KonaSearch® is an AppExchange-certified, relevancy-based, full-text search application for Salesforce® that accelerates business workflows by automating the flow of information into and out of the search step of a business process. KonaSearch uses the full context of a task, a user, and other clues, then applies the same “best results first” principles to Salesforce objects and other sources of information, such as Microsoft SharePoint®. The results are displayed in a single universal Salesforce search tab.
Management Team
Meet the management team behind KonaSearch.
Chief Executive Officer
Andrew McKay
Andrew manages the KonaSearch business unit, following the acquisition by BasisTech of the company he founded. KonaSearch provides deep search for enterprises that use Salesforce.com. He has been a principal contributor to the enterprise search market for 19 years as co-founder at Attivio (ServiceNow, Lucidworks) and VP Sales & Marketing at FAST (Microsoft). He acquired his SaaS experience as an executive at GetConnected (Allconnect) and VCI (Cisco), analytics experience as CTO at Praedictus, and database, BI, and ETL experience as principal architect and engineer at Hummingbird (OpenText) and Sybase (SAP).
Chief Technology Officer
Kevin Watters
Kevin is the architect of the KonaSearch system. He has more than 15 years of experience working with search and information retrieval technologies. He applies his considerable expertise to designing and implementing solutions to complex search problems with a strong focus in custom security models, relevancy tuning and performance optimizations. He is also experienced in big data solutions, machine learning, natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and robotics. Previously he was a principal software engineer at Attivio and Senior Solution Architect at Fast Search & Transfer.
Chief Operations Officer
Natty Hoffman
Natty Hoffman has led finance and operations for venture backed technology companies. She was most recently the COO/CFO of Prattle Analytics, a FinTech startup automating investment research. Previously, she worked at IBM as client manager of global IT operations for an international custodial bank, and as a software consultant for financial services companies. Natty holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management – University of Toronto, and undergraduate degrees in finance and journalism from the University of Massachusetts. Prior to college, Natty served in the Israeli military as a boot camp commander.
Vice President, Sales
Larissa Duzhansky
Larissa Duzhansky is a seasoned sales and alliances executive who is the VP of Sales for KonaSearch responsible for the business globally. Previously, Larissa worked at Camio, an AI powered video search technology, where she built the sales organization as their first VP of Sales. She also worked at Sinequa, an enterprise search company, where she was the Director of North American Channel Sales. She has also worked at Humanyze, Fuze, VMware and McKinsey & Company. Larissa has a Masters degree in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis and Management Certification from Harvard Business School.
Vice President of Marketing
Karen Moked
Karen has over 20 years of experience in marketing management, advertising, and public relations. Most recently as a strategy consultant, she has provided companies both large and small with interim CMO services, marketing campaign management, and campaign execution specifically in the finance, technology, and biotechnology sectors. Karen holds an MBA from ESG in Paris, France, and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Classical Studies from York University in Toronto, Canada.