Farzan Tashvighi
Toronto,Canada
Summary
Senior sales and go-to-market executive with 15+ years of B2B commercial leadership across payments, financial services, and commerce enablement in Canada and the United States. Proven track record of building and leading high-performing, geographically distributed sales organizations, consistently delivering outsized growth across mid-market, large-market, and enterprise segments. Trusted advisor to C-suite finance and executive leadership (CEO, CFO, COO) at some of North America's largest and fastest-growing commerce, retail, and digital-native organizations. Deep expertise in complex sales cycles, profitability levers, customer acquisition economics, and scalable growth strategies, partnering closely with major bank issuers and ecosystem partners. Recognized for inspiring teams, developing future leaders, and driving data-informed go-to-market strategy while operating effectively in ambiguity within evolving, technology-enabled product environments.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
Work History
Director, Business Development & Ecosystem Partnership
Mastercard
Toronto
01.2024 - Current
- Senior commercial leader responsible for driving growth across Mastercard's issuer and corporate ecosystems by expanding issuer portfolios, advising corporates on payments and working capital strategy, and connecting both sides through tailored product, partnership, and go-to-market solutions.
- Led growth initiatives across Mastercard's issuer and corporate ecosystems by partnering with banks, fintechs, and enterprise clients to expand payments volume and product adoption.
- Owned and grew two-sided B2B ecosystem, partnering with banks, fintech issuers, and enterprise corporates to expand payments volume and product adoption across North America.
- Act as a trusted advisor to C-suite finance and treasury leaders, diagnosing operational and payments gaps, and architecting solutions by aligning corporates with the optimal issuer and Mastercard product stack.
- Led and hosted educational sessions, executive roundtables, and seminars for corporates and issuers on emerging trends in payments and working capital optimization.
- Represent Mastercard at industry conferences and trade events, building senior-level relationships across banking, fintech, and enterprise commerce & partner internally with product, marketing, and strategy teams to shape sales direction.
- Led negotiations securing Mastercard's first issuer spend file bid, representing $1.5B in volume over a 5-year contract. Negotiated $10B contract with major media conglomerate for 10-year agreement.
- NYSE: MA | S&P 500
Director, Business Development
CORPAY
Toronto
01.2021 - 01.2024
- Led national business development for Corpay issuing commercial payment solutions across Canada, engaging mid-market and large enterprise clients to optimize payment strategy, working capital, and AP efficiency. Owned the full revenue lifecycle from prospecting through contract negotiation, implementation, and spend ramp-up across multiple payment modalities in Canada and US.
- Drove enterprise acquisition by advising CFOs, Treasury, AP, Procurement, and Finance leaders on payment optimization strategies across virtual cards, ghost cards, physical cards, fleet fuel, and expense solutions on Mastercard rails.
- Positioned Corpay as a strategic payments partner by quantifying ROI through interchange optimization, working capital improvement, rebate structures, and cost-to-pay reduction.
- Orchestrated complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles with finance, IT, procurement, operations, and external partners; aligned product, implementation, underwriting, and compliance teams to deliver scalable solutions.
- Negotiated commercial terms and pricing structures tailored to client spend profiles, payment mix, and growth trajectory. Led program implementation and adoption, partnering with client's post-sale to ramp spend, expand use cases, and maximize value across multiple payment channels.
- Top rookie with 22 signings, delivering $500M in net new signings in 2022. Top producer nationally in 2023, achieving 200% of quota, driving portfolio growth and signing several of the largest enterprise clients in North America across multiple industries.
- Delivered 200% of 2024 target, delivering $1B in net new spend, with multiple enterprise-scale deals progressing through complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles.
- Trained and enabled 100+ SDRs quarterly, shaping best practices in executive engagement, value-based selling, and pipeline management.
- NYSE: CPAY | S&P 500
Senior Business Development Executive
AMERICAN EXPRESS
Toronto
01.2014 - 01.2021
- Senior business development and sales leader with a track record of building and scaling high-growth financial services platforms. Early hire in the launch of American Express Canada's Small and Medium Business Card portfolio (2014), playing a foundational role in market entry, merchant expansion, and vertical growth strategy. Led national growth across key sectors including restaurants, entertainment, and construction, driving increased card adoption, spend volume, and merchant acceptance nationwide. Enabled SMB clients to access unsecured credit and working capital to fuel business growth.
- Led the development and expansion of key industry verticals-including restaurant, entertainment, and construction-across American Express Business and Corporate Card programs. Delivering over $5B in signings during my tenure in net new business.
- Partnered cross-functionally with merchant acquisition, underwriting, and product teams to onboard major national vendors, increasing American Express acceptance and driving over $2B in transaction volume and spend penetration across Canada.
- Strengthened Amex value proposition for merchants and cardmembers by aligning acceptance strategy with customer growth objectives.
- Mid-tenure promotion into an outside sales role reflected strong performance and leadership, with responsibility for larger, more complex opportunities spanning Canada and the United States.
- Led pricing, rebate, and contractual negotiations, navigating multi-stakeholder decision processes and cross-border commercial dynamics to secure favorable outcomes.
- NYSE: AXP | S&P 500
SMB, Business Development
ELOQUA
Toronto
01.2013 - 01.2014
- Business Development Executive with experience driving revenue growth for SMB clients across Canada and the U.S. Proven ability to lead full-cycle sales engagements, from strategic discovery through pricing and contract negotiation. Specialized in assessing corporate objectives, IT capabilities, and digital ecosystems to design data-driven, web-based advertising solutions rooted in user behavior and on-site analytics. Trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, translating complex technical and marketing requirements into scalable short- and long-term solutions that align with client growth goals.
- Engaged C-suite executives across North America to align digital marketing, technology, and growth objectives with client needs.
- Consistently generated $2M+ in monthly net new pipeline against a $1M target.
- Achieved 150% of quota, growing territory by $12M+ in net new revenue.
- Developed best-practice playbooks and onboarding programs for new hires; mentored developing sellers to enhance team capabilities.
- NYSE: ORCL | S&P 500
Education
B.A -
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, ONSkills
- Go-to-market strategy
- Business Development
- B2B ecosystem development
- Digital customer growth
- C-level engagement
- Revenue Growth
- Sales Forecasting
- Forecasting
- Pricing
- Profitability Optimization
- AI sales
- Data-driven decisions
- Cross-functional leadership
- Deal structuring
- Cross-Functional Leadership
- Complex Deal Structuring
- Scaled Sales Programs
- KPI Design
- Salesforce
- Enterprise CRM Systems
- B2B development
- People Management
- Strategy Alignment
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Vendor Relationship Management
- Commerce
- Vendor management
- Negotiation
- Payment Optimization
- payment optimization
Awards
- Top Rookie, 150% of quota - Eloqua (2013)
- Top Rookie, 300% of quota - American Express (2014)
- 8x Consecutive Quota Overachievement - American Express (2014-2021)
- President's Club - American Express (2014-2021)
- Top 5 National Performer - American Express (2019)
- Top Rookie Class - Corpay 200% (2022)
- Top performer - Corpay 200%+ of quota (2023 & 2024)
- President's Club - Corpay (2023 & 2024)
- Delivered 220% over $2.2B target - Mastercard (2025)
- Delivered $2.8B, exceeding target in Q1 - Mastercard (2026)
Executive And Sales Training
- Harvard Business School: Executive Training Modules - American Express
- Double Digits Sales Training - American Express
- VP/SVP Leadership Programs - American Express
- Brainshark - Business Development Training - Corpay
- Continuous self-education in leadership, AI, and modern sales strategy
Core Leadership And Commercial Expertise
- Go-to-Market Strategy & Execution (Mid-Market & Enterprise)
- Commerce, Retail & Digital-Native Customer Growth
- Executive & C-Level Client Engagement (CEO, CFO, CRO)
- Sales Leadership & People Management (Managers & ICs)
- Revenue Growth, Forecasting & Profitability Optimization
- AI-Enabled Sales & Data-Driven Decision Making
- Cross-Functional Leadership (Marketing, Finance, Product)
- Complex Deal Structuring, Pricing & Negotiation
- Scaled Sales Programs & KPI Design
- Salesforce & Enterprise CRM Systems
Timeline
Director, Business Development & Ecosystem Partnership
Mastercard
01.2024 - Current
Director, Business Development
CORPAY
01.2021 - 01.2024
Senior Business Development Executive
AMERICAN EXPRESS
01.2014 - 01.2021
SMB, Business Development
ELOQUA
01.2013 - 01.2014
B.A -
Wilfrid Laurier University