Executive Team
The iPipeline executive team represents some of the most experienced executives and authorities within the insurance and financial services industry.
Chief Executive Officer
Pat O'Donnell
Pat O’Donnell is Chief Executive Officer of iPipeline. He joined the organization in November 2023, bringing robust industry knowledge and expertise to the role, including extensive experience in leading and overseeing software company operations, sales, and engineering.
O’Donnell joined iPipeline from Ministry Brands, the leading provider of software and services for faith-based, non-profit, and other purpose-driven organizations, where he led the organization as Chief Executive Office. In this role, O’Donnell played a key role in the company’s success and oversaw a period of transformation and growth.
His experience includes serving as Senior Vice President, and later as President, of FLEETCOR, an Atlanta-based leading global business payments company.
O’Donnell also held roles of increasing responsibility during his nearly 24 years with ADP, a member of the Fortune 500 and global technology company providing human capital management solutions, including as Senior Vice President and Division Vice President of Major Accounts.
O’Donnell is a graduate of West Chester University, with a bachelor’s degree in economics. Additionally, he earned the Six Sigma designation and the Project Management Profession (PMP®) certification.
Chief Operating Officer
Daphne Thomas
As Chief Operating Officer, Daphne Thomas oversees the organization’s ongoing operations, procedures, and overall efficiency. She advises the leadership team regarding the company’s daily and ongoing operations to ensure the continuity of capabilities for the company’s success. Most recently, Thomas implemented a firm-wide initiative to ensure customers receive the maximum value from the company’s solutions.
In her prior role as Chief Transformation Officer, Daphne led the largest segment of the company, Professional Services Delivery, where she guided the team’s consultative services to digitally transform the company’s 8+ product lines. Thomas also developed a delivery methodology that helped iPipeline grow its customer base to more than 100 insurers and 2,500 distributors and financial institutions, while achieving best-in-class customer service.
Her career includes various roles at Siemens Medical, last serving as Vice President of Research and Development, where she led a team of 1,500+ global employees in a multi-site development project to automate the workflow of patient care information systems. Thomas’ experience also includes roles of increasing responsibility at Miria Systems (an IBM FileNet partner), where she was Vice President of Operations, and as Founder of ITOffshoreConnect.
Thomas is active in many different philanthropic and educational initiatives, including founder and leader of the Women’s Mentoring Group at iPipeline, board member of the Networking Women in Computer Technology, and member of the Executive Forum of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia.
A popular speaker at industry forums and conferences, Thomas has an unwavering passion for mentoring women of all levels, but especially those early in their careers. In 2020, she was selected from among an extensive number of nominations as one of Philadelphia Business Journal’s Women of Distinction.
A native of Ireland, Thomas received her degree in computer science from Rathmines College in Dublin.
Chief Financial Officer
Adam Boone
Adam Boone is Chief Financial Officer of iPipeline. A seasoned finance executive, he joined the organization in March 2024, bringing a unique perspective to the organization, having operated at public companies as well as early-stage startups. Boone has more than 17 years of expertise in financial strategy, operational efficiency, analytics, building high-performing teams, and driving results.
In his role as CFO, Boone will lead all areas of financial management for the company, helping to create and execute key strategies that move the business forward.
Boone joined iPipeline from Sight Machine, a data platform for the manufacturing industry, where he was the CFO. During his tenure, he led fundraising to secure strategic investments from industry leaders, solidifying the company’s position as a critical product partner.
Prior to that, Boone served in senior leadership roles in finance at LeafLink, where he was the first finance hire and was responsible for building the corporate finance and strategy functions, and at OLX Group/Naspers Limited, where he spent five years in Europe leading various finance teams as they scaled the firm to more than $1 billion in annual revenue.
Boone has a Global Executive MBA from the IE Business School and a BS in finance and strategic management from Babson College.
Chief Product Officer
Katie Kahl
Katie Kahl is Chief Product Officer of iPipeline. In this role, she will lead the strategic vision and roadmap for iPipeline’s product portfolio, foster product discovery and innovation, and ensure that we continue to deliver exceptional products to our customers while driving growth and profitability for the company.
Joining the organization in April 2024, Kahl brings strong global industry expertise in driving strategic growth and accelerating innovation, with a focus on implementing change in response to the voice of the customer, and experience in leading highly effective teams – all to improve time to market and increase customer value.
Kahl joined iPipeline from Applied Systems, the leading global provider of cloud-based insurance technology, where she was most recently was Senior Vice President of Product Manager. As SVP, she led the product strategy for the company’s flagship platform, which resulted in significant growth as the world’s most widely used agency management system.
During her more than 8 years with Applied Systems, Kahl held several leadership roles, as well as various product management roles of increasing responsibility. She began her career in product management at Ceridian Dayforce, a global human capital management leader, where she led product strategy for the company’s health and welfare product line.
Kahl earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota.
Chief Technology Officer
Chris Nichols
Chris Nichols is Chief Technology Officer at iPipeline, where he oversees the company’s technology strategy, research and development, process improvements, and security protocols.
Since joining iPipeline in 2009 as Director of Research and Development, Nichols has climbed the ranks through roles focusing on quality and DevOps. Prior to his current position, he served as the Executive Vice President of Research and Development.
With a solid track record in the life insurance software sector, Nichols held key roles in other tech firms as well, including Vice President of Technology at AgencyWorks, and Director of Technology at both EbixLife and LifeLink Corporation.
Nichols earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Kansas.
Managing Director, iPipeline UK
Ian Teague
Ian Teague is the UK Group Managing Director of iPipeline. In this role, he is responsible for delivering innovative solutions to dramatically improve the planning, selling, and servicing of financial products in the UK. iPipeline’s contribution to the UK protection market has led to industry recognition and numerous awards, which include Best Life Insurance Solutions-UK, Protection Review Winner, Cover Excellence Award, and Fintech’s Innovation Firm of the Year. iPipeline’s expansion into the pensions business, as well as into Europe, has led to industry recognition including being shortlisted as Pensions Technology Provider of the Year (Ireland).
Teague brings extensive experience working in the financial services industry at a variety of leadership level roles, with a focus on innovation, and growing revenues and profitability of technology companies within the insurance industry.
He joined iPipeline in 2012, following iPipeline’s acquisition of Assureweb Ltd., where he had been Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, managing the company’s commercial and operational aspects. Appointed Managing Director in 2013, he transformed iPipeline’s portal solution and market position and led the acquisition of TCP LifeSystems in 2017, which increased iPipeline’s reach into new market-leading new business, underwriting, and administration capability.
Prior to iPipeline, Teague also served as a director for various companies including Vertex Limited, where he played a lead role in the sale of the business to a consortium of Private Equity investors, and various Misys PLC companies.
Teague is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), one of the world’s leading professional membership organizations that trains, develops, and supports 150,000+ accountants worldwide. He also holds an ACA designation from the ICAEW.
Chief People Officer
Diane Rowell
As Chief People Officer at iPipeline, Diane Rowell plays a critical role in guiding the employee experience to strengthen the company’s transformative growth. With more than 20 years of experience as a global human resources leader, she leads iPipeline’s global talent and people strategy for attracting, developing, engaging, and retaining its team of diverse professionals.
Rowell joined the company in 2022 from Allscripts, a global electronic health records software company, where she was Vice President of Human Resources, Business Partners and Business Operations.
Earlier in her career, Rowell was Vice President of Human Resources at Misys Healthcare Systems, where she led all aspects of Human Resources for a business unit and led the corporate and executive recruiting function.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
General Counsel
George McDonnell
George McDonnell is iPipeline’s General Counsel. He leads the organization’s legal operations, including customer and vendor contracting, intellectual property, employment law, privacy and data security, and corporate compliance and regulatory matters. He also provides advice on strategic corporate planning and decisions.
McDonnell joined iPipeline in 2022 from PowerPlan, Inc., where he was Corporate Counsel. In that role, he provided a wide range of legal advice supporting the company’s business of providing corporate performance and asset management software and SaaS solutions, primarily to asset-intensive, heavily regulated utilities and other participants in the North American energy marketplace.
Before joining PowerPlan, McDonnell spent 10 years on active duty as a judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving as a prosecutor, company commander, and deputy general counsel, both forward deployed as the chief of operational and international law for all U.S. and international special operations forces in Afghanistan, as well as stateside for Marine Corps Logistics Command, which oversees and manages the provision of logistics support across the entire Marine Corps enterprise.
McDonnell earned his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.
Senior Vice President, Sales
Bill Hunter
Bill Hunter is Senior Vice President of Sales for iPipeline. In this role, Hunter is responsible for overseeing all sales in North America. His extensive experience and industry knowledge helped to create his stellar reputation for successfully helping U.S. companies – both small and large – become data-driven organizations, transforming from a paper to a digital environment, resulting in streamlined and accelerated business processes.
Joining iPipeline in 2000, Hunter has spent the majority of his career with the company. He has built countless strong relationships with hundreds of key members of the insurance community, demonstrating the value of iPipeline’s straight through processing technology as a game changer for 100+ insurance carriers; 2500+ broker dealers, Brokerage General Agencies (BGAs), Independent Marketing Organizations (IMOs), and financial institutions; and more than a half million agents and advisors.
Prior to joining iPipeline, Hunter served in the United States Air Force and was stationed at Hill AFB, UT with the 75th Operations Support Squadron.
Hunter received his bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Park University.
Founder, Chief Innovation Officer
Bill Atlee
Bill Atlee is Chief Innovation Officer and Founder of iPipeline. In this role, he develops new and innovative products, ensures innovations provide clear value to customers, and drives effective go-to-market strategies based on customer needs, industry pain points, and current trends.
In 1995, Atlee founded iPipeline, creating the first multi-carrier network where distributors and agents could digitally access insurance quotes, check underwriting status, compare product information, and complete electronic applications through cloud-based software.
His experience in personally selling more than 6,000 life insurance policies gives iPipeline an inside perspective on creating and launching the most innovative software products based on industry behavior. Atlee has the unique ability to simplify the industry’s most complex and complicated problems through his infamous stickman drawings used to depict solutions.
Today, the company that Atlee founded now offers innovative digital solutions to the life insurance, annuities, and wealth management industries. iPipeline now employes more than 850 people around the world, including in the US, Canada, and UK.
Atlee began his career as a life insurance agent with Fidelity Mutual Life where he gained valuable experience in implementing tax, legal, and estate planning techniques for high-net worth individuals. In 1992, he founded Direct Quote America, Inc., a nationally licensed brokerage firm that developed one of the industry’s first automated term insurance shopping services. His dream of automating the application process continued, with the launch of iPipeline’s signature e-App, iGO®, in 2005. And the rest as they say, is history.
A popular industry speaker, Atlee delves into his extensive industry knowledge and experience to share his thoughts on the critical role that digitization plays in the future of the financial services industry.
Atlee earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from Westminster College.
