Leadership
Timothy Harris
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Timothy Harris, co-founder and CEO of Swift Navigation, is focused on building a world-class organization that will power the next generation of GPS-enabled autonomous vehicles and robots. A proven leader in the high-accuracy GPS industry, Tim leads teams that are excited to drive innovation and challenge each other to achieve visionary change. Prior to Swift, he worked in supply chain consulting for OR Soft Jaenicke GmbH in Halle, Germany, and in corporate finance for Emerge Digital Group, where he oversaw M&A and strategic partnerships for a digital media holding company. Tim holds a JD degree from Boston University and a BA degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
Holger Ippach
Chief Operations Office
Holger Ippach is Chief Operations Officer at Swift. He is responsible for product strategy and roadmap and leads product, marketing, sales, and operations. Mr. Ippach brings over 20 years of product experience to Swift, including senior executive roles with Kudelski Group. At Swift, Holger launched the automotive business and built relationships with suppliers to market vehicle infotainment, driver assistance and autonomous driving technologies. Holger completed executive programs at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. He earned his Master of Science degree in Physics and Business Administration from the University of Augsburg in Germany.
James Tidd
Executive Vice President of Engineering
James Tidd is the Executive Vice President of Engineering at Swift Navigation with over 20 years of experience in positioning technologies for aerospace, automotive, smartphone and IoT industries. At Swift Navigation, James has been leading the architecture of high precision, safe and robust positioning solutions for advanced driver assistance and autonomous systems, and is passionate about solving real world use cases with globally scalable technologies.
Colin Beighley
Co-Founder & Vice President of Engineering Operations
Colin Beighley is one of the three co-founders of Swift Navigation. Colin has held a number of roles since Swift’s founding in 2012; his current focus is on creating an amazing engineering culture in his role as VP of Engineering Operations. Prior to co-founding Swift, Colin worked on GPS both at Joby Energy and in projects for his BS degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Gregory Smith
Executive Vice President of Finance
Greg Smith is Executive Vice President of Finance at Swift, responsible for all financial and operational functions at the company. He has more than 25 years of experience in multi-national public and private companies within the technology industry, including Rovi Corp (now Tivo), Mediabolic and Cloud Engines, a cloud storage company he co-founded in 2007. His passions include creating and executing business strategies, scaling G&A, operations and financial systems, raising capital, and building strong relationships between founders, boards and investors. He holds an MBA in General Management from Tuck School at Dartmouth and a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from University of Vermont.
Andrea Chavez
Executive Vice President of Legal
Andrea is Executive Vice President of Legal at Swift and is responsible for all legal and HR functions at the company. She has over 20 years of experience founding and leading legal and business development groups at multiple companies, including Pogoplug (Cloud Engines) and Mediabolic (sold to Rovi). She founded Pawscout, which sold over 1M smart pet tags to consumers at major retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Petsmart. Andrea is passionate about negotiating and closing complex technology transactions efficiently and creatively. She holds a JD and MSCS from Stanford University and an AB in Philosophy with an emphasis on math and logic from Harvard University.