Nives joins Gridiron Capital

John Nives has joined Gridiron Capital LLC as an operating partner. Nives helped launched Watson at IBM.

PRESS RELEASE

Gridiron Capital Continues Digital, Data, and Artificial Intelligence Capability Build

New Canaan, CT, December 13, 2018 — Gridiron Capital, LLC (“Gridiron Capital”) continues to invest in its capabilities in digital marketing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to boost its portfolio companies’ capabilities.

Gridiron Capital is pleased to announce the addition of John Nives as Operating Partner. Mr. Nives brings additional expertise in Digital, Predictive Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformation. He will apply his Digital Transformation leadership and experience across our existing portfolio and as we evaluate new investment opportunities.

Prior to joining Gridiron Capital, Mr. Nives has relevant experience at IBM where he helped launch Watson. Concurrently, Mr. Nives is on the Rutgers University faculty where he teaches Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Executives. His prior relevant experience includes leadership positions at Nielsen, IRI, AT&T, and Kraft. Mr. Nives holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Buffalo and an MBA in Finance and Computer Science from Pace University.

Tom Burger, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Gridiron Capital said, “Gridiron Capital sees a competitive advantage in the application of advanced Digital and AI capabilities across the Gridiron platform. We are excited to continue to expand upon capabilities we started building several years ago. John is an excellent cultural fit with Gridiron and brings additional expertise and capacity for us to continue building businesses and winning together with our portfolio companies and our prospective partners.”

Kevin Jackson, Managing Partner added, “John’s knowledge and experience in Predictive Analytics and Enterprise AI is leading to differentiated growth opportunities for Gridiron Capital and for our partnership companies. We are excited to have John join our team.  His skills add depth and compliment the firm’s already strong team and existing digital capabilities.”