Our passionate team of professionals combines diverse backgrounds and extensive industry experience. We deliver personalized solutions that drive your business forward, understanding your needs with precision.
Silex Data Solutions is a minority-owned business (EDWOSB and WBE certified). As the primary owner, Johnna Smith leads the overall corporate direction for Silex Data Solutions. Her background in operations and marketing serves her well in business development, operations, and the overall leadership of Silex. Her focus on brand awareness and market adoption has propelled Silex from a startup to a multi-million-dollar enterprise in a few short years. Likewise, her experience with finance and accounting supplements the larger team at Silex.
In her free time, Johnna volunteers at local churches and schools. As CEO of Silex, she is also responsible for choosing the numerous donations to non-profit organizations as a means to give back to the local community. Previous experience includes private ventures and startup businesses in the IT field.
Ryan Smith is the President and co-founder of Silex Data Solutions, where his passion for empowering people and solving complex business challenges has fueled the company’s growth—and that of its clients—for over a decade. Recognizing a critical gap in the enterprise market, Ryan helped establish Silex as a truly agnostic partner, shifting the industry conversation from infrastructure alone to a holistic focus on client data strategy.
Under Ryan’s leadership, Silex has become known for transforming how organizations leverage data—helping clients reduce costs, increase revenue, and unlock the power of predictive analytics to turn information into a strategic asset. A steadfast advocate for customer education, Ryan ensures that Silex stands apart by continuously exploring emerging technologies, producing unbiased industry reports, and simplifying a complex landscape so clients can make confident, informed decisions.
Ryan and his team architect comprehensive strategies that span enterprise infrastructure, security, disaster recovery, intelligent automation, predictive analytics, and modern workplace delivery—enabling organizations to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital world.
As Chief Financial Officer, Bryan has primary responsibility for directing and overseeing all company financial and accounting objectives and obligations. He has over twenty years of financial and management experience, including an association with a Nashville-certified public accounting firm.
Bryan received his BS degree in Accounting from Lipscomb University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA).
Derek Lewis serves as the Chief Technology Officer & Data Scientist at Silex and is responsible for Silex’s technical pre-sales architecture and delivery engineering teams. Derek has over 14 years in the healthcare & technology industries in various roles, including technical leadership and management roles for large healthcare companies, as well as CTO of a cloud-first healthcare startup. Prior to joining Silex, Derek was a Solutions Architect for Dell Technologies and assisted Dell’s clients with digital transformation and building modern data centers with hybrid cloud.
Derek’s focus at Silex has been and continues to be on building differentiated services and technology offerings that take Silex beyond a traditional value-added reseller with our customers. Derek frequently presents at AI-focused conferences, including most recently, the State of Tennessee’s AI Summit where he was a keynote presenter on two topics: “Modernizing IT for GenAI at Scale” & “Secure By Design: Building Trustworthy GenAI Systems”.