Leadership Team

Our Team

Over 75 Years of Knowledge and Experience of Insurance Industry

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  Arvind Kaushal

  Co-Founder & CEO

  Arvind began his career as a software consultant in Mumbai, India with Wipro in 1996 where he provided consulting services to many of Wipro's global clients including Bank of London, Singapore Airport Authority, ABB, and Canon. In 1999 Arvind moved to the U.S. and consulted with companies creating eCommerce platforms during the dot com era. In 2000 Arvind served Delta Air Lines for eight years in various technology management roles including architect for Delta.com. Arvind has also served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer for Insurance House Holdings, Inc. which owns a leading regional insurance intermediary and insurance carrier serving the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. Arvind is active in insurance industry and participates in various insurance trade association committees. Arvind received his BS in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Bangalore University and his MBA from Goizueta Business School at Emory University. Arvind led the founding and formation of Cogitate in May, 2012.

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  Jacqueline M. Schaendorf

  CPCU, Co-Founder & Director

  Jacque also serves as the President and CEO of Insurance House, which is a leading regional insurance intermediary and insurance carrier serving the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. Prior to joining Insurance House in 1997, Jacque worked in the financial services division of Alexander & Alexander, Inc., and joined Chubb & Son, Inc. in 1990, as a senior underwriter in the Southeast regional division of the Department of Financial Institutions. Jacque is an active insurance industry leader, currently participating as a member of the various committees of the Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA) and is the past President of WSIA. Jacque also serves as the Chairperson for the Georgia Insurers Insolvency Pool Board (GIIP), and she has participated on numerous insurance industry panels and insurance trade association committees. Jacque earned a Bachelor's degree from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, with a double major in business administration and psychology. She also has an MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and has a Certified Property & Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation from the Insurance Institute of America.

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  Jill K. Jinks

  CPCU & ASLI, Co-Founder & Director

  Jill also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Insurance House Holdings, Inc. Jill has been involved in multiple leadership roles in the insurance industry, including serving as the President of the GAPCIC, Past President of the Georgia Chapter of the Certified Property & Casualty Underwriters Association (CPCU Chapter of Georgia), and is a Past Director of the Board of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO). Jill has also served on the Executive Committee of the Stetson Board of Trustees and was the chair of Student Affairs and Athletics Committee. Jill served as a Director for the Private Bank of Buckhead and is a trustee for the Georgia State University Educational Foundation. Jill holds a Bachelor of Science from Stetson University in Finance, an MBA in Finance from New York University, an M.S. from Georgia State University, and a CPCU designation from the Insurance Institute of America.

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  Piyush Singh

  CPCU, Director

  A strategic, perceptive, and innovative leader Piyush has had a well-rounded and progressive career in Fortune 500 companies, Big 5 Consulting and large banks – Officer of American Financial Group; Director, Senior Vice-President and Chief Information Officer of Great American Insurance Group; Chief Information Officer of RLI; strategic consulting role at PwC; and internal consulting at ANZ Bank and Citicorp. Piyush is currently the Cofounder at FRISS.  Piyush was the Founder and CEO of Terrene Labs that was acquired by FRISS in April of 2021.  Terrene was the pioneer in the Insurance Industry in disrupting the $100B small commercial insurance marketplace. Piyush received the “Elite 8 CIO” award from Insurance and Technology in 2005 and 2013 (only CIO to receive it twice), was the “Top 10 CIO Breakaway Leader” at the Global CIO Executive Summit in 2011 and recently was named “26 Innovators to Watch” for 2018. Piyush is an extremely popular Adjunct Professor at University of Cincinnati where he has taught for over a decade.  He is member-emeritus of National Council of Advisors for Foster College of Business, Bradley University, past Chair of IS Advisory Group at University of Cincinnati, a past Trustee for Adler University, Chicago and a mentor at Columbia University. Piyush holds a BS in Physics and Masters of Computer Science from Delhi University and an MBA from Bradley University. He has a Certified Property & Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation from the Insurance Institute of America. Piyush has the travelling bug in him and is also a street photographer.  He has been to all seven continents and has also hiked to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

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  Nikhil Murarka

  Managing Director, Cogitate India

  Nikhil is a core part of Cogitate since its inception and is responsible for Cogitate India’s day to day and strategic operations, including human resources, corporate services and administration. Before joining Cogitate, Nikhil served as CEO of a leading Human Resources consulting firm catering to 300+ customers in India and Africa. Nikhil has over 30 years of successful experience related to strategy, operations and management consulting in various industries like Information Technology, IT Training, Manufacturing, Hospitality, Media, etc. Throughout his career, Nikhil has consulted with various global companies in the establishment and expansion of their operations in India. He specializes in driving business growth through strategic sales and marketing. Nikhil earned his Degree in Computer Technology from University of Mumbai and holds an MBA from S.P. Jain School of Global Management. 

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  Samir Salem

  Executive Vice President

  Samir started his career in 1990 as a software engineer in a Franco-Lebanese sister companies "Istisharat SARL" and "Infoel SA". Within few years, Samir became software architect for the Property And Casualty Insurance stack and in charge of products installations across Europe. He was stationed in Antwerp - Belgium. In 1996, he was selected to lead the "Americanization" of the Insurance Stack with focus on claims and started splitting his time between the United States and Europe. In late 2000, Samir founded Axiom, originally as a boutique and a small consulting company with focus on web development. However, the insurance expertise and his name in the insurance market kept knocking on the doors. In 2006 Axiom released its first Property and Casualty Claims System (DotClaim). Since then, DotClaim has been installed at five Insurance Companies and Axiom extended its offerings by releasing its Billing System (DotBill) currently installed at one company.<br>On May 1st 2022, the Axiom team was thrilled to become part of Cogitate. The immense synergy between the two organizations, their products, and their tools was very apparent and thrilling. Cogitate will be able to expand its offering to a full Insurance Stack from underwriting and distribution to billing and claims. Samir is an electrical engineer from the Lebanese University of Beirut, and after graduation he pursued a Masters in computer science at the same school.

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  Tushar Bholé

  Executive Vice President - Sales & Partnerships

  As an Enterprise Sales Leader, Tushar Bholé has been at the leading edge of Core Insurance Technology platforms in Insurance for 20+ years.  Tushar’s approach of determining solution fit from client’s business context has led to successfully transforming core business processes in Underwriting, Policy, Billing & Claims across several Fortune 500 Carriers and their Distribution network of MGAs, Program Administrators, Affinity groups & Wholesale brokers. His recent experience in InsurTech space coupled with the deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities of the insurance industry enables him to drive market expansion initiatives for Cogitate. Prior to joining Cogitate, Tushar led sales and business development in various roles at Five Sigma, Majesco, Infosys and Oracle. Tushar holds a Master of Business Administration Degree in Financial Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Mumbai, India.

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  Ashish Nair

  Vice President - Product & Delivery

  As a VP - Products and Delivery at Cogitate, Ashish primarily heads the product development initiatives, including the Low-code/no-code (LCNC) and Digital Edge platforms, focusing on digital transformation in the Insurance domain.<br>Since joining Cogitate in 2014 as a Program Manager, Ashish has played a key role in the overall growth of Cogitate with multiple project implementations across different lines of business. He has also been representing the organization at various international conferences and platforms showcasing Cogitate's products involving new-age technologies like AI and Machine Learning. Ashish has joined Cogitate with previous experiences working in E-Learning, Data Analytics, and Software Development. Ashish holds a degree in Engineering from the University of Mumbai and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS).

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  Lava Jois

  Vice President - Enterprise Architect

  Lava brings more than two decades of technology architecture expertise. He began his career as a software developer in India and later held various software development and technology consulting roles with several fortune 100 companies in the United States. Lava has architected various solutions covering many areas including B2B, B2C, and SaaS. Before joining Cogitate, Lava was with Cloud By McKinsey where he was helping clients transform their business through cloud migration strategies. Lava holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Mysore.