One Mission
Uniting People and Places across the Planet
Core Values
FarePortal Board Room
Leadership
Sam S. Jain Founder & Executive Chairman
Sam S. Jain is the Founder & Executive Chairman of Fareportal. After beginning his career in travel, Jain quickly noticed the inefficiencies inherent in the offline processes of the wholesale travel industry. Recognizing the opportunity, he began work to automate and digitize wholesale travel ticket purchases. He launched his first brand Farebuzz which was directed towards B2B customers… read more
Werner Georg Kunz-Cho
Vice Chairman
Werner G. Kunz-Cho is the Vice Chairman of Fareportal, the travel technology company powering seven global travel brands including CheapOair.com and OneTravel.com. Kunz-Cho is responsible for the managing the vision and continued growth of Fareportal and its brands. He has over 35 years of experience in the travel industry including serving as the CEO of OneTravel.com prior to its acquisition by Fareportal. Prior to joining Fareportal, he was also Head of Operations at Travac Charters, General Manager North America at Swissair’s charter division Balair/CTA, Director North America at City Bird Airlines and Vice President of Business Development North America at Lufthansa Systems.
Sandeep Gill
Interim President & Chief Financial Officer
Sandeep Gill joins Fareportal as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He brings a wealth of experience to this role, having served in several senior financial and operational leadership roles over the past 15 years. He has significant financial leadership experience spanning the education, recruitment, services, advertising, and alternative investments sectors, and has consistently been a driver of sustainable growth.
Sandeep previously worked at leading firms such as Maxim Partners (Education Canada Group), MediaMath Inc., Abdiel Capital, and McKinsey & Company in financial leadership roles. He obtained an MBA in Finance from INSEAD in 2003 after attending The Wharton School as part of the Insead-Wharton Exchange program. Prior to that, he completed his Masters in English Literature and Bachelors in Nautical Sciences in India.
Sudev Balakrishnan
Chief Digital Officer
Sudev Balakrishnan is Chief Digital Officer at Fareportal. In this role, Sudev leads a global organization and is responsible for the oversight, strategic direction, and outcomes for all Fareportal brands across Product, Engineering, Technology and AI/Data Science.
Prior to Fareportal, Sudev served as SVP, Head of Product at Worldpay, one of the world’s largest payment acquirers processing trillions of monetary transactions. In this role, Sudev was responsible for leading product strategy, execution, product design and user research functions. Prior to joining Worldpay, Sudev served as Chief Product Officer at Stash, one of the fastest-growing consumer investing and banking platforms in the U.S., pioneering the future of financial services. Sudev has held roles heading product and a member of the executive team at Grubhub Inc. and served as vice president of product for XO Group’s commerce and registry business. Sudev also held key leadership roles at Bluefly, BT London, Redback Networks and Motorola.
Sudev holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Victoria in Canada and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – Kanpur.
Robert Esposito Sumner
Chief Operations Officer
Robert Esposito Sumner (Rob) is Fareportal’s Chief Operations Officer (COO). He oversees all global customer service operations including customer satisfaction and agency sales within Fareportal.
Rob has diverse leadership experience with more than thirty years of successful accomplishments in strategy, operations, technology, product development, data science, and program management. As an accomplished COO and CIO, he has significant experience in the growth of organizations ranging from 500 million to 2 billion in revenue by driving customer focused solutions, customer quality, and market-driven innovative products and services. He has also led the strategic and tactical growth of multi-national organizations with operations and technology infrastructure across India, the Philippines, Europe, and the United States.
Arnold Walter
CEO, Farebuzz
Walter is CEO of Fare Buzz with over 20 years of flights industry experience and deep knowledge of managing end to end flights, consolidator operations, pricing, business development, sales and marketing functions. His immense knowledge in the flights vertical serves as a valuable resource and will collaborate with our global operations teams.
Scott DeAngelo
Chief Commercial Officer
Scott brings a wealth of experience in strategic, data-driven marketing initiatives and loyalty programs. His career spans over 25 years, with his most recent experiences being Chief Marketing Officer at Allegiant Travel Company (2018-2024) and Head of Product, Pricing and Data Science at Worldpay (2011-2018). In addition, Scott also served as a member of the board of directors for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, as well as Head of Global Consulting at Acxiom Corporation. Scott began his career at McKinsey & Company.
Scott earned a master’s degree in marketing from Northwestern University (Go Cats!), and bachelor’s degrees in journalism and in economics from the University of Southern California (Fight On!).
Jeremy Wee
Head of People & Culture
Jeremy is passionate about building and transforming HR organizations and has worked with private and public companies across industries, including travel tech & consumer, from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to joining Fareportal, Jeremy was the Chief People Officer at NewtonX, a B2B Market Research Technology company, and was a former management consultant. He started his career in Technology consulting with Siemens Singapore, and KPMG Asia Pacific, but was attracted to the challenges of organizational & people topics, and post MBA continued his career in consulting at PwC and McKinsey & Company.
Jeremy holds an MBA from NYU Stern, and a Master of Biomedical Engineering and Bachelor of Computer Engineering from the University of New South Wales, Australia.
Yuvraj Datta
Chief Supply and Revenue Officer
Yuvraj Datta is Fareportal’s Chief Supply and Revenue Officer and leads our Supplier Relations team and Revenue Management function.
Yuvraj brings extensive expertise in supplier management, revenue strategy, and commercial alignment, with a career spanning over 25 years. Prior to joining Fareportal, he served as Chief Commercial Officer at Mondee Inc., and previously held executive leadership roles including GM, COO, and President at Skylink. Known for his sharp commercial lens and collaborative leadership style, Yuvraj will play a key role in accelerating Fareportal’s global growth by driving strategic supplier partnerships, performance analytics, and optimized pricing.
Yuvraj earned a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Mathematics & Physics from Delhi University.
Naveen Gunti
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Naveen Gunti is our Chief Information Officer (CIO), and leads our IT, Data, and Information Security teams.
With over 30 years of IT leadership experience, Naveen has led large-scale digital and technology initiatives across global retail, eCommerce, logistics, and supply chain environments. He most recently served as VP, Head of Logistics, Digital and Technology for International at AEO, and previously held the role of VP, Global E-commerce Tech and Ops at Fast Retailing Co., supporting brands including Uniqlo, Theory, and Helmut Lang. He also held Senior Director roles at Tumi and Brooks Brothers and served as CTO of an eCommerce platform for fashion retailers. Naveen is known for delivering scalable, AI-powered technology solutions and driving large-scale modernization initiatives with a focus on innovation, efficiency, and business impact.
Naveen holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) in India. He was honored with a gold medal for graduating at the top of his class while completing his master’s degree in computer science (AI specialization) from Dayalbagh University. In addition, he holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing.
Rick Pasquier
Acting General Counsel
Rick Pasquier is our Acting General Counsel.
Rick is a partner at the law firm, Practus LLP. Over many years as a general counsel and corporate lawyer, Rick has helped his clients exceed their goals navigating complex issues including business transactions, commercial contracts, litigation, compliance, regulatory investigations, human resources, and labor matters. Rick’s practice has included managing governmental affairs and human resources for clients and his pro-bono leadership in non-profit organizations speaks to his commitment to make the world a better place. He is an adjunct professor at Temple University and has taught at Penn’s Wharton School. He recently completed a PhD in Political Science (August 2022) writing his dissertation on the global politics of chemical safety. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School and the University of Delaware
Some of the best minds in business are helping Fareportal behind the scenes. You could think of them as our “control tower.”
And you can learn more about them here.
