Meet the team

James Prior, Group CEO

James brings over 30 years of IT and sales expertise (more than 20 years in Maximo) to Vetasi.

In 2005, James formed a small team of international Maximo experts, all with strong Industrial engineering backgrounds with the vision of creating business solutions, not implementing software.  This approach continues today and has enabled Vetasi to grow to be the largest IBM Maximo implementation partner in Europe and Africa. 

A natural motivator and leader, James’ ethos is to create a culture that allows people to perform to the best of their ability whilst balancing home and personal lives.

“Our people are our Assets".

James Fair, MD, UK

James spent the early years of his career in finance before moving into sales and general management. In 1996 James was appointed Vice President EMEA at MRO Software and was responsible for growing the Maximo brand across the region into a $60m business.

He splits his time at Vetasi between business development, major account management and international strategy. Focusing initially on the Oil & Gas and Facility Management sectors, James has subsequently been instrumental in making Vetasi the leading service provider in the airport sector.

An innate ability to develop long lasting relationships coupled with sound business knowledge of many industries, James establishes partnerships with key organisations to ensure Vetasi’s continued expansion.

Frank Baker, Services Director, UK

Frank has over 25 years’ experience in IT, asset management and facilities management and has worked in numerous industries from manufacturing, sciences through to utilities. Frank joined Vetasi 10 years ago as an engagement manager, working with clients to ensure successful executions of Maximo. Having worked on managing a large Maximo implementation for BT in the early part of his career, he utilised his strong understanding of a clients’ business needs. As Vetasi grew rapidly, the recruitment, development and retention of our people became increasingly important to continued success and Frank joined the board as Services Director 5 years ago.

A strong communicator and listener, Frank has a talent for making sure we have the best consultants for the job and developing our people.

Jarosław Łukasiewicz, MD, Poland & CEE

Jarosław has more than 20 years’ experience working at a senior level in the IT sector. Having previously headed up the Key Enterprises Unit of the region’s largest IT consultancy, Asseco Poland S.A, he joined Vetasi as Managing Director of the Poland and Central & Eastern Europe region in 2013.

He has delivered and overseen many successful IT projects in Poland and across Europe in the fields of ERP, EAM and ITSM for a wide range of clients in large enterprises, public institutions through to global corporations.

A deep technical knowledge coupled with his entrepreneurial flair, Jaroslaw’s direction has grown Vetasi’s footprint in Poland, Central & Eastern Europe to a 20-consultant strong team.

Trevor Roberts, MD, South Africa

Trevor has more than 35 years’ experience as an engineer, beginning his career as a systems engineer in the defence and mining industries, focussing on both systems definition and maintenance logistics. He later moved into the IT industry, establishing the leading Enterprise Asset and Supply Chain Management Systems into the South African market.

Trevor has led both the business development and the delivery of major Systems Engineering, Maximo, i2 and Physical Asset Management consulting projects for companies such as ESKOM, ISCOR, Woolworths, Illovo, Unilever, UTI and Debswana, amongst others.

With an ability to link the problem that must be solved, the solution that must be conceptualised and the value that must be delivered, Trevor ensures that these aspects are synchronised throughout a project and instils these values into the teams that he leads.

Tony Turner, Innovations Director, UK

Tony is a qualified engineer and project manager.  He has been working with Maximo for over 25 years and was part of the PSDI Management team back in the 1990’s.  He relocated to the Middle East in 1997 and delivered some of the largest and most successful Maximo projects in the Oil & Gas and Utilities sectors. During this period, he helped establish Maximo as the leading EAM solution across the Middle East. He also gained a deep experience in the Defence, FM and Transportation business sectors.  On returning to the UK in 2010, he joined Vetasi as Projects Director and is committed to delivering on the vision created during the Sales process.

Tony is a natural consultant with a vast range of industry experience.  He fully understands Maximo’s capabilities and can translate the customer’s specific business requirements into a practical working solution.

Sharon Kepcia, Managing Director, Spain

Sharon began her career as a systems engineer at Westinghouse Advanced Systems in Pittsburgh, implementing project planning and control systems for the nuclear and defence industry. Moving to Spain to head up the Spanish delegation of MRO Software (PSDI), she founded Allegro Systems International, where over a 25+ year period working with partner José Inestal and the Allegro Systems team, they made Maximo one of the main Enterprise Asset Management systems in Spain & Portugal.

Premier Business Partner for MRO Software and then IBM in EMEA, Sharon and her team have implemented Maximo for companies of all sizes and sectors, including international projects in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Dominican Republic, France, United Kingdom, Latvia, Israel and UAE. Reuniting with James Fair & James Prior and many others of the Vetasi team who previously headed up MRO Software in EMEA, Sharon brings a team of experienced and committed professionals to the Vetasi organization.

José Inestal, Operations Director, Spain

José has more than 30 years of experience implementing Asset & Facilities Management systems. He began implementing PSDI’s Project and Maintenance Management systems when Maximo was first created and was a key part of the startup of Allegro Systems, working over the course of 25 years to make it one of the main partners of PSDI/MRO in Spain.

José has held numerous roles over the last 25 years, working on more than 150 Maximo and Control Desk projects as well as the first implementation of Tririga in Spain. He has also recently managed mobile solution implementations and projects integrating Maximo with plant management systems and BIM.

As Operations Director for Vetasi Spain, José’s extensive experience in projects for companies of various sizes and sectors allows him to understand the client’s needs and business requirements, and ensure any implementation maximizes the functionality of Maximo to fulfil their objectives.

Francois du Plessis, Director, Australia

Francois has more than 35 years' experience in engineering and IT related fields with specialist domain knowledge of maintenance, production and facilities management.  His engineering background enabled a successful transition into the IT industry focusing on Enterprise Asset Management and Facilities Management system solutions for all capital-intensive industries.

Francois has worked internationally on engagements in England, Scotland, Angola and Botswana as well as his native country, South Africa. In 2019, Francois made the move to Australia to set-up Vetasi’s new office, bringing his extensive expertise and passion for his work and clients to the region.