Damian Mogavero is the CEO and founder of Avero, the international restaurant analytics software company based in New York City, and the author of The Underground Culinary Tour (Crown Business, January 2017), written with Joseph D’Agnese. Avero aggregates over $24 billion in food and beverage data and helps over 34,000 restaurant operators in 68 countries drive profits annually through the use of intelligent data. He was named Cornell University Hotel School’s Innovator of the Year in 2015, and received the Harvard Business School of NY America’s Entrepreneur Award. Damian regularly speaks at hospitality, food and technology conferences including the National Restaurant Association Show and Dreamforce. He addressed the Class of 2017 at Cornell University Hotel School as part of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Prior to founding Avero, Damian was CFO of a New York-based restaurant group, where he witnessed firsthand what happens when chefs and managers simply do not have the right tools to run their operations efficiently. Damian recognized that the restaurant industry needed revolutionary, easy-to-use software that could empower food and beverage operators to make faster, smarter and profitable decisions, while providing outstanding service to their guests.Damian hosts the annual Underground Culinary Tour, which educates restaurant leaders on emerging trends, using New York City as a restaurant laboratory. He speaks to hospitality groups throughout the year on trends among what he calls the New Guard Restaurateurs and their constant innovations. A passionate oenophile and coffee fanatic, Damian passed the WSET Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Wine and Spirits in 2008 with distinction, and successfully completed the first part of his Barista certification through Counter Culture in 2014. He has been featured in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company, Fortune Small Business, WIRED, Nation’s Restaurant News, Casino Journal, Global Gaming Business, Food Arts and Sante.Damian graduated summa cum laude from La Salle University and earned his MBA from Harvard University. Before becoming a restaurant-CFO-turned-entrepreneur, he worked on Wall Street as an investment banker at Dillon, Read & Co. Damian rarely says no to delicious New York pizza, Philadelphia cheese steaks along with morning cortados and special occasion bottle of Burgundy. He became a runner out of necessity, finishing the NYC marathon, so that he could more fully enjoy all that New York's amazing restaurants have to offer.