Talking Tech in the Twin Cities

Luke Anderson (BS ’98)
Co-Host and Moderator
Chief information officer, UNFI Retail – Cub and Shoppers

Luke Anderson (BS ’98) is the chief information officer for UNFI Retail, leading technology for two regional grocery banners, Cub and Shoppers. Cub operates grocery as well as wine and spirits stores throughout Minnesota, while Shoppers calls the Baltimore and Washington D.C. areas home. Over the past four years, Anderson has led Cub and Shoppers through a major technology transformation, replacing legacy systems in all areas of the business. 

Prior to Cub, Luke spent over 20 years leading IT teams with multiple consulting, CPG, and retail companies. He held leadership roles with Accenture, Supervalu, Oliver Wyman, and Schwan’s. Most of his time in consulting was spent working with retailers around the world. 

Luke received his undergraduate degree in computer science and political science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Tim Bratland (BBA ’89)
Co-Host
President, Crystal Farms Dairy Company

Tim Bratland (BBA ’89) is the president of Crystal Farms Dairy Company headquartered in Minneapolis. He has over 30 years of experience in the CPG space and has worked at companies like General Mills, DecoPac, Inc., Malt-O-Meal, and Post Consumer Brands. Bratland has held executive leadership roles in marketing, sales, operations, integrated business planning and corporate integrations.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a double major in finance and marketing and received his MBA in marketing and strategic planning from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. Bratland has served on nonprofit boards in the Twin Cities and is currently the Wisconsin School of Business alumni relations chairperson for that region. He is also an active member on the Wisconsin Business Alumni Board and the UW–Madison Technology Exploration Lab advisory board.

Jen Levenhagen (BBA ’95)
Regional vice president, professional services leader – high tech, Salesforce

Jen Levenhagen (BBA ’95) is a proud WSB alum who has built a dynamic career at the intersection of retail, advertising, and technology. Before joining Salesforce in 2015, Levenhagen held several positions at Target Corporation and JWT, a global advertising agency. In her current role as vice president of professional services, Levenhagen leads a team that drives strategic engagements for high tech clients such as Crowdstrike, Workday, PayPal, and others.

Eric Martell (BS ’12)
Co-founder and chief executive officer, Pear Commerce

Eric Martell (BS ’12) is on a mission to bring transparency and precision to the world of retail marketing. As co-founder and chief executive officer of Pear Commerce, he’s transforming the way consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands connect with customers, bridging the gap between digital ads and real-time retail purchases. Under Martell’s leadership, Pear empowers CPG marketers with the same clarity and efficiency that direct-to-consumer brands have long enjoyed, delivering real-time insights from click to cart.

Before launching Pear, Martell  helped build one of the earliest and most successful online food ordering platforms: EatStreet. As a co-founder, he helped scale the company from a scrappy student startup to a national operation serving over 15,000 restaurants and millions of customers. He’s also served as managing director of gener8tor Minnesota, one of the country’s top-ranked accelerators, and continues to invest in and support early-stage companies as a venture partner at gener8tor.

Dale Nitschke (BBA ’84)
Founder and CEO, Ovative Group

Dale Nitschke (BBA ’84), the founder and chief executive officer at Ovative Group, sees potential everywhere and knows how to unlock it. His signature “just do” mindset and bias toward action served him well during his 23 years at Target, where he grew the retailer’s e-commerce business. But more than anything, he’s an innovator who believes in his team’s collective power to succeed. As Ovative’s leader, he fuels the company’s vision, transforming the measure of marketing success.

Redefining clients’ vision of success, Nitschke believes that marketing can unlock true business growth. He’s here to answer questions deemed unanswerable, infusing this same hopeful outlook of possibility into his 500+ team. His “raise the bar” mindset led to Ovative’s development of Enterprise Marketing Return (EMR), a metric that helps businesses measure the true value of their marketing efforts. He drove to fruition the marketing intelligence platform that helps businesses transform marketing into a driver of sustainable growth: EMRge.

Brent Pierson
Vice president of cloud strategy and architecture, C4 Technical Services

After more than 20 years as an enterprise technology strategist, Brent Pierson transitioned to consulting at C4 Technical Services to address gaps he couldn’t fill in his previous roles. As vice president of cloud strategy and architecture, his mission is to build genuine partnerships with clients, helping them achieve their goals rather than meeting quotas. As a visionary technology leader, Pierson has  led global tech transformations, focusing on creating business and customer value while mentoring teams. He’s passionate about researching and applying technology to solve problems and uncover new opportunities for innovation. He believes in incremental improvement—supported by measurable metrics—to stay aligned with the ever-changing tech and business landscape. His strength lies in combining strategic thinking and technical expertise to conceptualize diverse outcomes, develop roadmaps, and guide teams toward successful business results.