Gideon Kafri — Operations & Business Development

I build operations that scaleand partnerships that stick.

Fifteen-plus years building the systems that make growth sustainable — across fintech, defense, and the public sector in Israel, the U.S., and MENA.

FocusOperations & BD
Experience15+ years
TheatersIsrael · U.S. · MENA
StatusOpen to the right opportunity
01By the Numbers

A record measured in outcomes.

0%
Registered-to-active user rate
0%+
Enterprise renewal rate
$0M+
Government contracts managed
0+
SMB locations served
0%
Program profitability improvement

Across fintech, government, and retail-tech programs — 2017–2026.

02Who I Am

I’m an operations and business development leader who builds the systems that make growth sustainable — CRMs, onboarding infrastructure, go-to-market playbooks, and the teams that run them. I’ve launched city-scale fintech programs across the U.S., managed national security contracts with Israeli ministries, and protected U.S. diplomatic assets. I work best at the intersection of strategy and execution, in environments where complexity is the norm.

Currently open to the right opportunity
03Experience

The work, in depth.

01

ReaLo

Director of Operations
Retail Tech2025 — 2026

As Director of Operations at ReaLo, I architected the operational backbone enabling a global retail network to run predictably at scale — from building the end-to-end service operations system to driving cross-functional alignment across teams and geographies.

Key Wins
Directed global multi-site delivery and logistics across 3,000+ locations for enterprise clients, coordinating international supply chains and partner organizations under tight operational constraints
Architected and led the build of an end-to-end ticketing and service operations system, cutting ticket resolution time by 50% by integrating Salesforce, WhatsApp, Zendesk, Monday.com, Priority ERP, and a third-party technician dispatch system
Drove cross-functional alignment across Operations, Customer Support, PMO, and R&D by restructuring roles, hiring talent, and instituting recurring syncs
02

Colu

Director of Operations and Market Expansion
Fintech2021 — 2024

At Colu I owned the full US market expansion — building the in-market operating model, managing municipal government relationships, and driving the pipeline and renewals engine. I built and led a cross-functional team of 10 across operations, customer success, and account management.

Key Wins
Owned end-to-end US market expansion across Boston, Houston, San Francisco, and other major cities, working directly with US municipal governments on large-scale deployments
Built and managed a pipeline and opportunity-tracking model (BigQuery BI), defining KPIs and providing market intelligence; sustained 85%+ renewal and drove 91% growth
Led a multi-national team of 10 across the US and Israel, fostering accountability across operations, customer success, and account management
03

Genesis MENA

Operations & BD — Strategic Consultant
Consulting2020 — 2021

A consulting role spanning public and private sector clients across the MENA region. Supervised OPSEC operations in security-sensitive environments while identifying and pursuing new market opportunities — managing partner relationships end-to-end from capture through delivery.

Key Wins
Supervised OPSEC operations for MENA clients in complex, security-sensitive environments, navigating regional political, cultural, and economic dynamics
Identified and pursued new opportunities across public- and private-sector clients in the Middle East, developing market-entry strategies and managing partner relationships from capture through delivery
04

INSS

Program Manager — National Security Programs
Government2017 — 2020

At the Institute for National Security Studies, I held full P&L ownership of a $1M+ multi-year government contract — managing delivery, budgeting, and compliance while serving as senior liaison to Israeli defense ministries and international partners across three continents.

Key Wins
Held full P&L ownership of a $1M+ multi-year government contract with Israel's Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Strategic Affairs
Increased flagship program profitability by 150% through contract renegotiation, business-model restructuring, and pricing-strategy overhaul
Served as senior liaison to government stakeholders and international partners, coordinating VIP delegations and conferences across three continents
Operated within regulated, audited, security-sensitive government environments with strict internal controls and compliance discipline
05

U.S. Department of State — Embassy Israel

Security Officer
U.S. Government2015 — 2017

Served directly inside the US Embassy in Israel as a Security Officer under the Department of State — protecting the Ambassador, Deputy Ambassador, and high-value assets while operating in a high-trust, zero-error environment governed by strict US Government protocols.

Key Wins
Served inside a US Department of State diplomatic mission, protecting the US Ambassador, Deputy Ambassador, and high-value assets under strict US Government protocols
Led security coordination, threat assessment, and risk-mitigation procedures in a high-trust, zero-error operational environment
06

Israel Defense Forces — Golani Brigade

Staff Sergeant
Military2011 — 2013

Served as a Staff Sergeant in IDF Golani Reconnaissance — one of the IDF's most demanding infantry roles. Specialized in cross-border missions, navigation, and combat medicine, graduating top of class in both Reconnaissance and Combat Medic courses.

Key Wins
Reconnaissance team member; supported senior command planning, specialized in cross-border missions, navigation, and combat medical support under austere, high-risk field conditions
Graduated 1st in class from both Reconnaissance and Combat Medic courses
Additional training as War Room Commander
06What I'm Building

Independent AI projects.

Functional prototypes built outside of work — applying AI pipelines to real problems in information, intelligence, and analysis.

PROJECT 01

Multi-Perspectival News Synthesis Engine

PythonLLM APIsMulti-stage pipelineNext.js / React

A functional prototype that aggregates news across sources and surfaces differing perspectives on the same event, built as a five-stage AI pipeline (ingest, cluster, analyze, annotate, generate). Architected end-to-end, including build-vs-buy and orchestration decisions across the stack.

PROJECT 02

Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior (CIB) Detection Engine

PythonLLM APIsData analysis

A functional prototype that analyzes online activity to surface signs of coordinated inauthentic behavior and influence campaigns, flagging suspected networks for review. Detection logic and pipeline designed end-to-end, applying AI to a real signal-detection and threat-analysis problem.

07Skills & Tools

What I work with.

Operations
SalesforceZendeskMonday.comPriority ERPBigQueryCustom CRM buildsZapierEnginiMake
AI & Dev Tools
Claude CodeCoworkCursorVercelGitHubv0ObsidianNotion
BD & Partnerships
B2G & B2B contractingGo-to-MarketStakeholder mappingUpsell frameworksContract negotiation
Domains
FintechAI / BlockchainNational SecurityRetail TechPublic Sector
Languages
English (Native)Hebrew (Native)French (Conversational)Spanish (Conversational)
07Testimonials

In their own words.

I had the privilege of working closely with Gideon, our Director of Operations, while I worked as a Project Manager in a high-tech retail media environment. Recommending him is easy: he’s the kind of leader you don’t just “work with”, you learn from him, grow because of him, and remember him long af…

EM
Elisha Menashe

Senior Technical PM, ReaLo

Feb 2026

I am writing to offer my unreserved recommendation for Gideon, with whom I had the privilege of working at Colu Technologies for a period of two years. In my capacity as Customer Success Manager, I had the distinct pleasure of engaging with Gideon daily — amassing over 700 daily interactions that hi…

CD
Christopher DiGirolomo

BD Manager, Archistar

Jul 2024

I had the privilege of working with Gideon at Colu, where his leadership and operational acumen were truly exceptional. Gideon’s strategic vision and outstanding interpersonal skills were instrumental in the success of our projects, particularly the app’s deployment in Utica. He cultivates a collabo…

RR
Ronny Rodriguez

Partnerships & BD

Jun 2024
09Contact

Let’s build something.

Open to the right opportunity — strategy, operations, or BD leadership. No friction. Direct links only.