Management Team

Raj Raheja

Raj provides a leading voice for the future of 3D Interactivity and Virtual Training technologies. He co-founded Heartwood with Neil Wadhawan, and focuses on company vision, culture and new technology development, his real passion.

“I believe in using technology to make complex tasks easier, safer and more efficient. And I also believe we should do so responsibly and not just because it can be implemented. For example, tacking on a VR headset onto an employee with no other access point and lifecycle thought – would just be a science project. Our company, based in Silicon Valley, has developed a way to help technical workforce learn complex tasks with virtual 3d interactive technology that is as simple as using any other app – on their tablet, PC, web browser, and yes, AR and VR as well.
Training happens in a classroom, on a plant floor, in between job sites and 2 minutes before the task sometimes. We need to be there for your workforce all the way.”

Awarded ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ and featured in Inc. & Entrepreneur magazines, San Francisco Business Times, Silicon Valley Business Journal and more, Raj intensely writes about his vision for the industry, the company, our team and founding principles here.

Raj loves the water and has convinced himself that he is a good tennis player. He encourages everyone at the company to live a complete life. His last adventure was climbing the world’s highest free standing mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Neil Wadhawan

While top line growth has always been Neil’s #1 responsibility, he firmly believes in Building the Business versus just making the Quarter. He brings a laser-like focus on solving customers problems around training, safety and job performance support. He oversees three critical pillars for growth:

1. Building relationships with Fortune 1000 like BNSF, Norfolk Southern, CSX and Pacific Gas and Electric.
2. Strategic alliances with enterprise teams at Apple and HP – leveraging their market reach.
3. Go-to-Market strategy for key sectors like Transportation and Energy.

Neil spearheaded Heartwood’s official partnership with Apple’s Mobility Partner Program (MPP – only 150 partners worldwide) and was responsible for our Inc. 500|5000 Fastest Growing Company recognition.

Always an energetic evangelist, he has been an invited speaker at Google, Apple, and Unity to demonstrate the Future of Training!

A product of Northeastern University, he loves the process of building a company and ensures the founder values and culture are being lived up to.

Tara Scarrow

Tara started and now leads Heartwood’s Customer Success Program. Many of you may know her from leading our Development Team for over a decade. Her experience with development gives her a unique perspective to improve the customer experience after delivery and maximize our customers’ return on investment. Her purpose is to think “customer first” and work with multiple stakeholders to seek out new information and opportunities to benefit our customers.

She emphasizes that “a customer is never out of warranty, even if the product is.”

On an operational level, she bridges the gap between the sales and development team by educating Heartwood’s customers on the full potential, value and use of the solutions they invest in. She aligns with our customers’ vision of their training & OJT solutions and finds new opportunities to use innovative, intuitive and simple-to-use applications. Being customer-obsessed, Tara is able to hold that vision while encouraging our organization and customers to push the limits of the technology.

Most weekends you will find Tara taking in the glory of the Northern California outdoors or enjoying one of the many local festivals.

Jess Carneiro

Jacinthe “Jess” Cloutier-Carneiro is a well-respected member of the rail industry. Her career spans 15+yrs in various capacities including Logistics management for locomotive parts, Operational management for producing locomotive high-voltage products and business development/account executive for locomotive leasing, maintenance contracts, overhaul and repairs – to private and government railroads worldwide.

Heartwood believes Jess brings her vast experience in rail equipment to the next logical step of delivering digital solutions/apps that upskill your rail workforce – in operations, safety, and maintenance of any equipment or rolling stock.

Jess is a longstanding member of CARS (Canadian Association of Railroad Suppliers), an active member for the LRW (League of Railway Women) and an annual participant/presenter at major railroad exhibitions including RSI, AREMA, and ASLRRA amongst others.

A dedicated railroader aside, Jess is a devoted mother of 5 and an avid athlete with a background in competitive Figure Skating and Volleyball. Despite her busy schedule, you can find her at the gym daily training in Cross-fit.

Brian Keller

Brian is a bold advocate of rail employees receiving proper technical skills training directly related to enhancing their work performance. He believes it is critical to have employees trained and upskilled to perform technical tasks – for their safety and the safety of others.

He has been in the railroad industry for over 40-years holding numerous responsibilities in the areas of technical skills training, rail transportation, field operations and staff management. Brian joined Heartwood after retiring from Amtrak as the “Director of Technical Training” and is helping us work with rail customers & partners in the development of our solutions and relationships.

We believe that the combination of his operational and training experience has positioned him as a leading evangelist of virtual interactive simulation-based technical training. Brian began his railroad career as a trainee, new to the industry and its nuances and has always looked for ways to improve training while making it relevant for the student, efficient for the employer and effective to enhance job performance.

Brian enjoys working with people, both formally and informally, to develop their professional and personal foundation. An active volunteer at organizations serving the community, he enjoys spending time with his family and travelling.

Timo Wadhawan

Timo enjoys working on all things financial and contractual. He relishes planting the seeds of personal responsibility in all of us at Heartwood. He is a dedicated participant in the steady, enduring and ethical growth of the company. His life experiences are many and varied—from hitch hiking in the Middle East and Europe, building Hydro Electric Dams, to constructing power plants in Northern British Columbia. In the spirit of unceasing learning he generates solar electricity at home.

As a tinkerer he has the innate ability to understand the complexity and the O&M training needs of the industry. He is a passionate gardener who enjoys environmentally growing vegetables. Timo has been an avid Ping-Pong competitor, and has recently taken on the challenges of learning Golf. He holds a B. Tech Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi and MASc. Systems Design University of Waterloo, Canada.

Dominik Browne

Dominik Browne is a seasoned railroad professional with over 15 years of industry experience in Operations, Training, and Human Resources. He hired with Norfolk Southern Railroad as a Management Trainee in Transportation and held various operations positions including terminal trainmaster, trainmaster, general manager, and Assistant Division Superintendent. Dominik shifted to an HR role where he oversaw Norfolk Sothern’s technical training center and field training curriculum for Conductor Trainees.

Dominik has leveraged his HR and Operational expertise to lead HR and Operational initiatives for both Delta Airlines and Amazon. Dominik holds degrees from Virginia Military Institute (BA), Villanova University (MS), and attended the Executive Development Program at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. He also holds certifications for SAP Learning Management Systems, Qualtrics Experience Management, and is a SHRM certified professional. In 2020 Dominik was recognized by Railway Age as a top 10 under 40 winner!