We help companies with world-class professional and development services that maximize your use of some
of today’s leading technology solutions in the areas of Project Portfolio Management.

Praveen Panchakarla

President

Praveen has over 20 years of experience in management and his strength lies in his ability to strategize, plan effectively and build an interface with all levels of personnel using his strong communication and technical skills.

Prior to Prudent Consulting, he has managed multiple projects in Duke Energy and previously has served Acadian Environmental Inc. in Eunice, Louisiana.

As one of the founders and key stakeholders in Prudent Consulting, Praveen has been providing the leadership, decision making, and direction in these demanding times.

John “Gid” Lockhart

Executive Vice President

Gid has over 24 years in the IT and Engineering Professional Services industry, with experience across several industry verticals. His dedication to building strong customer partnerships and delivering successful customer experiences has driven him throughout his career, and he brings that same commitment to excellence and dedication to his work every day.

Specifically, Gid is responsible the design and execution of the business development strategy for Prudent’s product and services delivery platform, which includes developing and managing relationships with Strategic Alliance Partners specific to Prudent’s Cybersecurity and Data Sciences practices.

Gid is a proud graduate of the University of Texas in Arlington, and makes his home in the Dallas-Fort Worth area where he enjoys time with family, friends, and the occasional round of golf.

Mary Ann Knecht

Vice President, Operations

Mary Ann Knecht has over 30 years of experience in the IT Services industry holding various positions that allow her to understand the client market, delivery of resources needed and strategic partners to align with. She is involved with defining strategy, define and implement operational procedures and processes to meet growing business demands, contract compliance, establish strategic partnerships to allow for more comprehensive offerings for clients and customer satisfaction.

Mary Ann Knecht has experience in Quality Assurance, Proposal Preparation, Employee Retention, and building successful Diversity Vendor/HUB Programs. She provides direction and continuity to match client expectations.

Rakesh Neunaha

CIO - Head of Delivery

Rakesh Neunaha is the Practice Head for the Data and Analytics at Prudent. He has 18+ years’ experience in the IT Services & Data Analytics. Rakesh holds MBA from IIM Calcutta and a DBA from SIU Carbondale with a focus on Information Systems and Operations Research. During his DBA, he worked extensively with Advanced Statistical Research methods, OR Analytic techniques and Machine and Generational Learning algorithms.

Rakesh was the Head of Technology and Product Innovation at Antuit, Inc (a Goldman Sachs company) - a big data and advanced analytics startup. He helped shape Antuit’s product strategy in the analytics and data engineering space and build capability to deliver end-to-end solutions encompassing data engineering, advanced analytics and visualization.

Rakesh also led the Technology Services practices at WNS Global Services N.A. and CIBER. His experience also includes vast Process and Transformation Consulting, custom application development and BI platform initiatives for clients in the Energy Services, Telecommunications and Public Sectors. He was marked as a turnaround specialist with a capacity to deliver complex technology projects and the ability to engage with the C-suite and drive strong client relationships.

Ricky Friedrichs

Vice President, IT Staffing Services

Shelly Brown

Vice President, Data Services

Strategic executive and influential leader with a passion for transforming end-to-end performance and improving customer experience by designing customer-centric toolsets and customer support processes. Proven track record in leading cross-functional teams across international geographies to inspire, execute customer acquisition, retention, conversion, win back, and monetization initiatives in a fast-paced environment. Evangelistic communication style with exceptional interpersonal skills continually focused on relationship building and promoting teamwork across business lines to influence and impact positive change, comprehensive business approaches, and enhance profitability.