Management Bio

Seung Feacher
CEO and Co-founder

Seung is the CEO and the Co-founder of StratFin Advisors. He has more than 25 years of experience providing modeling and valuation advisory services to both public and private sector clients across multiple industries in the context of M&A/Divestures, strategic planning, financial reporting, tax planning and operational improvements.

Prior Roles:

  • West Region Leader for Decision Modeling & Analysis (DMA) practice at Ernst & Young
  • NY Metro Leader for Economic & Valuation Services (EVS) practice at KPMG
  • Manager at S&P Corporate Value Consulting

Relevant experience

  • Assisted a number of family offices with designing customized executive dashboards and improving data collection, processing, and analyzing processes.
  • Developed numerous driver-based financial models to: 1) reduce forecasting errors, 2) understand the financial statement impact of corporate decisions, and 3) improve the speed of the FP&A processes.
  • Assisted a global financial services firm with 700+ legal entities across 160 countries implement an     in-house valuation model to simplify and streamline its periodic valuation of its legal entities for reorg  and tax planning purposes.
  • Advised on various financial optimization issues including customer retention/rationalization, product and pricing mix strategies.
  • Led numerous valuation engagements involving valuing businesses, financial instruments, and tangible and intangible assets.

Education and certifications

  • MBA from Columbia Business School, Columbia University.
  • BS in Finance and Economics from Stern School of Business, New York University.
Shammy Sankaranarayanan
MD and Co-founder

Shammy, the co-founder of SFA, stands out as an accomplished corporate strategist with over 16 years of experience across various industry verticals in the US, the Middle East, and India. His expertise in business modeling, advanced analytics, and strategic advisory has supported corporations in enhancing their financial and operational performance, as well as navigating complex economic environments. Shammy is skilled in developing comprehensive corporate finance solutions, including strategic forecasts and capital allocation, aligning with clients' long-term operational goals and narratives.

Prior Roles:

  • Senior Manager – Strategy & Transactions at Ernst & Young

Relevant experience

  • Has assisted numerous family offices by addressing their complex modeling requirements, implementing advanced technology solutions for portfolio optimization, and developing sophisticated executive dashboards and comprehensive reporting tools.
  • Brings a wealth of experience in managing diagnostic programs across a diverse range of industry sectors, crafting customized solutions that enhance performance management and operational efficiency.
  • Has a proven track record of delivering comprehensive corporate finance solutions and leading complex deal modeling projects. This includes skillfully developing and executing detailed simulations to assess strategic initiatives, confirm the viability of scenarios, and devise contingency plans to mitigate market adversities.
  • Highly experienced in leading large-scale project management efforts and delivering strategic solutions across multiple platforms. He has played pivotal roles in shaping strategic vision, driving forward-thinking innovation, and spearheading organizational transformation.

Education and certifications

  • MBA from PSG College of Technology – Anna University (India)
  • Bachelor of Commerce from University of Calicut (India)
  • Fellow Member – Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK)
Hamid Benbrahim
Lead AI Strategist

Hamid Benbrahim is an experienced business leader with deep expertise in data and AI, advanced technology and operations, and business strategy. His experience spans over 25 years running large data and AI, and risk management organizations at Fidelity Investments, TD Ameritrade, and Verizon, as well as advising companies on AI strategy and implementation, digital transformation, and operations, in many sectors, including finance, healthcare, and manufacturing.

He launched various data and AI driven commercial products, including:

  • AI-driven portfolio management product for commercial real-estate investors
  • Financial indexes and alternative datasets for hedge funds on supply-chain dynamics
  • Active trader AI “co-pilot” to help them make better trades
  • The Investor Movement Index, an index that captures true trader sentiment
  • AI driven risk management system for systemic risk, counterparty risk, and liquidity risk

Dr. Benbrahim led large data organizations spearheading all aspects of data management including data analytics and business intelligence, data quality, data governance,  data engineering, and AI readiness.

Dr. Benbrahim led large data organizations spearheading all aspects of data management including data analytics and business intelligence, data quality, data governance,  data engineering, and AI readiness.

Relevant experience

Dr. Benbrahim’s senior leadership roles include:

  • Director of Advanced technology at Verizon, leading technology transformation
  • Head of complexity research at Fidelity, focusing on risk management in the aftermath of the 2007 financial crisis
  • Chief Data Scientist at TD Ameritrade, helping active traders make better trades leveraging AI
  • Head of Data and AI at Thomas, leading the data organization and developing and commercializing alt data products
  • Chief Data and Analytics officer at Verumex, empowering Commercial Real Estate investors with data and AI

Education and certifications

  • PhD in Engineering and Machine Learning - University of New Hampshire
  • M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, Columbia University
Milan Gupta
Lead Technology Strategist

Milan has over 25 years of experience holding senior technology leadership positions at top global companies such as AXA, Prudential plc, Barclays, British Telecom and Verizon.  He has architected and developed industry award winning enterprise systems in his developer/architect roles.  He has managed complex IT portfolios & technology teams in his CIO roles. He has authored and executed on technology transformations in his CTO/Chief Architect roles.

Relevant Experience

Milan's roots are in software engineering, earning him a reputation as a 'technical judo artist'. This along with his management experience enables him to tackle issues from the CEO to the developer, although, he remains passionate about hands-on full-stack software development and delivery.

Milan started at GTE Laboratories, winning the Leslie H. Warner award for his work on an integrated network management system. By 29, he became Verizon's youngest senior vice president, responsible for all middle & back-office systems. He led a service fulfilment system project that saved over $100M annually in operational costs, one of the largest tech transformations in GTE/Verizon’s history winning the “Best built OSS/BSS” award at Supercomm 2001.

As BT’s Chief Architect, Milan designed and implemented the company's platform strategy, transforming 4500 business unit-specific applications into 25 shared platforms. This change cut IT costs by over $1B in three years and boosted delivery agility and quality. Milan also led BT’s rapid-response team, addressing high-priority initiatives and crises.

At Barclays, he played the role of the Chief Architect and Managing Director of shared platforms & data. He implemented critical architectural transformations including unifying customer experience across business units via a global customer master file & messaging platform.

At AXA, as the Group Chief Architect, Milan chaired the global architecture council, accountable for technology standards and architecture governance across AXA businesses.
At Prudential plc, as part of a specialist team accountable for leading digital transformation, Milan authored and drove the execution of the cloud strategy for Prudential plc. He also created a data innovation lab, showcasing transformative applications including real-time risk monitoring for Prudential’s GBP 600B of customer assets under management.

Since 2019, Milan has undertaken specialised management consultancy projects with Brightspeed, Credit Suisse (UBS), Cerberus Capital, CrossLake Tech, and Akamai.

Education and certifications

  • Bachelors - Triple major in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Physics from Ohio Wesleyan University