passion for precision
meet our
leadership team
We’re a team of precision farming and crop insurance experts who together created MyAgData®, a cloud-based data system that bridges the gap between the data created and used by farmers, and the data required for the USDA to administer Farm Programs, to enable crop insurance companies to support Federal crop insurance and private products, and for industry to support traceability and quality of a harvested crop.
Michelle Tressel
Chief Executive Officer
As Chief Executive Officer, Michelle leads business development efforts and strategic partner relationships for MyAgData. As an experienced and strategic leader, Michelle brings more than 20 years of diverse industry experience building and growing organizational expansions across alternative and traditional investment management, agriculture, healthcare, and software industries.
Michelle is a consummate connector who leverages her extensive background to deliver elegant client solutions to complex problems in highly regulated environments.
Prior to MyAgData, Michelle held leadership roles at firms including Nuveen Investments, Parametric Portfolio Associates, and Morgan Stanley. Michelle has served as an adjunct professor of Finance at Stetson University and began her career in the Audit and Advisory business at EY.
Michelle earned a Master of Science in Accountancy from University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Stetson University.
Don Bierman
Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder
Don Bierman grew up on a small farm in southeastern Illinois, graduated from the University of Illinois in 1981. Mr. Bierman spent thirty-four years working at Wabash Valley Service Company and now serves as CEO of Crop IMS LLC, an ag technology company based in Illinois and Wisconsin offering technology solutions to farmers and service providers all over the Midwest.
Crop IMS assisted in the formation of Independent Data Management LLC in 2012 whose primary product, MyAgData®, facilitates the automated submission of crop acreage reporting to the USDA.
MyAgData provides SaaS solutions to captive insurance companies and other industries including carbon and traceability.
Ken Ullsperger
Chief Technology Officer
Ken Ullsperger is leading the agricultural technology sector. With over 20 years of experience in technology and software development, Ken is a visionary leader who has been instrumental in driving MyAgData’s technological advancements and market leadership. Ken grew up in Menomonee Falls and currently lives in Milwaukee, WI.
Under his leadership, the company has launched several groundbreaking products that leverage data analytics, elastic cloud compute and blockchain technologies to optimize agricultural practices.
Before joining MyAgData, Ken held various leadership roles in technology companies, including Herzing University, Tricast, Grid Dynamics, Kohl’s and Northwest Mutual. His expertise in cloud computing, data analytics, and software development has been recognized through numerous industry awards and publications.
Ken showed an early aptitude for technology, writing his first software application at the age of 12. He went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.
Terry Smith
Chief Operating Officer
Terry Smith is MyAgData’s Chief Operating Officer. Joining the company in early 2023, he brings more than 15 years of experience in IT, product, and software development. Terry was most recently the Senior Director of Product for ACA solutions at Equifax, and has held prior leadership roles in operations, strategic partner services, and economic development.
Prior to taking on leadership roles, he held roles in software development for more than 10 years. Terry works closely with technology startup companies in his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada as a founding member and regular advisor to the Costarter accelerator program, which he started in 2014.
Terry is an optimizer of things – be it software, people, or process – and believes strongly in iterating towards success. He holds a Bachelor of Computer Science with a minor in Business from Lakehead University. When not in the office, you will likely find him outdoors, exercising, or relaxing (or perplexingly both together).
Copyright © 2023 by Independent Data Management, LLC. All rights reserved.