Ready to get started?

OUR PEOPLE

The Minds Behind

Barry Hutt

Co-Founder & CEO

Barry Hutt is a visionary founder and technology executive with more than 25 years of experience helping engineering organizations unlock the power of their data. As Co-founder of Viviota Software, he is driven by a mission to dramatically reduce time-to-insight by transforming complex engineering, test, and operational data into AI-ready intelligence. Throughout his career, including senior leadership roles at National Instruments, Barry has championed innovation, bringing advanced test and measurement platforms to industries such as automotive, aerospace, energy, and advanced manufacturing.

Darren Schmidt

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Mr. Schmidt has over 25 years bringing to market innovative products for engineers, especially, extreme customer applications where live data meets big data analytics. He is recognized for making numerous advances in the field of real-time analytics where online control and offline simulation play critical roles. Darren is the architect, designer and developer of the largest real-time numerical simulator for high-speed acquisition, computation and control. Darren comes to Viviota from NI. He is a contributor to 18 patents, and holds dual BA degrees in Pure Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Iowa. Darren has completed graduate studies in Computer Science from the University of Iowa.

Justin Young, PH.D.

Chief Architect

Dr. Justin Young is Chief Architect of Viviota Time-to-Insight (TTI) software. Justin works closely with engineering customers to understand their engineering data challenges resulting in several Viviota TTI innovations. He provides hands-on architecture leadership, guidance and mentoring to the Viviota engineering team. Justin works jointly with the Chief Technology Officer to ensure the delivery of high-quality, robust, and scalable solutions. He is a Certified LabVIEW Architect and expert in NI SystemLink software. Justin is a frequent technical speaker at industry forums and events. Dr. Young is an experimental physicist and holds a PhD in Physics from The Ohio State University.

Patricia Friar

Senior Director of Marketing

Patricia Friar brings three decades of executive experience driving growth for high-impact technology companies. She has helped launch 11 early-stage ventures, led four corporate turnarounds, and contributed to six acquisitions and an IPO. Her expertise spans cybersecurity, software-defined infrastructure, edge computing, AI/ML analytics, and resilient data architectures, turning complex technologies — from next-generation servers and storage to high-speed data center management software — into market leadership and lasting enterprise value across defense, energy, and critical infrastructure sectors.

LEADERSHIP

Board of Directors & Advisors

Board of Directors

Kishen Kavikondala — Chairman

An operating executive and investor — currently CEO of SK International and a Venture Partner at Dallas Venture Capital. His background spans business development, global purchasing, and the automotive sector (VA Solutions, TRW Automotive, Tower Automotive). MBA in Strategy & Finance from Purdue University; B.Tech from Acharya Nagarjuna University.

Barry Hutt — Co-Founder & CEO

A visionary founder and technology executive with 30+ years of experience helping engineering organizations unlock the power of their data. He focuses on reducing time-to-insight by converting complex engineering and operational data into AI-ready intelligence, and previously held senior roles at National Instruments across the automotive, aerospace, energy, and manufacturing sectors.

Eric Newman — Director

A veteran technology executive with more than 25 years in software development and company building, with deep expertise in data management, predictive analytics, and edge computing. He previously served as President & CEO of Clockwork Solutions and as CEO of Viviota. He holds a BS from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Pete Zogas — Director

A former National Instruments executive who helped drive NI's growth from an early-stage engineering company to IPO and more than $1.5B in revenue — most recently as Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Service, leading NI's worldwide direct and partner organizations. He joined Viviota's board in 2020 and serves as SVP of Business Development. BS in Electrical Engineering, Drexel University.

Advisors

William (Bill) Bock — Advisor

A veteran technology executive, investor, and public-company board leader. He served as President of Silicon Laboratories and earlier as its SVP of Finance & Administration and CFO, and was a partner in the venture capital industry with CenterPoint Ventures. He chairs (or has chaired) the boards of SailPoint, SolarWinds, and N-able, and has served on the board of Silicon Laboratories. He began his career at Texas Instruments. B.S. in Computer Science, Iowa State University; M.S. in Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Jo (Joachim) Hilsmann — Advisor & Investor

CEO and owner of measX GmbH & Co. KG (Mönchengladbach & Aachen, Germany), a leading specialist in measurement systems, data acquisition, and test-data management for demanding engineering and automotive-testing applications. With roots in National Instruments (measX became independent in 2004), the company is one of the world's leading providers of systems for evaluating vehicle-safety tests — its X-Crash family is a Euro NCAP standard for accredited crash-analysis labs — and it develops the widely used DASYLab data-acquisition software. Jo brings deep domain expertise in engineering test data and the global automotive-testing market.

Alisa Nessler — Advisor & Investor

Alisa Nessler is a technology executive, entrepreneur, and startup advisor with leadership experience spanning product management, software engineering, sales, marketing, customer support, and executive management. She has held senior leadership roles at IBM and BMC Software, founded and led venture-backed technology startups, and guided companies through growth and acquisition. Throughout her career, she has built high-performing teams, launched enterprise software products, and helped organizations scale from early-stage innovation to global operations. Today, she advises emerging technology companies on product strategy, go-to-market execution, organizational growth, and scaling enterprise software businesses.