// ABOUT US

How we started

Our company was founded in 2018 with a vision to disrupt the commercial real estate industry by creating a platform to combine human experiences with building systems, the two major factors to building operations.

Four years ago, Cohesion’s journey began serendipitously at a breakfast meeting between CEO, Thru Shivakumar and Raj Gupta, the Executive Chairman of ESD. They started talking about a technology ESD was envisioning in a building, a system that bridged the gap between tenant-facing applications and legacy operational systems that would allow the building to be flexible and responsive to tenants’ needs and have quantifiable and holistic data to guide environmental optimization. Six months after that breakfast, a deal was struck to spin the technology out of a mechanical engineering company and in August 2018, Cohesion was born.

Cohesion has risen to meet the challenges facing CRE as a startup but the work is more valuable now than ever. Macro factors such as continued hybrid work, increased focus on building health, need to reduce carbon emissions, and a declining CRE workforce are driving the desperate need for technology adoption in buildings.

We are on a mission to accelerate resiliency and transparency in the built world by intelligently unifying humans, resources, and systems.

Our Core Values

Our six core values are more than just words on a wall, they are a compass that guides our culture and productivity to ensure success on all levels – as individuals and as a team. These values were carefully chosen and are reinforced to ensure a thriving workplace environment.

Integrity

We always do what is right and with the highest ethical standards. We acknowledge and embrace human diversity of all forms within our company and strive to include others. In doing so, our customers, employees, investors, and shareholders will benefit.

Ingenuity

We examine problems from all angles to create comprehensive solutions. We address the current and future needs of our customers and society. We strive to optimize the ecosystem.

Continuous Improvement

We are ambitious, always on a journey to build our expertise and enhance the solutions we provide. We collaborate with customers and partners to always deliver the utmost quality in our products and services.

Meaningful Interactions

We add value through our products and services by building meaningful connections inside the built environment to ensure true interoperability. We do not believe in wasted time, meaningless work, or siloed efforts.

Commitment

We take ownership and accountability for our work. We demonstrate flexibility and go above and beyond our individual duties for the greater good of the business and our customers.

Action Bias

We stand up and take action. We encourage everyone to think critically and raise their voices to overcome obstacles and deliver the best possible outcomes for our employees, customers, partners, and shareholders.

We are committed to

Building and nurturing an inclusive workforce spanning across all team members within the company

Ensuring an equitable recruiting process, committing to equal pay, investing in professional growth opportunities and sourcing a diverse candidate network

Fostering a community of belonging where our employees feel valued, respected and engaged

Cohesion is recognized for innovative solutions and advanced technology.

Leadership

We are a team of problem solvers, innovative thinkers, and those who aspire to make a difference in the commercial real estate industry.

Thru Shivakumar

Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer

Thru Shivakumar is responsible for leading Cohesion’s alignment and execution of its strategic vision, as well as delivering shareholder value. She has more than 15 years’ of experience in private, public, and civic sectors of the economy holding positions across finance, business strategy, M&A, entrepreneurship and business development. Thru is the founding board member of Current, a water technology accelerator focused on advanced research and market-driven innovations. With an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a B.S. in Finance from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Thru is recognized for various accomplishments, including listed in Crain’s Chicago Business 40 under 40 list.

Nik Patel

Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer

A technologist with an entrepreneurial mindset, Nik leads our engineering and delivery teams to develop a smart building platform. He continues to work on numerous technology stacks, database systems, and IT infrastructure to create scalable, resilient, and adaptable software systems. Nik has co-authored three patents at cohesion, including contextual data structure and analytics at Edge. Before co-founding Cohesion, Nik served on the engineering teams of Frontline Education, AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., and Sprint. Nik holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Gujarat Technological University and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Springfield. He strongly believes in “paying it forward.” He is actively learning about different cultures, studying software engineering ethics, and promoting diversity in the technology industry.

Richard Murphy

General Counsel

Rich has 30+ years of legal experience in both public and private practice. He served at two national law firms where his practice included resolving legal and business issues for clients across the country. Rich later joined Equity Residential, a S&P 500 real estate company, as senior litigation counsel helping Equity navigate disputes arising from its operations nationwide. He is particularly proud of his work with Development Group and its over $3.5B of new construction. Rich earned a B.A. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame and received his law degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School. He is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel and is an active volunteer with Bridge Communities.

John Martin

Interim Chief Financial Officer

John Martin is the President of JFM OPS Consulting LLC . For 25 years, he has focused on providing operational and financial consulting services to early stage, growing for-profit and non-profit companies. In this capacity he has worked with, or advised, over 20 organizations, mostly as an interim Chief Operating Officer or Board Member. John has also run five technology-based companies as Chief Operating Officer, where he was responsible for day-to-day activities and raising over $35 million in equity and debt. He has worked in many service and manufacturing industries, including proptech, environmental SAAS, health care information, telecomm, marketing agencies, 3D printing and medical device manufacturing. John received his B.S. in Management Information Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Taylor Marsh

VP of Sales

Taylor Marsh has broad experience leading successful sales teams that provide consultative solutions to corporations and institutions of all sizes. He has acted as an account manager helping middle market companies consolidate and standardize their business travel programs. As a leader, Taylor has executed sales & revenue plans to reposition under-performing assets and enabled high performing teams to reach their full potential. For 14 years, Taylor has worked to be a consistent advocate for the customer with the businesses that he has supported. Taylor holds an MBA from Villanova University, and a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management from Penn State University.

Chad Flores

Director of Product Management

With more than a decade at various industries, such as IoT, data science, telematics & construction logistics, insurance tech, and education, Chad leads our product team to manage features and data. Most recently, he was a Senior Product Manager at Hyla Mobile (acquired by Assurant) launching both a B2B and B2C product, and Uptake where he worked with real-time data to deliver predictive maintenance products. As an experienced entrepreneur, Chad is passionate about building new solutions to deliver and delight customers based on user feedback, analytics-based strategic development, and market research. Deeply committed to environmental sustainability, Chad serves on Plant Chicago’s Board of Directors in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Chad studied Product Strategy at Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, holds an MS in Public Service Management from DePaul University School of Public Service and a BS Biomedical Sciences from Marquette University.

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Company

// ABOUT US

How we started

Our Core Values

Integrity

Ingenuity

Continuous Improvement

Meaningful Interactions

Commitment

Action Bias

We are committed to

Cohesion is recognized for innovative solutions and advanced technology.

Leadership

Thru Shivakumar

Nik Patel

Richard Murphy

John Martin

Taylor Marsh

Chad Flores​

Board Members

Dan Dal Degan

Raj Gupta

Steven Koch

Richard Murphy

Kok Kua Ng

Thru Shivakumar

Ready to be a part of the team?

Don't see a role that's a fit?

Email us your resume at [email protected]

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Chad Flores