Leadership
URM GROUP was founded by technology innovators, dedicated to advancing the science behind risk management.
Nabil Abu el Ata
Founder and CEO
read more
Dr. Nabil Abu el Ata is the co-founder of URM Group, and has invested over 20 years in maturing the science of risk management and the practical application of technologies to predictively expose and prescriptively treat operational risks caused by dynamic complexity. With over 15 patents and decades of experience providing consultative services to some of the world’s largest and most complex organizations, he offers a breadth of analytical skills, risk management and business intelligence expertise, as well as IT and business process management knowledge.
In the late 1970s, Dr. Abu el Ata’s mathematical discoveries provided the predictive accuracy necessary to support innovative space exploration missions. By solving a dynamic complexity problem that was previously defined as unsolvable, Dr. Abu el Ata set the foundation for a new era of risk management, which today enables companies to more accurately predict future risk events and take strategic actions to improve business outcomes.
Annie Drucbert
Co-Founder & VP of Operations
read more
Annie Drucbert is a co-founder of URM Group and a recognized authority in the predictive and prescriptive analysis of economic, financial and enterprise systems. Mrs. Drucbert’s specialties include modeling, emulation and performance management of complex database and corporate systems. Career highlights include the successful emulation of the 2007 financial meltdown and post crisis analysis, which proved the amplitude of the disaster could not be solely blamed on the subprime market collapse as popularly promoted and the impact would not of been so severe had the interdependencies of financial structures not existed.
Mrs. Drucbert holds 3 US patents and has delivered strategic, tactical and operational services using X-Act OBC Platform for global clients including: First Data, McDonald’s, La Poste, Deutsche Bank, BNP, CLS, Reuters, Société Générale, Credit Suisse, GE-Capital and BT.
Valerie Driessen
VP of Marketing
read more
As vice president of Marketing, Valerie is responsible for URM GROUP’s brand, communications, product marketing and partner programs. Valerie has 20 years of experience focusing on category creation and go-to-market strategy within the B2B technology industry.
Before URM GROUP, Valerie has held various marketing leadership roles at early stage as well as established companies including Accretive Technologies, Agiliance, First Data and Certicom. She received a BA in Organizational Development from Pitzer College.
Stephen Doyle
Legal Counsel
read more
Stephen Doyle is an accomplished lawyer and businessman who has practiced law for 30 years. He has been a partner in leading law firms, general counsel and international counsel to public and private companies, and COO, chief strategy officer, and member of executive teams at public companies and companies he founded. Steve has substantial experience in technology as international counsel to Prime Computer and Computervision, General Counsel to Aspen Technology and Acronis, and founder and COO to Tego.
Steve is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of Denver, with both JD and MBA degrees. He is the author of various articles on law and is a contributing author to The Law of Transnational Business Transactions, (1980-2018 ed.) published by Thompson Reuters, and is an adjunct professor of international transactions at Boston University School of Law.
Stephen Wells
Managing Director, US Lab
read more
Stephen Wells manages the URM GROUP US Lab, where he oversees research relating to universal risk management and best practices, as well as the development of technologies that respond to the market opportunity and meet customer needs.
Before joining URM GROUP, Mr. Wells managed the research and development lab for Accretive Technologies, Inc. and First Data Resources (FDR). His research interests include performance and behavior characteristics of distributed systems. While at FDR he led the efforts in evaluating and modeling leading J2EE containers to determine best of breed for development of new product offerings. Prior to running the lab he was a lead architect in developing middleware solutions allowing clients to integrate their in-house systems with those of FDR. Mr. Wells has a BS from Fort Hays State University and is a patent holder of Anonymous Account processing.
Ben Sparrow
Patent Counsel
read more
Ben is Counsel at Hamilton, Brook, Smith & Reynolds, P.C., where he has represented URM Group for several years. He has guided URM group in obtaining a number of patents, including US Patents No. 10,726,362 (“Predictive Deconstruction Of Dynamic Complexity”) and 11,334,831 (“Predictive Risk Assessment In System Modeling”).
Ben’s practice focuses on patent prosecution, reexamination, and litigation. He is experienced in trademark prosecution and has conducted educational seminars patent-eligibility of software inventions, as well as patent reexamination in both ex parte and inter partes review.
Ben’s technological background spans the areas of electronics, telecommunications, robotics, mechanical arts, software, optics, and computer technologies. He has particular experience in network infrastructure, notably in the areas of wireless communications, delivery and management of network traffic, network security, and optical networking. Ben has also obtained patents for a range of simulation and modeling software, including computer-aided design software for mechanical design, as well as software to model and optimize large-scale dynamic systems.
Latest Thinking
Remembering Charlie T. Fote: A Pillar of URM GROUP and a Friend to AllNovember 20, 2023 - 3:35 pm
URM GROUP Announces Filing of Manufacturing Optimization Provisional Patent ApplicationNovember 7, 2023 - 5:15 pm- URM GROUP CRO Nabil Abu el Ata Accepted into Forbes Business CouncilOctober 24, 2023 - 9:16 pm