LEADERSHIP TEAM
Our Team Members
Chris Patti – Chief Executive Officer
Chris Patti has served as KSI’s Chief Executive Officer since 2018.
Chris has a long history in distribution having worked for both public and private equity sponsored businesses. He started in the scientific industry in 1998 with VWR International (Avantor) where he held multiple leadership positions and then transitioned into the automotive aftermarket industry in 2007 when he started at Keystone Automotive Operations. Chris helped transform the sales team at Keystone leading to a successful sale of the company to LKQ in 2014. From 2014 to 2017 Chris remained at LKQ where he was responsible for the sales and marketing in North America. Chris holds an B.A. from Muhlenberg College in English.
Larry Santoro – Chief Financial Officer
Larry Santoro has served as KSI’s Chief Financial Officer since 2018.
Larry has a background in operations, private equity and finance. He has held a number of executive and senior management positions including as founder of TAS Holdings, an auto-industry focused investment and advisory firm, Chief Administrative Officer and EVP of Fairway Market, a publicly-traded NY metro-area food retailer, Operating Partner at Sterling Investment Partners and Founding Partner and Head of U.S. Private Equity of New Vernon Capital, a multi-billion-dollar asset management firm investing in a range of Indian and U.S. assets. Previously, Larry was a Managing Director in Merrill Lynch’s (now Bank of America's) Investment Banking Group where he served as Group Head of several Investment Banking Groups and as a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group. Larry holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Engineering from Dartmouth College.
Andy Erickson – Chief Information Officer
Andy Erickson has served as the Chief Information Officer since 2020
Prior to joining KSI as their CIO, Andy had spent the previous year as the Interim CIO through a relationship with RKON. During his 25-year career in IT, Andy has worked at several global companies, including Ace Hardware, Millward Brown and F5 Networks. Most recently Andy was at RKON Technologies where he ran the Professional Services Team. Andy has experience managing teams during merger and acquisitions, as well as carve-outs. Andy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois
Geoff Watson – Vice President of Operations
Geoff has served as the Vice President of Operations since 2020
Geoff has been around distribution and the automotive aftermarket for nearly 30 years. He spent over twenty-five years of his career with Genuine Parts Company/NAPA in various management roles including Major Accounts, Wholesale Management, NAPA Product Management, Retail and Marketing, Altrom Import Parts Distribution, and NAPA Warehousing and Distribution. Most recently Geoff served as the Northeast Regional Vice President for Factory Motor Parts. Geoff holds a Bachelor of Arts in American History from the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.
James White - Vice President of Safety and Facilities
James has served as the Vice President of Safety and Facilities since 2018
Throughout his 30-year career with KSI, he has held many positions starting as a delivery driver then holding multiple leadership positions and ultimately as a Vice President of the company. James has brought significant value to the organization throughout the years and continues to be involved in multiple aspects of the company.
Darius Kondaki – Director of Sales – US
Darius Kondaki has served as the Director of Sales since 2021.
Darius joined KSI in January of February of 2020 and took on the role of Regional Sales Manager of the Southern Zone. Darius previously worked for WORLDPAC, a subsidiary of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. as Regional Vice President of Sales-East; markets managed included half the U.S. Puerto Rico and export markets. He served on the company’s 18-member Operating Committee. Primary responsibilities included strategic planning, Greenfield and Delivery Route expansion. Other key activities included the inside sales and marketing of automotive products to the premier import specialty repair shops. Darius Kondaki holds a MBA degree from Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Melanie Pastor – Director Of Supply Chain Management
Melanie Pastor has served as the Director of Supply Chain Management since 2019
During her 25-year career in Supply Chain, Melanie has worked at several global companies, including Alcoa, Reynolds Consumer Products, and Ivex Packaging. Prior to joining KSI, Melanie was at Rank Group a privately held investment company based in Auckland, New Zealand. Rank constituent companies operate internationally in packaging, consumer goods and building supplies industries where she held various leadership roles on projects that spanned North, Central, and South American as well as Europe during a vast number of mergers and acquisitions.
Michael Romanello – Director of Sales and Marketing
Mike Romanello has the served as the Director of Sales and Marketing since 2020.
Mike joined KSI in the fall of 2018 as a Regional Sales Manager responsible for the Northeast region. Prior to joining KSI, Mike spent more than fifteen years in various leadership roles in the automotive parts aftermarket with Pep Boys.
Kevin Taddeo – Director of Content and Catalog Management
Kevin has served as the Director of Content and Catalog Management since 2020
Kevin has been in the automotive industry for nearly 30 years. Through that time, he has held several different roles and worked in many different areas of the industry. Kevin’s history comes with many impressive milestones, some of which include spearheading the build and management of 4WheelParts website and their data. He was one of the founding members of a very successful startup with AddOnAuto that later sold to Reynolds and Reynolds, where he headed up several very successful projects and earned the award of SEMA PRO Manufacturer of the year. Kevin recently took a role as a Director at AutoNation to create and head their Catalog and Content division. Kevin now heads up KSI’s Catalog, Content, and Website. Kevin is also very active within SEMA and currently holds a seat in the PRO Counsel.