Jacob has a proven track record in discovering and developing innovative solutions to real-world customer problems, and then developing them into products. Jacob has fostered innovation in many different environments, including both research and business settings. Until recently, Jacob served as CTO of Itemfield, the leader in next-generation data transformation, where he oversaw Itemfield's innovation, vision and strategy until its acquisition by Informatica. Previously, Jacob was the CTO and business development executive for IBM's Global Technology Unit. Prior to that role, he was a department general manager at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Lab, managing a group of 130 cross-disciplinary researchers. Jacob received his doctorate of science in computer science from the Technion University in Israel. Jacob has been published in many technical journals and has spoken at conferences worldwide. In 1997, he received the Alexander C. Williams Ergonomics and Human Factors Award from the Human Factors Society.