Partners and team Senior operators. Not outside theorists.

Every Kuma partner has held the CEO, CRO or C-suite seat, under board pressure, through a fundraise, through a restructuring, before sitting in the advisory one. That is the entire difference.

Meet the advisor network
Founding partners

The partners who run every engagement.

Sven focuses on how leadership teams decide and Vincent on how they turn decisions into revenue. Between them they cover the human and the commercial side of the same friction.

Dr. Sven Mulfinger

Dr. Sven Mulfinger

Founding Partner · Offsites, Executive Coaching & Intercultural Leadership

Serial entrepreneur · Former CEO · PhD engineer · Former Vistage Chair

Serial entrepreneur and former corporate CEO with twenty years of building start-ups. Prepares and facilitates C-suite offsites and coaches founders and CEOs of scale-ups, especially when the executive team is split, cultures collide or growth has outrun the way the team decides. Author of The Non-Linear Operating System.

Selected experienceBertelsmannVistageP&GL'OréalNestléConstellr

LinkedIn ↗mulfinger.com ↗neurodisruptors.com ↗Email ↗

Vincent Azé

Vincent Azé

Founding Partner · Executive Coach & Strategic Advisor

Former CRO · Sales Director

Commercial operator and former scale-up executive specialising in dismantling revenue drag, pipeline bottlenecks and operational friction. He advises boards, CFOs and CROs on protecting runway, accelerating capital efficiency and compressing decision cycles across high-growth go-to-market teams.

Selected experienceFISLandmarkGlownetStrandsRootstock LabsOpenExO

LinkedIn ↗vincentaze.com ↗Email ↗

The bench

Senior Advisor Network.

Brought in engagement by engagement for the functional depth a mandate needs, from talent and culture to enterprise operations and go-to-market.

Adrian Perreau de Pinninck, PhD in AI & Large-Scale Systems Transformation at Kuma Partners

Adrian Perreau de Pinninck

PhD in AI & Large-Scale Systems Transformation

20+ years guiding agile architecture and organisational scaling across complex tech ecosystems. Aligns operational goals with healthy human execution.

Selected experienceESADEScrum AllianceCriteoFortune 500
Tiffany Missiha, Executive Board Advisory & Business Psychology at Kuma Partners

Tiffany Missiha

Executive Board Advisory & Business Psychology (CPCC)

ICF-accredited leadership consultant advising boards and C-suite teams through interpersonal friction, executive restructuring and complex talent transitions.

Selected experienceInternational Coaching Federation (ICF)CTI Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC)Korn Ferry
Bree Aesie, Executive Narrative & High-Stakes Communication at Kuma Partners

Bree Aesie

Executive Narrative & High-Stakes Communication

Advises leadership teams on strategic narrative, board-level communication and executive alignment during high-stakes growth phases. Host of Into the Story (2M+ downloads).

Selected experiencePepsiCoUnileverNovartisPNO Innovation
Ann Reily, Global Sales Leadership & Scaling Adaptability at Kuma Partners

Ann Reily

Global Sales Leadership & Scaling Adaptability (ExO)

25+ years leading international sales and enterprise revenue teams. Specialises in building team resilience and commercial focus during hyper-growth transitions.

Selected experienceYahoo!AstraZenecaOpenExOJLL
Andrea Ross, Executive Offsites & Systemic Leadership Alignment at Kuma Partners

Andrea Ross

Executive Offsites & Systemic Leadership Alignment

20+ years designing and moderating high-impact leadership offsites and alignment frameworks for global tech scale-ups, unlocking executive trust and focus.

Selected experienceMicrosoftLinkedInBooking.comKuehne+Nagel
Bryan Kramer, Executive Sparring & High-Trust Culture Architecture at Kuma Partners

Bryan Kramer

Executive Sparring & High-Trust Culture Architecture

Seasoned sounding board and culture architect helping leaders navigate strategic inflection points, eliminate political drag and build high-accountability teams.

Selected experienceHarvard UniversityIBMDellUnilever
Farid Chaouki, Digital Product Architecture & HealthTech Scaling at Kuma Partners

Farid Chaouki

Digital Product Architecture & HealthTech Scaling

Serial founder and innovation leader who pairs technology and design with empathy. Co-founder of Talkspace (US IPO) and Carl, he draws on 25 years across health-tech, fin-tech, fashion, music and AI to help scale-ups and global companies make ambitious ideas real, and human.

Selected experienceTalkspaceBkstgWithinCarl
Colleen Connors, Operational Excellence & High-Performance Teams at Kuma Partners

Colleen Connors

Operational Excellence & High-Performance Teams

Former CEO and COO who has advised multiple VC-backed start-ups and companies with over $100 million in revenue. Brings 15+ years coaching global leaders to scaling teams, operations and strategic alignment. Board member and founder of Coaching Leaders Global.

Selected experienceCoaching Leaders GlobalFormer CEO / COO
Márcio Marcos, Leadership & Culture Transformation Mentor at Kuma Partners

Márcio Marcos

Leadership & Culture Transformation Mentor

25+ years advising founders, executive teams and boards through complex organisational restructuring and critical growth inflection points. Focuses on leadership accountability and high-stakes strategic execution.

Selected experienceTikTokBSH (Bosch Siemens)BBVAMichelin
Daniel Pascual, Structural Re-engineering & Executive Velocity at Kuma Partners

Daniel Pascual

Structural Re-engineering & Executive Velocity

Former CEO and executive intervention partner specialising in dismantling structural drag and corporate bottlenecks under pressure. Combines applied neuro-leadership and agentic governance to restore decision speed in scaling teams.

Selected experienceCoca-ColaCaixaBankShiseidoMicrosoftSantander
Marc Cortés, Climate-Tech Innovation & Responsible AI Governance at Kuma Partners

Marc Cortés

Climate-Tech Innovation & Responsible AI Governance

Deep-tech entrepreneur and venture builder specialising in industrial decarbonisation and scalable AI ecosystems. Co-founder and CEO at 4BlueTech, partnering with port authorities and industrial consortia to deploy modular climate solutions, capital-efficient infrastructure and responsible governance frameworks.

Selected experienceEIT HealthPorscheBMWFC BarcelonaQatar Airways4BlueTech
Prof. Dr. Nicolas T. Deuschel, Culture due diligence, post-merger integration and governance at Kuma Partners

Prof. Dr. Nicolas T. Deuschel

Culture due diligence, post-merger integration and governance

Harvard Business Review author and professor of management. Works with strategy consulting firms across Europe and advises boards, CEOs and investors on the people side of deals: aligning the executive team after closing, setting up governance between owner and company and building the new owner's culture into the company's own routines and HR policies.

Selected experienceSwiss ReUniversity of OxfordHarvard Business Review
Isabelle Engeler, AI-driven market strategy and pricing architecture at Kuma Partners

Isabelle Engeler

AI-driven market strategy and pricing architecture

Associate Professor at HEC Lausanne and former IESE faculty. Advises scale-stage leadership on AI-native market intelligence, digital-twin go-to-market strategies and behavioural pricing frameworks.

Selected experienceHEC LausanneIESE Business SchoolIKEALonginesVictorinoxNYU SternSBB CFF
Gerald Heydenreich, Venture building in AI, blockchain and web3 at Kuma Partners

Gerald Heydenreich

Venture building in AI, blockchain and web3

Two decades of launching and scaling companies across AI, SaaS, blockchain, e-commerce and sustainability. Grew BuyVIP to more than 10 million members and $140M in turnover before its sale to Amazon, and built PORTUM into a B2B sourcing pioneer with over $1B in trading volume. Coaches people and organisations to grow beyond their limits.

Selected experienceBuyVIPPortumHTEC GroupExit to Amazon
The model

Built for scale-ups, powered by proven operators.

Kuma runs a codified diagnostic and governance engine. It lands high-stakes mandates, isolates structural friction and places vetted veteran operators under one delivery framework, so every specialist works from the same method and the same evidence.

Step 01

Independent systemic triage

A Founding Partner leads the 14-Day Leadership Friction Scan. We map decision latency, unaligned incentives and board-to-executive gridlock before designing any operational intervention.

Step 02

Specialised domain sprints

Once the friction is mapped, we bring in vetted domain partners from the Senior Advisor Network, such as go-to-market, climate-tech, executive mediation or product architecture, to lead a focused intervention track of 60 to 90 days.

Step 03

Single governance standard

Every partner delivers through the KOS methodology. Clients get one standard of governance and faster executive decisions, and partners spend their time on the problem rather than on business development.

Why people

AI can model your org chart. It cannot fix executive friction.

We build with, deploy and stress-test AI systems every day. We are technologists and operators who know software can simulate market scenarios, optimise workflow architecture and draft strategic roadmaps in seconds.

What code cannot do is sit across the table from two co-founders who have stopped speaking candidly, navigate the political fracture of a Series A or B inflection or align an executive team under acute board pressure.

We do not advise from academic distance or hide behind slide decks. Every Kuma partner has carried P&L accountability as a former CEO, CRO or C-suite executive. We embed directly inside the room to resolve the human friction and operational drag that technology alone will never fix.

Work directly with our senior partners.

Every engagement is led by a Founding Partner, not handed off to a junior team. Start with a confidential conversation about what is blocking execution.

Are you a seasoned former CEO, CRO or multi-exit founder?
We selectively expand our senior practitioner network with operators who have sat in the primary executive seat through fundraises, board turbulence and rapid scale. If you want to co-lead targeted 14-Day Scans or Alignment Sprints without the bureaucracy of traditional consulting, we welcome a discreet peer conversation. Start a confidential conversation with Vincent

Conscious leadership and our B Corp commitment
Speed and operational rigour mean nothing if they come at the expense of human integrity. We believe high-conviction leadership must be conscious leadership. As part of our commitment to building an enduring firm of reference, Kuma Partners is structured to meet rigorous B Corp Certification standards, holding ourselves accountable to ethical governance, transparent partner profit-sharing and sustainable operational health.

Confidential, operator to operator

Request a confidential diagnostic call

Tell us your stage and leadership inflection point so we can connect you with the right partner.

A partner replies within 24 business hours, under strict discretion.
Confidential partner intake

Let's talk about what's happening in the room.

Leadership challenges rarely announce themselves as strategy problems. Tell us what you are seeing. We review it personally and decide whether Kuma can genuinely help.

Give us the version you'd tell a trusted advisor.

Your information is treated confidentially. We review every inquiry personally and typically reply within 24 business hours.