Thom Kozik leads Marriott’s global Loyalty programs as part of the company’s Marketing team, overseeing the Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards programs, various airline and other travel partnerships, as well Marriott’s branded credit card programs worldwide. Thom brings a unique perspective to the position with his diverse and successful background as a digital product developer, venture capitalist, and Internet entrepreneur. Early in his career, Thom was a program management leader at Microsoft where he was responsible for portions of Windows, and also oversaw product strategy for multimedia technologies. Over the ensuing years Thom went on to launch two online & mobile game companies, selling them to Yahoo! and Atari respectively. Serving as Atari’s Executive Vice President he defined company’s online and mobile gaming strategy, built the new teams and led record-setting product launches. As an angel investor & venture capitalist, Thom purchased and later sold Europe’s leading social gaming company to Yahoo! where he led the Internet giant’s games business unit. Additionally, Thom has been active in Startup Grind in Los Angeles, and also served as Director of the local chapter of Founder Institute, having mentored over 50 startups in the LA market over the past 10 years. Thom currently serves as a director and advisor for a handful of gaming, and online video startups, is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and a sought-after speaker at industry conferences and institutions including Harvard Business School.