Meet the Team.
MOSHE YANAI
FOUNDER & CEO
Moshe Yanai was born in 1949 in Israel and earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1975 from Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Yanai began his career building IBM-compatible mainframe data storage based on minicomputer disks for Elbit Systems (a joint project with Nixdorf Computer). He went on to develop high-end storage systems for Nixdorf in the United States. Yanai joined EMC Corporation in 1987, and managed the Symmetrix development, software and hardware, from its inception in the late 1980s until shortly before leaving EMC in 2001. His development team grew from several people, recruited among his former Israeli colleagues, to thousands while he was vice president. EMC grew in the 1990s, both in size and value, from a company with a fading business of minicomputer memory boards valued at several million dollars to a company with a valuation of hundreds-of-billions of dollars. Before leaving he became an EMC Fellow.
Yanai funded and led an Israeli storage startup company, XIV, which was bought by IBM in January 2008 (IBM paid an estimated $300 million for a company started with an estimated $3 million initial investment.) Yanai continued leading XIV and became an IBM Fellow. The IBM XIV Storage System became an IBM storage product. Shortly later, in April 2008, IBM bought Diligent Technologies, another storage company co-founded by Yanai. He left IBM in 2010. In 2011, he founded Infinidat, a computer data storage company. In April 2015, Infinidat announced a $150 million investment led by TPG Capital. This investment placed it among the most valuable privately held companies. Yanai is an inventor or co-inventor of about 40 US patents in the field of electronic data storage. In June 2011, his alma mater, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, awarded him the honor of Distinguished Fellow of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and in 2012 conferred upon him an honorary doctorate. He has been a member of the board of directors of several companies. Also, in 2011, Infinidat announced Yanai became its CEO.
CHRIS DONOVAN SR
PRESIDENT
Chris started his aviation career flying for the United States Military and flew in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. After completing several active-duty combat tours and reserve tours he began his commercial helicopter flying. As a consummate aviation professional who is constantly challenging his skills and leading the industry in innovation and safety, Chris has over 10,000 hours of flight time in single-engine and multi-engine aircraft (helicopters and airplanes). He loves transporting and interacting with his customers. Married for over 20 years, he and his wife, Catherine, have two boys who keep them busy!
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
CHRIS DONOVAN JR
Christopher Donovan Jr. “Chris Jr.” is Executive Vice President of Boston Executive FBO. His responsibilities include hiring crew, maintaining every aspect of the fuel farm, working compliance with the FAA, line management, as well as, all of the other responsibilities associated with a commercially operated hangar.
Chris Jr., a native of Walpole, Massachusetts, came to work in the field of aviation after attending the University of Massachusetts and working in the construction industry. Through these academic and work experiences, he realized that his passion was aviation. After flying fixed-wing aircraft for a short period of time, he became aware that flying helicopters is where he felt most connected. In 2020, he obtained his commercial helicopter license.
In addition to his work as Executive Vice President of Boston Executive FBO, Chris Jr. flies helicopter tours of the Boston area and aerial photography missions. Chris Jr. was named a Director of “Above the Clouds,” a non-profit organization that provides children with disabilities the experience of flight.
In his own childhood, Chris, Jr. had the experience of flying. When he was born, his father was overseas flying Apache helicopters for the United States Army in Iraq. When Chris Sr. returned home, he flew helicopters for the local news stations; hence, while Chris Jr. was growing up, he spent quite a bit of time in the back seat of news helicopters. It makes sense that a child who experienced flying with his father would choose the career path that he did, a career that provides aviators with critical ground and flight services. It is only natural that Chris Jr. landed in the position of Executive Vice President of Boston Executive FBO.
ETHAN POAG
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Ethan started his flight training in Prescott, Arizona early in 2021. He applied to Boston Executive FBO while he was still living in Arizona because it seemed like the perfect opportunity to become more involved in aviation. Later that same year, he moved to Massachusetts and started at Boston Executive FBO just a few days after moving. He continued his flight training at East Coast Aero Club, a flight school just a few hangars down from Boston Executive FBO. In September 2022 he passed the private pilot check ride and became a pilot. He is now working toward achieving his instrument rating. Ethan is also an electronics and engineering enthusiast and has worked on a number of projects around the hangar including setting up the YouTube live streams and ADS-B ground stations for FlightRadar24 and Flight Aware.