Management Team

Taj Reneau
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
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Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Taj Reneau led the charge to establish Parus Interactive as the leader in speech-enabled unified communications. A pioneer in the UC industry, his vision drives overall performance and strategy for Parus Interactive, including finance, operations and growth.

Taj began his career as a technology consultant specializing in building wireless facilities and data centers in Central America and Mexico. Later, he co-founded EffectNet, a messaging company where his duties as CEO included client acquisition and product development. “Before ‘unified communications’ was a buzzword, we were in the forefront of driving the UC space,” Reneau said.

EffectNet partnered with Webley Systems to provide unified communications to its growing customer base. Ultimately, Reneau saw the need for more control over the UC product. “We owned the customer relationships, but wanted to be closer to the technology in order to customize and change it to better serve our clients,” he said. The two companies merged in 2001 and ultimately became Parus Interactive.

Under Taj’s guidance, Parus Interactive continues to innovate. “Our extensive patent portfolio represents the reality that Parus Interactive was the first company to make breakthrough inventions in the field of communications managed by speech recognition, and we intend to continue our efforts to build on these successes,” Reneau added. 

Taj Reneau earned a BA from Central Washington University and an MBA from the University of Portland. Fluent in Spanish, he once volunteered for a year at a Honduras hospital. He enjoys numerous outdoor sports and most values time spent with his family.

Robert C. McConnell
Founder, Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President
and General Counsel
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Bob is a founder of Webley Systems and joined the Company in October 1997 as Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel. Prior to joining Parus Interactive, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of a diversified investment group headquartered in Washington, D.C. His experience includes senior positions with a Kemper Financial Group investment banking firm, general counsel of International Spike, Inc., an international manufacturing company and a tax partner with Grant Thornton, LLP, an international certified public accounting firm. Bob earned his BS in Accounting, With Distinction, and his JD, magna cum laude, from Indiana University. He is a CPA, an attorney and holds the Order of the Coif.

Alex Kurganov
Founder and Chief Technology Officer
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As a founder of Parus Interactive and its principal software architect, Alex is responsible for driving Parus Interactive’s leading edge technology. An expert in retail systems, speech recognition technology and customer contact center infrastructure, he has over 20 years of experience as a software system architect and developer. In 1990 he built the UNIX-based computer telephony system for Dytel Corporation (the first creator of Auto-Attendant) and went on to design advanced software systems for Motorola, Interactive UNIX Corporation and Ardis. Alex led the development of Parus Interactive’s Unified Communications technology while serving as CTO of Vail Systems, a leader in the IVR/Internet Enhanced Telephony industry. He holds an MS in Computer Science from the Institute of Technical Cybernetics, Academy of Sciences and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnical Institute in the former USSR.

Darius Reneau
Founder and Chief Marketing Officer
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Darius was appointed to the position of Chief Marketing Officer in 2001 and oversees all sales, marketing and product management for Parus Interactive. Prior to Parus Interactive, he was the co-founder, President and COO of EffectNet, a leading integrator of unified communications and voice portal technologies. He has comprehensive experience within emerging markets and has held executive sales and marketing positions within several leading computer, networking and Internet companies. He has also provided consulting services to companies such as Fujitsu, EDS and Hewlett Packard. Darius has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Central Washington University and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.

Keith Fenech
Senior Vice President, Engineering and Operations
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Dr. Fenech brings 18 years of experience in software engineering across multiple disciplines and countries. At Parus Interactive, he is responsible for overseeing the Engineering department in the development of best-in-class products. Before joining Parus Interactive, Dr. Fenech consulted in Silicon Valley, specializing in rapid product development processes for organizations focused on retail systems. Additionally, he has held executive and senior management positions in software companies such as Quintus (a CRM company acquired by Avaya) and L.I.C. Energy and Simulation Sciences. Dr. Fenech earned his BS and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Greenwich University in London, England, and his MBA from the University of Houston. He is a Chartered Mathematician.