iA American’s Executive Leadership

Kristen Gruber

President

Kristen is a highly respected F&I leader with three decades of industry experience, most of which have been spent in the Dealer Services niche. Her background spans many sides of the Dealer Services distribution channel, from insurance company to administrator to broker. Kristen joined iA American in 2014 as President of Dealers Assurance Company (DAC). Under her leadership, DAC achieved its first “A” rating from A.M. Best in 2020, after 34 years with an “A-” rating. Kristen was named President of iA American in January 2020. Early in her career, she spent 13 formative years with Great American Insurance Company in various management roles, including underwriting, product development, and data analytics. Kristen completed her Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation, earned her business degree from St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana, and her MBA from Thomas More University in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.

Rob Humble

Chief Revenue Officer

Rob joined iA American in 2017 as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development and initially facilitated the creation of a fresh growth strategy for the company. He was then responsible for executing on critical parts of that strategy as he led the team’s efforts to acquire eight companies including F&I administrators, F&I agents, a SaaS platform, and a direct marketing platform. In August of 2020 Rob was promoted to Chief Revenue Officer and is now responsible for both organic and acquisitive growth. Before joining iA American he held corporate development roles within financial services firms NetSpend and Rent-A-Center. Rob has also previously held strategy, finance, and operations positions at Fortune 500 companies spanning the automotive, defense and aerospace, and chemical industries. He earned his BSME in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Mike Forsythe

Chief Financial Officer

Mike joined iA American in 2012, bringing with him a depth of financial management experience. He was previously the Chief Financial Officer of Lion Street, a financial services start-up owned by Austin Ventures, where he was responsible for the executive management of the finance, accounting, and treasury functions, coordinated all shareholder and legal matters, and provided internal operational leadership. Prior to Lion Street, Mike was the Chief Financial Officer for NFP Securities, Inc. and NFP Insurance Services, Inc., the two primary operating subsidiaries of National Financial Partners distribution of employee benefits, life insurance, investment advisory, and securities brokerage. Prior to NFP Mike started his career with Ernst and Young where he was a tax manager. He holds a Master’s in Professional Accounting and a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Mike has previously held a CPA license and FINRA Series 7, 65, and 27 securities licenses.

Doug Guziec

Chief Operating Officer

Prior to joining iA American in 2017, Doug led strategy and business development for Rent-A-Center, Inc., along with Vizient, a privately held healthcare services firm. Doug also has experience with consulting firms Booz & Company and Bain & Company, and the Strategic Planning/M&A group at JPMorgan Chase. Achieving top honors as a Palmer Scholar, Doug received his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with majors in finance and strategic management. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a degree in Mathematics.

Katy Agnor

Chief Information Officer

Katy Agnor joined iA American in 2017 as the company's CIO, bringing with her more than 25 years of software development and IT operations experience. She has held key software development roles at NetSpend, MessageOne, Excite, Acuity, and Onebox. Katy is a passionate champion of Lean-Agile practices, focusing software delivery on customer value by creating an environment that welcomes change, promotes constant learning, respects people, and empowers self-organizing and self-managing teams. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ryan Smith

Senior Vice President of Marketing

Ryan is a seasoned marketer with over 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and consulting. He joined iA American in 2017 after five years with the NetSpend division of TSYS. While there, Ryan led the Marketing Operations group, focusing on the operational aspects of sending personalized communications to millions of cardholders. Prior to Marketing Operations, he was Director of Retention Marketing, responsible for all communications to current cardholders for two of NetSpend's four divisions. Before NetSpend, Ryan honed his marketing skills at Dell, Blockbuster, and IBM. He holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Texas – McCombs School of Business, and a BA in Business from Southwestern University.

Frank Klaus

Chief Senior Advisor

Frank started his career in the automobile industry in 1980 selling vehicles at a local Oklahoma dealership. Due to his hard work and business dedication, he quickly worked his way up to the position of General Manager. In 1987, Frank decided to expand his experience by joining General Financial Systems, a California-based administration company. While working for General, Frank learned the reinsurance business and traveled across the country forming and managing Producer Owned Reinsurance Companies (PORCs). At the time, Frank was one of the few experts in this area, and is a nationally known reinsurance expert. He formed First Dealer Resources (FDR) in 1989 to provide superior aftermarket products and training to dealers in Oklahoma and surrounding states. Prior to its acquisition by iA American in 2014, FDR had become one of the largest independent general agencies in the country. Frank also has equity ownership of three Oklahoma-based franchised dealerships.

Preston J. Haglin

Vice President of Emerging Businesses and Innovation

Preston has a demonstrated history of growing teams, revenue, and EBITDA in the media and automotive sectors. He joined iA American in 2017 as Head of our Direct-to-Consumer Division before transitioning to his current role. Prior to iA American, Preston was Head of Operations for KingStar Ventures, Chief Operating Officer for Media Properties Holdings, President of Lead Generation Technologies, and Director of Marketplace Operations for LeadPoint. He has a MA in Mathematics from Villanova University, and a BA in Physics from Colgate University.