Gary A. Pudles, President and CEO of AnswerNet (www.answernet.com), founded the company in 1998 with one contact center and has since driven the growth of the organization to over 50 locations through sales, acquisitions and partnerships. Prior to forming AnswerNet, Pudles served in senior management roles with leading technology service firms, including American Personal Communications (now part of Sprint/Nextel) and Muzak. Pudles has led AnswerNet to Inc. Magazine’s “Inc. 500 List of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies” and Customer Interaction Solutions magazine’s “Top 50 Teleservices Firms” on multiple occasions. As a result, Pudles has won many awards, including the prestigious “Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year” award, the PricewaterhouseCoopers/NJ Biz “NJ’s Finest Award” (Top 25 privately held companies), and the American Teleservices Association’s “Spirit of Philanthropy Award.”

Outside of AnswerNet, Pudles is also a nationally recognized speaker and presenter on telecommunications, business motivation and business operations. He’s spoken each year at several major industry shows, such as the National Amtelco Equipment Owners (NAEO) show, the Startel National Users Group (SNUG) show, the Canadian Call Management Association (CAM-X) shows, and many more. He is a regular contributor to the award winning web site, Inc.com. His articles have appeared in well-respected industry publications, including Connections Magazine, Contact Management, Customer Inter@ction Solutions and Multichannel Merchant. He has also appeared and been quoted on television, radio and in a number of newspapers.

Pudles regularly addresses leading associations and conferences, among them: the American Teleservices Association, the Association of TeleServices International, the Canadian Call Management Association, Disaster Recovery Journal Fall & Spring World and ICCM.

Aside from his work in the telecommunications industry, Pudles instructs students at the Wharton School of Business’ SBDC, and participates on the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s Technology Advisory Board. He has a Juris Doctorate degree from the Washington College of Law at the American University and a Bachelor of Arts in Policy Studies from the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University.