About

Kristen Metzger
Smyyth CEO and Solutions Leader

Kristen Metzger leads the development and delivery of advanced solutions that transform how businesses manage their revenue cycle. A recognized expert in accounts receivable optimization and automation, Kristen brings a client-centric approach honed during her tenure at Smyyth and, before that, at Creditek, a leading order-to-cash BPO firm. Her experience working with Fortune 1000 companies gives her a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing businesses today. Kristen is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA in Economics from the University of Vermont.

John Metzger
Chairman, Smyyth + Carixa

Smyyth's focus is on Carixa cloud software and services to optimize credit, collections, trade promotion settlement, and deduction management. John was previously Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Creditek Corp., from start-up to the singular leadership position in A/R BPO, and to its ultimate sale.

John’s early career positions were as Director of Credit, VP Distribution, and EVP Global Operations in the consumer goods industry, and also led a consultancy. Credit2B, another leading company he founded for automated business credit decisions, was acquired by a strategic acquirer in 2018. He is a graduate of Rutgers University.

Sean Daley
Vice President & Managing Director, Carixa

Sean Daley has extensive expertise in credit-to-cash automation, billing and receivables management, and deduction resolution. As Managing Director of Carixa, he drives client success, product strategy and innovation for the Carixa Cloud Platform.

Earlier, Sean was Senior Product Manager at FIS, where he led the strategy for SaaS solutions to optimize automation in B2B receivables, collaborating closely with enterprise clients. He has deep experience in financial processes and AI-driven solutions. Earlier in his career, he was Manager of Credit and Risk at Philips. Sean holds a BS in Business Administration (Finance) from the University of Pittsburgh.

Karen McCann
Vice President, Operations

Karen has 20 years of experience in operations, data management, administration, and customer service, including serving as Director, Client Services with Creditek, a leading outsourcing company, and as a customer services executive in the telecom industry.

In addition to managing Smyyth's operations and client services, Karen is the product manager for Carixa, the company's remarkable cloud order-to-cash automation.

Joseph D'Apolito
Chief Financial Officer

Joe is responsible for finance, corporate planning, and shared service functions for several Smyyth companies. He has over twenty years' management experience in finance, accounting, and administration with large and mid-sized businesses.

Earlier in his career, CFO and V.P. Underwriting for PHHC, Director of Health Care Reform at Emblem Health, and CFO of a $5 billion unit of Anthem, as well as the CFO of Empire Roofing. Joe is a graduate of Lehigh University with a degree in Finance and Accounting.

Frank Boni
Vice President, Managed Services & Client Operations

Frank is responsible for Carixa Credit-to-Cash SaaS client operations, and outsource and collection operations. Prior to joining Smyyth, Frank had more than 20 years of experience in commercial receivables management, credit, and collections, including serving as Director of Operations and Sales Support for NCO Financial Systems, Inc.

Earlier, he served in management with Dun & Bradstreet RMS, and Payco GAC Corp. Frank has a B.S. in Business Administration from Hofstra University.

Cheryl Westphal
Director, Client Success

Cheryl leads the Carixa Client Success team. Her expertise is in refining the customer experience and ensuring products and features enhance the client’s way of business. She is focused on driving product adoption to guarantee the highest return on investment for our customers.

Previously, she served as the Director of Client Success at WellAware, a leading IoT company. Earlier in her career, she managed a regional training department at United Healthcare. Cheryl graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Communications.

James Hilton
Director, Consulting & Partnerships

James Hilton is an operations executive with 20+ years of experience in retail vendor compliance, logistics, and supply-chain processes. He manages industry partnerships and compliance initiatives focused on preventing deductions, improving vendor scorecards, and sustainable improvements across the order-to-cash cycle. Previously, James held senior roles as V.P. of Operations at Ferraro Foods and Director of Compliance at Robinson Home Products, earning distinctions such as Walmart Vendor of the Year and Kohl’s Certified Vendor status.

He also serves as Executive Advisor to the Retail Value Chain Federation (RVCF), contributing hands-on industry expertise to member programs and education.

John G. Eberhardt
Executive Consultant, Order-to-Cash

John is an expert in order-to-cash management and revenue cycle optimization. He has had executive roles in the global consumer goods and manufacturing industries, including GM-Customer Financial Services at Nikon Americas Inc., Director of Corporate Credit at Pentair, and Director of Customer Financial Services at Coltec Industries Inc.

John's many years of corporate finance experience has included managing global credit collections teams as well as procurement, internal audit, and treasury functions.   He is a graduate of Iona College School of Business Administration

Andrei Afanassenkov
Technology Advisor

Andrei has been a strategic resource to the Smyyth companies since 2006 including leading the development team for Carixa, Smyyth’s modular credit-to-cash automation platform. Andrei has deep experience in FinTech and enterprise technologies, computer simulation, and 3D modeling, and holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Bryansk University.

He leads Smyyth's infrastructure and software development activities.

Kim Zablocky
CEO And Chairman, Retail Value Chain Federation

Associated with Smyyth since 2002, Kim is Chairman of the affiliated Retail Value Chain Federation (RVCF.com), the leading advocate for retailer-supplier trading partner synchronization that champions initiatives to increase industry-wide productivity, profitability, and growth.

Kim is well known for his expertise in customer financial services and serves as an advisor in matters concerning the retail and distribution industries. Kim holds a BA in Political Science from the State University of New York.

Anna Costello, PhD

Professor of Accounting, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Previously an Assistant Professor at MIT Sloan and Michigan Ross, Anna holds an MBA from Notre Dame and a PhD from the University of Chicago. Her research, published in leading journals such as the Journal of Political Economy and The Accounting Review, examines how information asymmetry and trade credit impact supply chain contracts and market risk.

Kavita Singh
Fintech Product Strategy Advisor

Kavita brings 16+ years of fintech leadership, previously serving as CPO at Credit2B and VP of AI Product Management at Payrailz. Her career includes leading major payments portfolios at Fiserv, Dun & Bradstreet, and IBM. Kavita holds an MBA from Michigan Ross and a BS in Computer Science; she currently serves as a Global Fellow at AI 2030, focusing on responsible AI governance.Singh holds an MBA from University of Michigan Ross School of Business and a BS in Computer Science from Birla Institute of Technology & Science. She currently serves as a Global Fellow at AI 2030, focused on responsible AI governance in financial services.