PTC Executive Leadership

James E. Heppelmann

President and Chief Executive Officer

James (Jim) Heppelmann is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of PTC, responsible for driving the company’s global business strategy and operations. During Mr. Heppelmann’s leadership tenure, PTC has assembled the industry’s leading industrial innovation platform and field-proven solutions and services that enable companies to design, manufacture, operate, and service things for a smart, connected world. He also serves on PTC’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Heppelmann has emerged as a driver and thought leader in industrial innovation. Together with Harvard Professor Michael E. Porter, he has co-authored three highly influential articles regarding the transformational impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) on business, including the November 2014 Harvard Business Review cover story “How Smart, Connected Products are Transforming Competition,” and the companion “How Smart, Connected Products are Transforming Companies” published in the October 2015 Harvard Business Review. Their third Harvard Business Review collaboration, published in November 2017, “A Manager's Guide to Augmented Reality,” is a collection of articles that define why every organization needs an Augmented Realty (AR) strategy.

Mr. Heppelmann was named one of “7 IoT Leaders to Watch in 2017” by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and has previously been recognized as “IOT CEO of the Year” by PostScapes, “Technology CEO of the Year” by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, and received the “CAD Society Leadership Award” for his work with the Internet of Things. A dynamic speaker, Mr. Heppelmann has been featured as a keynote presenter at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) events on topics such as “How Smart, Connected Products Are Redefining Manufacturing” and was a featured speaker on “the role of digitization in America's advanced industries” at the Brookings Institution. He has been published and quoted in numerous global business and trade media, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Mr. Heppelmann is a member of the board of directors at SENSATA, a world leader in automotive and industrial sensors and controls, and was recently elected to the MassTLC (Massachusetts Technology Leadership council) Board of Trustees. He also serves as a member of the Dean’s advisory board at the University of Minnesota College of Science & Engineering, is an executive advisory board member of the national FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and has been recognized as one of the “Top 100 CEO Leaders in STEM” by the STEMconnector organization.

Experience

Prior to his appointment as CEO in 2010, Mr. Heppelmann served as PTC’s president and chief operating officer, responsible for managing the operating business units of the company including R&D, marketing, sales, and services. From 2001 to 2009, he served as PTC’s chief technology officer, driving the company’s product vision and strategy, product development, and product marketing and management.

Mr. Heppelmann joined PTC in 1998 when the company acquired Windchill Technology, a Minnesota-based company that he co-founded and served as its chief technology officer. Before co-founding Windchill Technology, Mr. Heppelmann served as chief technology officer at Metaphase Technology.

Education

Mr. Heppelmann attended University of Minnesota, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with an emphasis on computer-aided design.

Kristian Talvitie

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Kristian Talvitie is executive vice president (EVP) and chief financial officer (CFO) at PTC. In this role, Mr. Talvitie is responsible for PTC’s worldwide accounting, financial planning and analysis, tax and treasury, investor relations, and information technology functions.

Experience

Mr. Talvitie has a broad business background, including having previously worked at PTC from 2008 to 2016. From 2002 to 2008, Talvitie worked at electronics contract manufacturer Plexus in roles as market sector vice president, leading sales and business development, and vice president of corporate marketing. He joined PTC in 2008 and served in various executive finance roles under PTC CFOs Jeff Glidden and Andy Miller. He left PTC in 2016 to become CFO at SaaS and subscription company Sovos, and in 2018 joined software company Syncsort as CFO.

A true change agent, Kristian has lead cross-functional initiatives at each of his companies, implementing new policies and optimizing business processes to grow market presence and increase corporate revenue.

Education

Kristian earned a Master of Science in Management from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Allegheny College.

Barry F. Cohen, Ph.D.

Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer

Barry F. Cohen, Ph.D. is the chief strategy officer (CSO) at PTC. In this position, Dr. Cohen drives strategy development and alignment across the company. He is responsible for PTC’s corporate strategy, corporate development and PTC’s global academic programs.

Experience

Dr. Cohen joined PTC in January 1998 when PTC acquired Computervision. Prior to the acquisition, he served with Computervision for four years as senior vice president for human development and organizational productivity. Before joining Computervision, Dr. Cohen was the president of Possibilities Inc., an executive consulting firm specializing in organizational change and executive coaching, where he served for thirteen years.

Dr. Cohen has authored or co-authored several books on leadership and organizational change, including The Wellness Sourcebook, Ethical Leadership, Leadership Myths and Realities, and The Possibilities Economy: New Capital Development. He has also published many professional articles and a series of training manuals.

Education

Dr. Cohen earned his doctorate in logic and philosophy of science from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Kathleen Mitford

Executive Vice President, Products

Kathleen Mitford is executive vice president, products at PTC. In this role, Ms. Mitford is responsible for portfolio management, product strategy, and research and development. She leads the Product and R&D organizations and is committed to further enhancing PTC’s leadership role in the IoT and AR markets, complemented by its continued strength in core CAD and PLM offerings.

Experience

During Ms. Mitford’s career at PTC, she has held multiple strategic roles leading the business segments, market research, competitive strategy, and vertical teams. She joined PTC in 2006 to drive the retail strategy and developed technologies and systems adopted by major retail chains. As a result, PTC became the industry leader in retail PLM and maintains that leadership market share position today. She later ran PTC’s Corporate Strategy team and helped position PTC for success in the Internet of Things. Ms. Mitford has helped transition PTC to enter completely new industries from the company’s traditional engineering and manufacturing heritage.

As PTC heads to the Internet of Things and Augmented Reality, Ms. Mitford’s ability to identify opportunities and threats along with strengths and weakness positions PTC’s Business Segments at a distinct advantage.

Education

Ms. Mitford attended the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, where she earned a bachelor of science.

Matt Cohen

Executive Vice President, Field Operations

Matt Cohen is the executive vice president of field operations at PTC. In this role, Matt is responsible for driving business value and creating a differentiated experience for our customers. He leads all PTC field functions including sales, marketing, customer success, technical support, cloud services, and professional services.

Experience

Since joining PTC in 2001, Matt has served in a series of leadership roles across the sales and services organizations, most recently leading the customer success organization. In this role he rearchitected PTC’s approach to delivering rapid time to value and a better customer experience. Within PTC's global services organization, Mr. Cohen has helped set sales, product and training strategy. He has also led the rapid development and roll out of PTC’s cloud strategy.

Education

Mr. Cohen attended Harvard University where he earned a bachelor of arts in Psychology.

Steve Dertien

Chief Technology Officer and Managing Director of the Office of the CTO

Steve Dertien is the chief technology officer and managing director of the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at PTC. In this role, Steve champions corporate technology strategy across PTC’s products including augmented and virtual reality, the industrial internet of things, software architecture, computer-aided design, and product lifecycle management. Steve also leads the innovation research lab and advanced technology development groups, where he evangelizes state-of-the-art advancements with PTC technology and the business advantages it can provide to PTC’s customers and global partner network.

Experience

In 2018, Steve was named the managing director of the Office of the CTO. Over the course of his career at PTC, Steve has been charged with guiding companies through their implementation of PTC technologies and incorporating newly acquired technologies into the wider PTC portfolio. Prior to joining PTC, Steve served as a manufacturing engineer and business systems analyst at Medtronic.

Steve has spoken at conferences and events around the world. Most recently, he was featured on the cover of Insights Success as one of “The 30 Most Influential Business Leaders in Tech 2019.”

Education

Steve joined PTC in 2000 following his graduation from Ferris State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Manufacturing Engineering Technology.

Hillary Ashton

Executive Vice President and General Manager, Augmented Reality

Hillary Ashton is executive vice president and general manager of PTC’s Augmented Reality (AR) business unit. In this role, she is responsible for all operational aspects of the Vuforia business and its product lines, including executive leadership and vision, strategy, sales, and marketing.

Experience

Before joining PTC in 2018, Ms. Ashton served as SVP of Analytics SaaS solutions at Manthan. In this role, she was responsible for sales, channel strategy, presales, product marketing, and solution engineering. Prior to that role, Ms. Ashton served as Director, Customer Intelligence Sales at SAS, where she led the go-to-market strategy and sales support for US, Canada and Latin America for SAS’s 16 Customer Intelligence (CI) solutions. In each of these roles, she has contributed to expanding market share and increasing revenue.

Ms. Ashton has been quoted in the press extensively and has spoken at various conference and events worldwide. Recently, she was named to the National Diversity Council’s (NDC) annual list of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology.

Education

Ms. Ashton graduated from Franklin & Marshall College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Government.

Craig Melrose

Executive Vice President, Digital Transformation Solutions

Craig Melrose is the Executive Vice President of Digital Transformation Solutions at PTC. In this role, Craig works to build customer-facing, operationally transformative solutions that incorporate PTC’s industry-leading CAD, PLM, IoT, and AR technologies. His responsibilities include interacting with and guiding customers to develop, scale, and roll out tailored industry 4.0 programs based on their unique operational excellence goals.

Experience

Prior to joining PTC, Craig served as a Partner at McKinsey & Company for over 20 years, leading numerous operations and digital transformation initiatives, working directly with customers to understand their challenges, and identifying both tactical and strategic solutions globally and across dozens of industries. Throughout his career, he has helped companies dramatically enhance their factory automation strategies, including Toyota Motor Manufacturing, where for five years prior to joining McKinsey, he led the improvement of the Toyota Production System and Toyota’s operating performance through the introduction of new products across North America.

Education

Craig earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky.

Aaron C. von Staats

Executive Vice President, General Counsel

Aaron von Staats is executive vice president, general counsel and secretary for PTC. In this position, Mr. von Staats is responsible for worldwide legal and compliance matters, including corporate governance, securities, compliance, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, technology licensing, litigation, employment, real estate and corporate subsidiary management.

Experience

Mr. von Staats was appointed PTC’s General Counsel in 2003 after joining the company in 1997. Prior to joining PTC Mr. von Staats practiced as an associate with the Boston law firm Palmer & Dodge LLP. He began his legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Paul J. Liacos, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Mr. von Staats is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the American Bar Association, and the Boston Bar Association. He also serves as a board member of the not-for-profit organization City Year Boston and as a board member of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston.

Education

Mr. von Staats attended Boston College Law School, where he earned his juris doctor.

He earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Eric Snow

Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing

Eric Snow is senior vice president of Corporate Marketing at PTC. In this role, Eric is responsible for shaping and promoting the company’s brand position and reputation. His responsibilities include oversight of the company’s brand identity and content strategy, thought leadership and corporate communications, and experiential marketing via the company’s marquee LiveWorx event and its Corporate Experience Center.

Experience

Prior to joining PTC, Eric served in senior marketing and communications roles for several enterprise technology companies, including CA Technologies. In the course of his career, he has delivered strategic communications services to multi-national corporations, early-stage startups, venture capital firms, non-profit organizations, and the U.S. federal government. He served as General Manager of the Boston office of communications firm Blanc & Otus, and served in a variety of leadership positions at the global communications firm Fleishman-Hillard.

Education

Eric earned an MBA from Babson College and a BA from James Madison University. He has published articles and delivered presentations on topics ranging from the Internet of Things, national telecommunications policy, and health care reform.