Stephen Bates is a seasoned expert in business development and global strategic alliances, with over 25 years of experience in BD Sales leadership. He holds an EMBA in Business from Villanova University, and has studied Corporate Strategy at Harvard Business School, Senior Executives in National & International Security at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and National Security Policy Studies at US Army War College. Bates has worked extensively on four continents, and has a wealth of professional experience that spans Direct Commercial Sales, Foreign Military Sales, and Multi-party Negotiation. His strengths lie in conveying complex business and technical problems, along with their human and geopolitical dimensions, with empathy and energy, to identify viable and timely courses of action. Bates is currently the Global Account Manager at Salesforce, and was formerly the Global Account Director for Defense Intelligence Agency at Oracle, and an Account Manager and Regional Manager at Apple.