
Before Medidata’s $5.8 billion sale, there were paintbrushes, a shared office and a stubborn concern for the cash balance. Tarek Sherif’s career is a study in building room to choose.
Garth Coleman is the CEO of Canvas GFX (Canvas Envision), a Boston-based manufacturing software company building tools that turn engineering data into interactive, 3D visual work instructions for frontline factory workers. A mechanical engineer by training with an MBA from Babson, he spent roughly 19 years at Dassault Systemes leading global strategy for 3D visualization, PLM, AR/VR, and generative AI before taking the top job at Canvas. He champions a 'connected knowledge' approach to manufacturing, arguing that the industry modernized its products and processes but left the people on the floor relying on static PDFs and printed checklists.
Anthony Costello is the CEO of Medidata Solutions, a Dassault Systèmes company, and one of clinical research technology's most seasoned architects. With nearly 30 years in the field, he started as a data manager at Genentech, co-founded two companies (Nextrials and Mytrus), and was acquired by Medidata before rising to lead it. Today he oversees over 8,000 active clinical studies globally each year, championing AI-driven trial innovation, decentralized models, and patient-centric design at the White House Clinical Trials Forum and beyond.