Experience

Electric Grid Cybersecurity Alliance

• United States
• Utilities Administration
• 1 - 100 Employee

• President

  • Nov 2022 - Present

  Austin, Texas, United States Leading the world’s first membership association dedicated to electric grid cybersecurity. Building a global community of practice that: 1) informs top leaders on emerging threats and risks; 2) shares best practices for cybersecurity risk reduction; 3) collaboratively guides program implementation; and 4) accelerates the adoption of new cybersecurity technologies in the marketplace.



Bedrock Strategy Group (was Bluewater Technology Services)

• Chief Executive Officer

  • Feb 2023 - Present

  Austin, Texas, United States Relaunched, repositioned, and renamed a boutique consultancy that I ran from 2008 to 2014 (formerly called Bluewater Technology Services) that provides strategy, digital transformation, and implementation services to utilities, government agencies, technology teams, and cybersecurity organizations. Engage directly or as subcontractor of a larger professional services firm. Typically engage on issues of strategic importance and report to CEOs, senior executives, and boards.



LCRA

• United States
• Utilities
• 700 & Above Employee

• Chief Administrative Officer

  • Mar 2014 - Nov 2022

  Austin, Texas, United States Transformative senior executive reporting directly to the CEO of a public utility with $1.1 billion in annual revenues, six power plants, 5,300 miles of transmission lines, five hydroelectric dams, seven non-generating dams, and 36 parks. Led a quarter of LCRA’s people and 46% of the utility’s non-fuel operating budget, including $114 million in operating budget and a $95 million annual spend on employee benefits. Directed a $2.5 billion capital portfolio. Designed, recruited, developed, and… Show more Transformative senior executive reporting directly to the CEO of a public utility with $1.1 billion in annual revenues, six power plants, 5,300 miles of transmission lines, five hydroelectric dams, seven non-generating dams, and 36 parks. Led a quarter of LCRA’s people and 46% of the utility’s non-fuel operating budget, including $114 million in operating budget and a $95 million annual spend on employee benefits. Directed a $2.5 billion capital portfolio. Designed, recruited, developed, and led a high-trust, high-performing transformation team of 600 full-time employees across 22 departments. • Helped reduce electric rates seven times in two years – from significantly above market price to significantly below market – by delivering the successful turnaround of 22 struggling departments including technology, cybersecurity, risk management, and human resources. • Built first-of-its kind cybersecurity team that became a global success story and successfully defended against billions of targeted cyberattacks. • Three successful Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning system implementations in industrial settings that improved power plant resilience and detected never-before-seen cyberattacks. • Created one of the world’s first fully integrated utility resilience departments. • Complete turnaround of a large corporate IT department by establishing a culture of customer service and rebuilding all levels of the technology enterprise over 400 successful projects. • Millions of dollars of revenue growth and more nimble power plant dispatch through re-architecture of their Generation Management System (GMS) and big data analytics. • 88% reduction in the cost of flood data collection through IoT-powered digital transformation. • Quadrupled transmission project completions – from $183 million to $750 million per year – by transforming project management, data analytics, and right-of-way acquisition. Show less

• Chief Executive Officer

  • Jan 2008 - Mar 2014

  Austin, Texas, United States Founded and led a boutique strategy, cybersecurity, and technology consultancy that provides strategy, digital transformation, and implementation services to utilities, government agencies, technology teams, and cybersecurity organizations. Representative client projects include: • Client: Austin Energy. Led big data analytics and data warehouse implementation sponsored by top agency executives reporting to the CEO. Improved data management across the enterprise. Worked closely with… Show more Founded and led a boutique strategy, cybersecurity, and technology consultancy that provides strategy, digital transformation, and implementation services to utilities, government agencies, technology teams, and cybersecurity organizations. Representative client projects include: • Client: Austin Energy. Led big data analytics and data warehouse implementation sponsored by top agency executives reporting to the CEO. Improved data management across the enterprise. Worked closely with Austin Energy’s cybersecurity and customer service teams. • Client: Texas Education Agency and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Led architectural design and project planning for a statewide SaaS deployment of a novel statewide student data portal. Addressed issues like enterprise data transformation, usability, and alignment of technology with student outcomes. • Client: Texas Workforce Commission. Conducted a comprehensive IT, cybersecurity, and privacy assessment for the Executive Director and Commissioners of the Texas Workforce Commission that analyzed the structure, conduct, and performance of a $43 million IT division. Led to $1.9 million in IT cost savings, cybersecurity enhancements, and the establishment of the agency’s first privacy office. • Client: Austin Independent School District. Led successful deployment of SaaS student performance dashboard for 90,000 students and 9,000 educators. • Client: The BHW Group and Rush Enterprises. Partnered with The BHW Group to deliver project management services for IT development initiatives at Rush Enterprises. • Client: Challenge Games (now Zynga) [NASDAQ: ZNGA]. Led creation of a global back-end payment processing and financial platform to power in-app purchases for a portfolio online games. • Client: SocialDynamix. Helped startup client SocialDynamx develop products for social media listening that led to company acquisition by Lithium Technologies. Show less



Texas Department of Information Resources

• United States
• Government Administration
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Chief Information Officer (IRM)

  • Mar 2005 - Jan 2008

  Austin, Texas, United States Senior government executive reporting directly to the agency Executive Director. Ran all statewide e-Government programs and served as agency CIO. Led 125 people in operations of the world’s largest self-funded e-Government portal, Texas.gov, to a total of 829 online services, 83 million financial transactions, and $5 billion of revenue collected. Managed budgets, strategic plans, and performance. Responsible for all desktop support, data centers, enterprise applications, and other technology… Show more Senior government executive reporting directly to the agency Executive Director. Ran all statewide e-Government programs and served as agency CIO. Led 125 people in operations of the world’s largest self-funded e-Government portal, Texas.gov, to a total of 829 online services, 83 million financial transactions, and $5 billion of revenue collected. Managed budgets, strategic plans, and performance. Responsible for all desktop support, data centers, enterprise applications, and other technology services. Directed high-priority, cross-agency projects that impacted all agency divisions as well as external stakeholders. Advised on technology service delivery and statewide technology initiatives. Frequently briefed the Governor’s Office and agency Board of Directors. • Helped establish the first Office of the State CISO for Texas. • Co-authored the first statewide cybersecurity strategic plan for the State of Texas. • Built Texas’s first integrated Network and Security Operations Center (NSOC) that continues to monitor and protect critical government infrastructure 24/7 to this day. • Successfully defended against 4.5 million cyberattack attempts per year. • Led DIR Emergency Response during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, working closely with affected cities and counties. Worked 24-hour shifts in the State Emergency Operations Center. • Developed first integrated state emergency response web portal as a service on Texas.gov. • Served as evaluator or advisor on $2 billion+ in statewide technology procurements. • Completed successful turnaround of troubled statewide email program implementation. • Established and led a new agency division for E-Government and Web Services for DIR. • Developed a successful business case for the Office of the Governor for re-organizing statewide procurement, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings. Show less



Pluck

• United States
• Food and Beverage Services

• Director of Product Management

  • Aug 2004 - Mar 2005

  Austin, Texas, United States Designed, developed, and deployed a groundbreaking set of social media products during the Web 2.0 revolution. Conducted market research; created product roadmaps; strategized competitive positioning; designed and architected software products; ran Agile software development sprints; ensured robust cybersecurity and data privacy protections. Pluck transformed how publishers and audiences discovered, created, and distributed information online. Eventually reached 600 customers including Mattel… Show more Designed, developed, and deployed a groundbreaking set of social media products during the Web 2.0 revolution. Conducted market research; created product roadmaps; strategized competitive positioning; designed and architected software products; ran Agile software development sprints; ensured robust cybersecurity and data privacy protections. Pluck transformed how publishers and audiences discovered, created, and distributed information online. Eventually reached 600 customers including Mattel, Nestle, Amazon, and Walgreens. Venture funded by Austin Ventures, the Mayfield Fund, and Reuters. Acquired by Demand Media [NYSE:DMD] and then by Sprinklr [NYSE: CXM]. • Assumed leadership of an off-schedule software release cycle and drove successful completion. • Helped build the first system that allowed readers to comment on professional news articles. • Cybersecurity analysis uncovered social media misinformation campaigns by rogue state actors. Show less



ROME Corporation (now ION Group)

• Director of Program Management

  • Jul 2002 - Aug 2004

  Austin, Texas, United States Designed, developed, and deployed a novel suite of enterprise software products for credit risk management in energy trading that remains a market leader in use by ERCOT, ConocoPhillips, Vistra, Williams, and more. Conducted market research; designed and architected software products; directly managed the software development and testing teams; ensured robust cybersecurity and data privacy protections; led sale of the product to first three customers; managed on-time professional services… Show more Designed, developed, and deployed a novel suite of enterprise software products for credit risk management in energy trading that remains a market leader in use by ERCOT, ConocoPhillips, Vistra, Williams, and more. Conducted market research; designed and architected software products; directly managed the software development and testing teams; ensured robust cybersecurity and data privacy protections; led sale of the product to first three customers; managed on-time professional services implementations. Acquired by the ION Group [CVE: ION]. • Delivered $750 million return on a $400,000 investment for one client. • Personally authored 2,500+ pages of successful product design specifications. • Developed successful SaaS global deployment model that reduced implementation cost. • Granted a US Patent 7,571,138, as primary inventor, for novel software designs. Show less



Oridian, Inc.

• United States

• Chief Executive Officer

  • Jun 2000 - Jul 2002

  Austin, Texas, United States Founder and CEO of boutique consultancy in software product design and cybersecurity that delivered 25 successful engagements for startups and other innovative clients, including eMac Digital (a spinoff of McDonalds), Austin Ventures, ACRAN, and Carbon Software. Hired and managed team. Deployed highly reliable, cybersecure web applications in a datacenter environment. Sold company to become in-house development team for ROME Corporation. • Designed and developed an advanced online… Show more Founder and CEO of boutique consultancy in software product design and cybersecurity that delivered 25 successful engagements for startups and other innovative clients, including eMac Digital (a spinoff of McDonalds), Austin Ventures, ACRAN, and Carbon Software. Hired and managed team. Deployed highly reliable, cybersecure web applications in a datacenter environment. Sold company to become in-house development team for ROME Corporation. • Designed and developed an advanced online commerce and merchandising platform for Carbon Software, which was successfully acquired by Alcatel-Lucent [NYSE: ALU]. • Created product specifications and cybersecurity protocols for a next-generation point-of-sale system and business applications platform for use in McDonalds restaurants worldwide. • Designed and developed an online product configuration and visualization system for ACRAN. • Created and built a secure trading counterparty management system for ROME Corporation, which purchased our company in 2002. Show less



living.com Inc.

• United States

• Product Manager

  • Jun 1999 - Jul 2000

  Austin, Texas, United States Designed and architected the world’s #1-ranked online retail website for furniture and home furnishings at the height of the dot-com boom. Backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and venture capital investments from Benchmark Capital, GE Capital, Starbucks, and Amazon. • First person in the world to sell GE Appliances online. • First person in the world to integrate real-time ERP inventory data with an online store. • Helped integrate a $20 million per year offline mail order… Show more Designed and architected the world’s #1-ranked online retail website for furniture and home furnishings at the height of the dot-com boom. Backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and venture capital investments from Benchmark Capital, GE Capital, Starbucks, and Amazon. • First person in the world to sell GE Appliances online. • First person in the world to integrate real-time ERP inventory data with an online store. • Helped integrate a $20 million per year offline mail order business into the ecommerce site. • Helped implement an exclusive partnership with Amazon.com. Show less



Trilogy

• Human Resources Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Technical Pre-Sales Engineer

  • Jun 1998 - Aug 1999

  Austin, Texas, United States Managed complex sales cycles with Fortune 500 clients for a high-growth enterprise software startup. Served as founding member of new product team, SC Commission. Gathered market intelligence and designed new product features. Sold $19.5 million of new software licenses in one year.