforms the lives of young people.

Ritu Favre leads our semiconductor and electronics; aerospace, defense, and government; and transportation business units. She’s responsible for driving growth and defining the systems, software, and services capabilities required to meet the unique needs of customers in these markets. She’s also focused on tracking emerging innovations such as 5G, AI, and IoT to ensure her teams continue to stay ahead of developing technologies and support customer needs however possible.

With more than 30 years of experience in tech, including multiple semiconductor industries, Ritu brings a diverse outside-in perspective to NI. A seasoned high-tech industry leader, she’s served as chief executive officer at NEXT Biometrics and on the Cohu Board of Directors. She’s also held senior management positions with market heavyweights like Motorola, Freescale Semiconductor, and Synaptics. Ritu currently sits on the board of directors of Valmont Industries. When she’s not traveling as a self-proclaimed expert luggage packer, Ritu’s inspiring—and inspired by—the next generation of female leaders in the semiconductor industry as a member of the Global Semiconductor Association’s Women’s Leadership Council. She’s also an advisory board member to Microfacturing Institutes, a 501(c)3 charitable organization delivering high-tech education programs that increase diversity and broad participation in industry employment.

The customer is Jason’s passion. As chief revenue officer (CRO), Jason Green leads NI’s sales organization as well as the support, marketing, operations, and services teams. With over 25 years’ experience driving high performing sales groups, he understands that, as CRO, unifying and integrating teams that span the customer lifecycle heightens the customer experience and fuels revenue growth. As executive vice president of NI’s portfolio business unit, which serves a wide set of industries and provides NI with significant opportunities, he and his teams work across disciplines to solve for the business outcomes of this diverse customer base.

Jason joined NI in 2015 and most recently served as senior vice president of global sales, support, services, and operations. In this role, he led the transformation to strengthen NI’s customer relationships while scaling engagement across multiple channels.

Before coming to NI, Jason served as vice president of Americas sales and applications, global initiatives, and business development at Maxim Integrated. He was responsible for the company’s highest potential global customers, representing several different markets. He also led the effort to build on Maxim’s strategy with broad-based consumers, ultimately re-engineering its global distribution model. His ability to develop innovative strategies resulted in significant year-over-year growth.

Jason is also keenly aware of the cultural and motivational changes needed to move his teams forward, a quality that makes him a truly transformational leader. And his ability to inspire, influence, and accelerate are foundational pieces of his track record at NI and elsewhere.

Jason serves on the Red McCombs School of Business Advisory Council at The University of Texas at Austin and the board for the non-profit, STEAM-based learning organization, Thinkery. He also gives back to the Austin community by dedicating time to the Capital Area Food Bank and Austin Habitat for Humanity.

Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in economics from the University of Florida.

Karen Rapp is a growth-minded leader responsible for driving operational excellence and transformative business strategies to ensure success within NI’s global finance, information technology, and manufacturing groups.

As executive vice president and chief financial officer, she strives to provide clarity about NI’s long-term plan while assuring the organization’s mission and financial goals are tightly integrated into the company culture and business objectives. With a focus on business outcomes, she has a proven track record of creating a continuous stream of efficient financial processes and systems that reduce business risk and improve customer experiences. Karen’s diverse background in roles from accounting and supply chain to sales and marketing and her open and approachable leadership style help her guide her teams to Engineer Ambitiously.

When she isn’t creating valuable financial frameworks, supporting women in STEM, or sponsoring diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at NI, Karen is looking for ways to slow down and connect with life outside of work. She enjoys Austin’s outdoors by hiking, kayaking, riding dirt bikes, and camping, as well as trying hobbies that expand her capacity to approach challenges in fresh, collaborative ways.

As head of investor relations, Marissa serves as the primary interface to the investment community and is responsible for overseeing NI’s holistic investor relations strategy. In this role, she establishes credibility and consistent engagement with sell-side analysts, shareholders, and potential shareholders to ensure clarity of the company’s vision, long-term growth potential, and profitability. Marissa interfaces directly with the executive leadership to gain deep insight into strategy, technology offerings, NI’s customer base, and the headwinds or tailwinds impacting market opportunity. She also partners with the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and the board to ensure awareness of investor sentiment, with the ability to influence as appropriate. Marissa’s high business acumen allows her to convey the business strategy and financial results to her target audience.

Marissa has held several positions across the business since joining NI in 1999. With more than 20 years of global finance and communications experience, Marissa has unique skills across several disciplines and looks to incorporate clear, value-add strategies to business challenges. Her expertise includes corporate-level messaging, governance, financial modeling, drivers of valuation, M&A communication, competitive analysis, and leading high-impact cross-functional teams.

As a mentor with Ceresa, she shares her career experiences to empower future leaders. With a passion to bring STEM to the underserved, she previously served on the development committee for Thinkery, a children’s museum in Austin. She is also a current member of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) Senior Roundtable.

Marissa holds a bachelor’s degree in speech communications with a business minor from the University of Texas at Austin.