Iurii Makarenko

President of the Board / Executive Chairman of the Board

Iurii has been working in the telecoms world for more than 25 years. After earning a management and marketing degree from the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, he worked at Utel and MTS Ukraine from 1995 to 2006. Here he was in charge of expanding the fixed-line and mobile carriers’ worldwide business, including messaging. In this time, Iurii strengthened his comprehensive understanding of the industry, as well as the opportunities it presented. Knowing the challenges MNOs face, he saw the market’s need for a customer-focused messaging company to revolutionise the industry. Iurii sought to fill this gap, and in 2006 together with a team of fellow experts, founded Global Message Services — a new and innovative company to help shape the future of the messaging ecosystem and beyond. GMS has since grown from a local company operating in the CIS market to a global leader in the messaging services sector in its 15 years under Iurii’s guidance. In early 2020, he assumed the position of President and Executive Chairman of the Board and is now focused on GMS’ long-term strategic development.

Illia Solodovskyi

Member of the Board

Illia is one of the founding members of GMS and plays a pivotal role in our continued success. In 1992 Illia graduated with a degree in Radio Engineering from Odessa Polytechnic University and has been working in the telecoms industry ever since. Over the years, he held many positions from Chief Engineer to Managing Director of several telecommunications companies and founded several businesses including Priocom – a Ukrainian systems integration company for telecom operators and large enterprises, and Atracom – the biggest developer and fibre optic network provider in Ukraine with more than 23 000 kilometres of FOCL. Eventually, he brought that wealth of knowledge and experience to help co-found GMS in 2006. Illia’s business interests are not limited to just telecommunications. In 2014, he co-founded a professional cloud-based platform called UNIP, that provides cities and drivers with a comprehensive parking and mobility management solution.

Eugene Zimin

Member of the Board

One of the founders of GMS and the member of the board responsible for innovation at GMS, Eugene is a driving force for our business. He is a seasoned professional in the telecommunications and IT space with more than 30 years’ experience in tech, investment, and entrepreneurship. Eugene has invested in and managed many companies in the CIS including telecoms businesses Atracom and Priocom. He also has a keen interest in financial services and fintech, investing in and managing SMPU, UkrPay and Prime Numbers LLC, which as a partner for VISA and other major financial institutions has a presence in the US as well.

Outside of business and investment Eugene is also a highly qualified engineer, holding the Cisco CCIE #12086 networking certification amongst others. In his spare time Eugene likes to get his skates on and play ice hockey, but also enjoys programming and mathematics.

Robert Rose

Member of the Board

A member of our board, Robert has more than 25 years of experience in the digital information business and, for the last 20 years, has been closely involved in the expansion of mobile messaging. Between 2007 and 2017, he was Senior Director of SAP Mobile Services, at the time the world’s largest messaging hub. Within SAP, Robert’s primary area of responsibility was the development of global messaging revenues at Mobile Network Operators. In this role, he established productive relationships with mobile operators worldwide and secured consistent revenue growth throughout his tenure.

Between 2017 and 2023, Robert served as GMS’s Chief Strategy Officer, helping the company achieve its goals of geographical expansion and service evolution at a time of significant change in the mobile messaging ecosystem. Robert enjoys travel – fortunately, given his roles over the years – but is also a keen reader, particularly the works of Anthony Powell and John le Carré.

Charles Upchurch

Chief Executive Officer

Charles has more than 25 years of experience as a CEO. He has led organisations from a 5-person tech startup to a 4,000-person global business unit. Charles started his professional career in the offshore oil & gas exploration industry, where he obtained his US Coast Guard Master’s license. Later, Charles moved to Switzerland, where he began a 16-year career with SGS, the world’s largest inspection, testing, and certification company. Charles led technology startups in Switzerland for 15 years, primarily in IoT. Charles started working with GMS in 2017, then joined GMS as Deputy Managing Director in June 2019. In February 2020 he took on the CEO role, bringing his wealth of experience and vision to help build upon the GMS success story.

In his free time Charles has a passion for travel and can often be found on the golf course.

Olha Velhus

Senior Advisor

Olha has 17 years of experience as a Marketing and Communications leader, previously working as VP of Communications and HR for a leading Oil & Gas company and Communications Director for an investment bank. She also spent 6 years in the PR world, leading international agency teams to great success across the tech, IT, retail and fashion sectors. Olha has a long history of working on corporate social responsibility, something she sees as essential to every business.

Olha joined GMS to help the company successfully navigate its rapid international growth phase. Her deep understanding of marketing, branding and communications combined with her insight into what makes a successful company even greater makes her a crucial part of GMS. She has a Master’s Degree in Marketing and holds a Diploma in Public Relations, both of which help her bring clarity of thought and coherence of vision to everything we do. Olha lives in Switzerland with her beloved dog Oscar, who loves to join meetings with her when she works from home.

Raj Dass

Chief Revenue Officer, Enterprise Business

Raj Dass is an accomplished sales leadership executive with over 25 years of experience in delivering significant sales growth in a variety of industry verticals, including finance, production and manufacturing, retail, telecommunications, hospitality, and IT.

Raj has held several global leadership roles in international sales teams, covering markets in the US, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. He has worked for organisations such as BT, Verizon, Rackspace, TelecityGroup (now Equinix) and Voxbone (now Bandwidth). With a primary focus on the enterprise space, Raj has deep experience delivering telecommunications solutions involving voice and data, managed services, digital transformation, data centre solutions, cloud migration, and outsourcing.

An energetic and enigmatic leader, Raj is highly valued for his skills in building high-performance sales teams through strategic guidance, hands-on coaching, and mentoring. Raj is a proud Londoner, loves travelling, and is a big sports fan who keenly follows football and F1.

Amer Siraj

Chief Revenue Officer, Carrier and Wholesale Business

Amer Siraj, has a knack for business, with his 20+ years of experience as a commercial leader in the communications industry. Since 2017 he has led several high impact initiatives to the delight of our customers, be it the telcos, telco-groups or large enterprises. Besides his go-to-market positions, he has acted as an advisor with startups and GSMA. His projects have been widely recognised at global forums. He is an avid golfer and does social work in his spare time. Amer holds an MBA in Marketing and trained at different leadership institutions in North America, the UK and Europe.

Sarah Keller

Chief Global Enterprise Officer

Sarah is a telco expert with over 25 years of experience under her belt.  She joined GMS in 2015 to spearhead its International Business Development giving a powerful boost to our global expansion. She later took on the position of Strategic Account Director enabling solutions and growth development for our key partners across key markets. In 2020, Sarah was recognised among the top 100 most influential people in the telecom industry by ROCCO Research.

Having a BA Hons. degree in Archaeology, Sarah still takes an active interest in this field. She also enjoys fencing and badminton. Sarah lives in Zurich with her husband, two children and a hamster.

Syed Ali

Chief Operations Officer

Syed brings more than 15 years of high quality and varied experience as a key management stake holder in the telecom and ICT industries. Syed’s strategic leadership is driving the company to achieve consistent growth year after year at an international level. He has extensive expertise in global commercial management, wholesale and retail international roaming and in all types of messaging monetisation (including A2P, P2P, P2A) with leading telecom operators. All of this makes him a key member of the GMS management team.

Syed’s passion in life (other than work) is sports. He is an avid Golfer and has played at the level of scratch handicap for many years. He was twice National Golf Champion of Pakistan and represented Pakistan in several international Golf tournaments including 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok Thailand.

Ayesha Rashid

Chief Strategy Officer

Ayesha is an accomplished international business strategist who aligns brands and technology to create valuable customer engagement. This has enabled her to drive significant commercial growth across diverse industries.

Ayesha has led multi-stakeholder telecoms transformation programmes and delivered award-winning work for luminary brands such as Ooredoo, Virgin Mobile, and Miral Asset Management. As a former business consulting Managing Director, Ayesha led strategic business growth across telco, tech, retail, and financial services by executing practical go-to-market plans, integrating new services, and leading client relationships.

At GMS, Ayesha shapes our strategic direction, refining corporate goals, developing strategic alliances, and nurturing partnerships for continued growth and success.

Based in Dubai since 2005, Ayesha has also lived and worked in the UAE, KSA, Oman, Qatar, Indonesia and Singapore. In her spare time, Ayesha supports various economic empowerment and entrepreneurship platforms.

Alexander Panov

Chief Financial Officer

With a Master’s Degree in Finance from Kyiv National Economics University, Alexander has led financial matters at GMS since its inception. His keen business acumen has steered GMS from a startup to a global player. Alexander is responsible for financial and managerial planning, budgeting, financial analysis, cash flow control, communications with banks and state authorities, and business planning and evaluation of new products.

Kateryna Nakonechna

Chief Commercial Officer

Kateryna has over 17 years of experience in telco and is an expert in voice, SMS, value added services projects, network protection, and monetisation. She joined GMS in 2017 as a Regional Director for CIS countries and rose to the position of Senior Regional Director, being pivotal for building new partnerships in Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Israel, before being promoted to CCO. 

Kateryna holds a specialist degree in Psychology and Philology from the National Aviation University (Kyiv, Ukraine), a master’s degree in law from the Academy of Advocacy of Ukraine, and an MBA from the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School. 

Kateryna is a Women in Tech (WTech) community member and a WTech Warsaw curator. She also helped establish the UHelp logistics centre in Ukraine to deliver humanitarian and medical assistance since February 2022, and now manages the warriors’ rehabilitation programme in Ukraine. Kateryna is an avid marathon runner and co-founder of the My Sport Assistant fitness app. 

Nikos Babalis

Chief Technology & Information Officer

Nikos is an accomplished international technology and operations executive with 25 years of senior management experience in IT, telecoms, managed services, JVs, transformation, HR, risk management, and compliance.

Prior to GMS, Nikos held top positions at organisations such as Vodafone, Wind Hellas, MBNL and VICTUS Networks, where he delivered significant outcomes in digital and technology transformation, with emphasis on commercial and customer value.

Nikos is passionate about empowering teams to deploy their talent and skills.

Nikos enjoys sports and music. He studied Electrical Engineering and holds a master’s degree from Imperial College and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University.

Vitaliy Gardyuto

Chief Technical Officer

Vitaliy is vastly experienced in his chosen line of work, both by education and by profession. He not only has years of experience but also many awards, amongst them “Honorary Communications Worker Ukraine” from the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Ukraine.

Before joining GMS, he helmed the technical side of things at several big names in the CIS telecom world, successfully overseeing projects essential to the growth of those companies. He was even responsible for building an MVNO in the Czech Republic. In Vitaliy, GMS has a CTO who lives and breathes his work and who has, together with the CISO, helped GMS to obtain vitally important ISO certifications. Vitaliy has a lifelong love of telecommunications, technology, and innovation.

Lisa Goodenough

Chief Legal and Compliance Officer

Lisa is an accomplished legal executive with 18+ years of expertise, more than 11 of which in telecom and technology law, collaborating with leading operators and technology providers such as Vodafone and IHS Towers. She has worked across diverse regions such as the UK, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, and Germany and excels in compliance, risk, and governance management. 

At GMS, Lisa leads the Legal & Compliance team and manages legal risk, advising senior management, developing policies, conducting legal training, and supporting team members’ growth. Lisa also acts as the Company Secretary of the Board of Directors. 

A transformative lawyer and a seasoned leader, Lisa simplifies legal services for optimised processes, drives business growth while managing risks, and is brilliant at crisis management and communication. Lisa is also a trusted advisor to senior leadership and excels in people management. 

Olena Dovhanets

Chief Human Resources and Administration Officer

Olena holds an MSc in Psychology from Kyiv National University and is a certified coach of Ericsson College International. With 20+ years of experience holding key positions in various areas of Human Resources, she is an expert in her field and well-suited to manage and add to GMS ever-growing staff. With a pragmatic approach to business and deft skill at balancing the company’s interests with employee expectations, she is invaluable to GMS. She believes in decision-making based on common sense and economic feasibility. Olena is a highly regarded professional in her area of expertise and embodies the GMS values of commitment, integrity and progress.

Hendry Soong

Chief Marketing Officer

Hendry is a transformational digital leader with over 15 years of experience in various marketing and communication roles, spanning customer care, broadcast advertising, media relations, digital marketing, marketing technology, data analytics, automation and CRM. He has consistently impacted international companies, helping them scale global heights and take the next level. Hendry holds an MBA from IE Business School and Singapore Management University and a Diploma in Mass Communication.