Innovative Systems: A Rural Tech Giant’s Growth Journey

Building an A-Team

After the deal closed in December 2020, Roger retained a board seat at Innovative and rolled a portion of his equity to retain his stake in the company’s future success. Alpine placed seasoned operator Ali Jenab as the new Innovative CEO from day one to lead the 200+ employee team.*

Innovative’s transformation began immediately. Along with Ali, Alpine repatriated two top leaders—Amanda Sayigh and Austin Monahan—from its CEO-in-Training (CIT) talent program that recruits and develops high-potential MBAs to become future CEOs within Alpine’s portfolio companies.

After leading a successful exit as CFO at Alpine portfolio company Perennial EdTech, Amanda Sayigh joined Innovative as CFO and CRO before later becoming COO and CFO. Austin Monahan was brought on to Innovative as CRO and later grew into the role of President.

The team continued to build out a strong leadership bench with key hires, including Nathan Knuth as a VP of Engineering, who later grew into a CTO role. With new leadership in place, Innovative was ready to start making meaningful changes.

Revenue Model Transformation

Under CEO Ali Jenab and the new team’s leadership, the business nearly doubled in revenue, transitioned its customer base to subscription offerings, and invested meaningfully in its emerging payments product.

The revenue model transition was a bold shift. Customers on long-standing maintenance contracts were carefully moved to subscriptions. At first, many loyal customers saw it as a potential disruption to their business. But ultimately, the new revenue model standardized pricing and improved customer experience by allowing the team to seamlessly deliver its latest software to all customers simultaneously. As a result, customer retention was strong because they ultimately could understand the value.

“When managers began to see the subscription contracts not as a threat but as a foundation for growth, the skeptics became advocates,” shared David Malkin, senior associate at Alpine. “Once they saw the value, retention stayed strong and customers came with us.”

Beyond the subscription transition, Alpine helped expand payments into a high-volume revenue stream, broadened the company’s reach into municipalities and utilities, and modernized sales, marketing, and back-office operations through Alpine’s in-house value creation team, Atlas. The result was a more scalable, professional organization.

Even as the business changed, Roger’s presence remained. He continued to sit on the board, offering perspective and continuity. Alpine made a community donation to Roger’s alma mater in Mitchell, South Dakota—a gesture of gratitude that reflected both Roger’s roots and the company’s future.

“Every promise we made to Roger on day one—we kept. That matters as much as the financial results,” Patrick shared.

PeopleFirst in Action

As the business scaled operationally, Alpine also worked to scale its culture. PeopleFirst is Alpine’s playbook for how we build and lead great companies. For Innovative Systems, PeopleFirst became the framework that turned a founder-led company into a connected, empowered organization positioned to scale.

From day one, Ali, Amanda, Austin, and the leadership team fully embraced Alpine’s PeopleFirst playbook. That meant putting people at the center of business strategy and turning core principles into everyday practices that drove alignment, accountability, and results.

The First 90 Days

Alpine’s signature F90 onboarding program was introduced immediately to help the new executives—including Ali—align on vision, people, and priorities within the first 90 days. This accelerated integration and created early momentum for change.

Ali especially leaned into a culture of consistent 1:1s and company-wide transparency. Quarterly all-hands meetings, weekly check-ins, and open communication channels helped ensure every employee understood the vision and their role in achieving it.

Putting the PeopleFirst Playbook to Work

The leadership team worked to create a One Page Plan (OPP), a pillar of Alpine’s PeopleFirst Leadership Program, which quickly became a central part of Innovative’s operating rhythm. The OPP captured the company’s mission, vision, and values and served as a living roadmap for goals and commitments. It guided board meetings, leadership discussions, and renewal planning.

In August 2022, the team rolled out the OPP company-wide through a two-day training led by Alpine’s PeopleFirst facilitator, Amy Day. Employees at all levels learned goal setting, feedback, and coaching tools to help them in their careers at Innovative and beyond.

During the first year of ownership, Alpine also trained all Innovative managers through its PeopleFirst Leadership Program (PFLP). The training focused on leading through difficult conversations, conducting transparent performance reviews, and linking compensation to impact. For the first time, Innovative implemented company-wide performance review cycles with clear criteria and open feedback.

“Ali bought into PeopleFirst immediately. He made communication, 1:1s, and vision-sharing a priority. That changed how the organization worked together—and how decisions got made.” —Patrick Eble

Through PeopleFirst, Innovative built alignment at every level, strengthened leadership capability, and preserved the close-knit culture Roger had started decades earlier. The results that followed were a direct reflection of the team’s commitment to turning a founder-led business into a PeopleFirst company.

Real Results

By 2025, Innovative Systems was a different company: Revenue had increased by more than 50%, EBITDA nearly doubled, and recurring revenue had grown to nearly 90%. Payments had become a new revenue stream and Innovative’s platform was positioned for sustained expansion.

Beyond financial results, Alpine helped strengthen Innovative’s customer and employee experiences in meaningful ways.

Customer Satisfaction Improvements

Customer NPS (Net Promoter Score)—a measure of satisfaction and loyalty—increased from 31 at entry to 43 at exit, signaling stronger customer relationships and confidence in the company’s products and service.

Employee Tenure Held Strong

Average tenure at Innovative Systems exceeded ten years—a sign of enduring loyalty and long-term commitment. Alpine’s focus on leadership development and transparent communication helped preserve the company’s close-knit culture during rapid transformation.

“Amanda and Austin were instrumental,” shared David. “They drove the renewal processes, operational planning, and culture-building that helped employees feel aligned and confident through transformation.”

In August 2025, Alpine announced the sale of Innovative Systems to GTCR, a private equity firm with deep expertise in telecom and payments. GTCR moved decisively, offering both conviction and continuity. Importantly, they brought in Scott Alcott, a former Comcast executive, to lead the company into its next chapter.

A Legacy That Lives On

Roger’s story had come full circle. The company he founded, nurtured, and passed on had not only survived the leadership transition—it had thrived. Today, under GTCR’s ownership and Scott Alcott’s leadership, Innovative continues its mission to serve rural America with modern, integrated technology.

For Alpine, this exit validates our firm’s ethos: supporting founder-led businesses into their next phase of growth while keeping promises to employees, customers, and communities.

“Innovative is a textbook example of the Alpine playbook,” David shared. “We supported a founder through transition, built a leadership team, executed a business model shift, and exited to a world-class partner.”

*Remembering Ali Jenab

We are deeply saddened to share that Ali Jenab passed away in August 2025. Ali Jenab was a senior member of the Alpine CEO community for the last nine years, first as CEO of Perennial EdTech and more recently with Innovative Systems. Many of us considered Ali not only a colleague, but also a friend. He was a generous mentor, deeply committed to developing the next generation of leaders at Alpine—many of whom went on to become CEOs after working with him.

We were fortunate to have his leadership guiding the 200+ person team at Innovative Systems. Under his leadership, the business nearly doubled in revenue, transitioned its customer base to subscription offerings, and invested meaningfully in its emerging payments product. His legacy will leave a lasting mark on both Innovative Systems and the broader Alpine community.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Ali had a vibrant spirit. He loved to laugh and had a sharp, joyful sense of humor. Above all, he was devoted to his family. He was incredibly proud of them, and nothing made him happier than spending time on adventures with his wife, Annette, and their sons, André and Alec.

In 2020, we spotlighted Ali as a member of our CEO-in-Residence program. Read more here about his career, approach to leadership and lessons he learned along the way.

—

ALPINE OPERATIONS GROUP

IRRESPECTIVE OF EMPLOYMENT AND EXCLUSIVITY, ANY FEES, COMPENSATION (INCLUDING INCENTIVE EQUITY), REIMBURSEMENTS OR OTHER AMOUNTS RECEIVED BY ALPINE OPERATIONS GROUP (AOG) MEMBERS (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAMS (E.G. CEO-IN-TRAINING (CIT), CEO-IN-RESIDENCE (CIR), CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER (CPO), CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (CFO), PEOPLEFIRST, TALENT/RECRUITING, CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT, DIRECT SOURCING (ELEVATION), VALUE CREATION SERVICES (ATLAS) INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, SALES & MARKETING, PRICING AND FINANCIAL OPERATIONS, TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND ANY YET TO BE FORMED SERVICES) GENERALLY WILL BE PAID BY A PORTFOLIO COMPANY OR PROSPECTIVE PORTFOLIO COMPANY AND/OR THE APPLICABLE ALPINE FUND AND DO NOT OFFSET SUCH ALPINE FUND’S MANAGEMENT FEE. ACCORDINGLY, THE FEES AND EXPENSES OF ALPINE OPERATIONS GROUP MEMBERS ARE NOT COVERED BY THE ALPINE FUND’S MANAGEMENT FEE AND WILL NOT OTHERWISE REDUCE THE MANAGEMENT FEE. THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCE THAT NO OTHER SERVICE PROVIDER IS MORE QUALIFIED TO PROVIDE SUCH SERVICES OR COULD PROVIDE SUCH SERVICES AT A LESSER COST. SIMILARLY, THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCE THAT ALPINE OPERATIONS GROUP SERVICES WILL BE DEPLOYED ON BEHALF OF A PORTFOLIO COMPANY, OR IF DEPLOYED, THAT THEY WILL LEAD TO INVESTOR RETURNS. SIMILARLY, THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCE ALPINE OPERATIONS GROUP MEMBERS WILL BE EXCLUSIVE TO A PORTFOLIO COMPANY OR ANY ALPINE FUND.

WE USE “ALPINE HQ” TO REFER TO EMPLOYEES OF BOTH THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY AND ALPINE OPERATIONS GROUP.