David F. Giannetto

From the 10th Mountain Division to the corner office

David Giannetto's career has followed one thread: how organizations actually create value. He began as a U.S. Army officer with the 10th Mountain Division, ran the Manhattan operation of Airborne Express, then built the enterprise performance management practice at CohnReznick — and later his own firm, The Telos Group — serving hundreds of SMB and enterprise clients.

As an operator he transformed Astea International as COO, then led WorkWave as CEO — growing revenue from $52 million to nearly $500 million in five years, improving company value from roughly $300 million to over $2 billion, and launching field service's first payment facilitator, which grew into a $5+ billion PayFac. Most recently he led Netchex, a human capital management and payroll SaaS provider, as CEO. Today he serves as a non-executive director and operating advisor to private equity-backed software companies. That fintech frontier — where software and money meet — is the subject of his fourth book, The Idle Billions.

• 2026–Non-executive director & operating advisor — Five Arrows (Rothschild & Co), Teleo Capital, Roswell Growth Capital
• 2024–25CEO, Netchex — human capital management & payroll SaaS
• 2019–24CEO, WorkWave — $52M to ~$500M revenue; $5B+ payment facilitator; named a Top SaaS CEO
• 2015–19COO, Astea International — SaaS transition, 400% stock improvement, exit to strategic buyer
• 2012–15SVP, Salient Management Company — doubled revenue in three years
• 2008–12CEO, The Telos Group — performance management & BI consultancy
• 1999–2008Director, Enterprise Performance Management Practice, CohnReznick
• EarlierAdjunct Professor, Rutgers Executive MBA · District Manager, Airborne Express NYC · U.S. Army officer, 10th Mountain Division