Team
A small team, a large network.
CPaaSAA is run by a small team with decades in cloud communications, telco innovation, research, go-to-market and events. Behind it: a board of industry partners, a network of advisors, and the analysts who cover this market.
The team
Who you will be working with
Rob KurverFounding Partner
Twenty years in cloud communications and CPaaS, working with telcos, techcos and AI start-ups on strategy and ecosystems. Founded CPaaSAA in 2019 and, after a COVID break, started growing it for real in 2022. Today he focuses on building CPaaSAA into the home of Intelligent Engagement: opening it up to new categories such as AI Voice and Network APIs, and turning the Alliance’s work into results members can use. He shapes the CASA programme and the strategic partnerships with GSMA, McKinsey and Sandbox, and brings members’ ideas together into one shared story about where the industry is heading. Also a strategic advisor to telcos, cloud communications platforms and start-ups through The Next Cloud, founded in 2014.
Andrew CollinsonAssociate Research Partner
The originator of Intelligent Engagement, the idea the Alliance is now built around. Where Rob sets the direction, Andrew goes into the detail: testing whether the story holds up, building the evidence behind it, and keeping the Alliance honest. Author of State of CPaaS 2025, AI Voice 2026, State of Intelligent Engagement 2026 and Network APIs: Signals of Value, all in our Research section. Works with regulators and industry bodies. An independent analyst who now spends most of his time with CPaaSAA, he also runs Connective Insight and his own event, Unthinkable Lab. Previously Research and Commercial Director at STL Partners.
Laila van HooffEvent Manager
The driving force behind every CPaaSAA event, from strategy dinners to CASA, known for their energy, intimacy and impact. Rob builds the programme, and Laila turns it into an experience: the venues, the restaurants, the boats, the dinners and the details that make CASA feel nothing like a regular industry conference. Every experience feels purposeful and personal. She has a sharp eye for detail, a deep sense of aesthetics, and she’s opinionated, honest and refreshingly direct. See her work at casa26.amsterdam. Her mantra: put your money where your mouth is.
Board and partners
The partners behind the Alliance
Kevin NethercottNon-executive Chairman
Built the Alliance with Rob through its 2023-24 growth phase, after joining as Managing Partner in late 2022. Drove member recruitment, invented the working group model and co-shaped the strategy. Before CPaaSAA, a key figure in creating the CPaaS enablement category at TeleStax. CEO of Tresic, the conversation-intelligence venture, since 2025. As non-executive Chairman he focuses on vision and ecosystem.
Robert GalopPartner
Joined in 2023 as CMO and carried much of the early build: the first State of CPaaS report, the member community in Circle, the early website, the outreach and the decks. Previously CMO and head of product at IntelePeer, where he pioneered the expansion of CPaaS beyond developers into the enterprise. Since 2025 Chief Product Officer and CTO at Tresic, and a non-executive partner of CPaaSAA.
Gert-Jan HuizerPartner
The partner behind the scenes. Joined in 2023 to run the Alliance’s organization, finance, legal and administration, and still looks after them one day a week. Since 2026 Head of Carrier and Network Partnerships at Next Communications. A commercial leader with 25+ years across ICT, telecom, data centre, mobile, IoT, SaaS and CPaaS, and a mentor in the start-up community.
Roles and governance. CPaaSAA is a neutral, member-driven platform. Day-to-day operations, programmes and content decisions sit with Rob, Andrew and Laila, with Gert-Jan on finance and administration, and with member-driven groups. Kevin and Robert are non-executive and hold no operational or editorial role. Kevin, Robert and Gert-Jan recuse themselves from any Alliance decision that directly involves Tresic, Next Communications or their closest competitors. Tresic takes part as a member like any other. The full note: Tresic spotlight, January 2026.
Working with us
If you want to play, this is the place.
Members, partners, speakers, researchers: the Alliance is built by the people who show up and do the work. Tell us what you would want to get out of it.