OpenGov, a vertical SaaS ERP provider for state and local governments, faced challenges with slow-paced product delivery and a need to scale both its platform and business operations. The company had 800 customers but needed to expand its offerings, improve internal processes, and secure compliance to drive growth.

I grew the engineering team from 90 to over 170 engineers while transforming it with a high-performance culture focused on technical excellence, scalability, and quality by revamping agile methodologies to accelerate product delivery and enhancing collaboration across engineering, product, customer success, and sales. I also led the successful integration of the Cartegraph acquisition, expanding OpenGov’s offering to 5 application suites, and drove the company toward SOC2 compliance to enhance security, increase trust, and meet regulatory requirements.

The results were transformative: the SaaS platform grew from about 800 to over 1,900 customers while more than doubling from $52M to $133M. The strengthened engineering processes and product suite significantly contributed to OpenGov’s acquisition by Cox Enterprises for $1.8B in February 2024. Details at https://tinyurl.com/4975j22w

Thales faced significant scalability and cost challenges deploying applications at telecom scale. For example. a key solution required 650 servers to process a petabyte of call detail record (CDR) data daily for rich, real-time use cases including network optimization (maximizing radio access network throughput), predictive maintenance (using real-time analytics to predict and prevent equipment failure), and customer experience (debugging live mobile phone experiences with real-time data).

Leveraging SQLstream's real-time streaming platform, for which I led the development prior to the Thales acquisition of SQLstream, I oversaw the integration into Thales' solutions, allowing for simplified high-volume data ingestion, processing of telecom data at scale, and executing efficient real-time analytics to solve telecom use cases.

In the example with a daily petabyte of CDR data, the SQLstream solution was able to reduce required servers from 650 to just 20. This was a typical system efficiency improvement, slashing millions of dollars in operational costs and enabling Thales to meet the real-time processing demands of 5G networks and IoT applications.

SQLstream was a pioneer in data management, having built the first technology for using standard SQL to process real-time data streams. The company faced many challenges including a multiyear development effort without external capital and the need for highly specialized engineers capable of developing database kernels. SQLstream also had to evangelize how its novel technology could solve customer problems and identify the right sectors for its focus.

As co-founder and EVP of Products & Engineering, I recruited and led a rarefied engineering team who initially worked for equity only, guiding them through the enormous task of building a world-class stream processing engine. I also played a key role in educating customers on the value of real-time stream processing and positioned SQLstream in the telecom and IoT sectors, where it had the highest impact. I also helped to secure strategic deals, positioning SQLstream as the backbone for traffic management, telecom, and service level agreement compliance applications.

These efforts led to several key successes: securing $10M in contracts with the Roads and Maritime Service of New South Wales, where SQLstream powered a range of real-time traffic management applications, and licensing SQLstream technology to AWS as the foundation for AWS Kinesis Data Analytics—establishing SQL for stream processing as an industry standard. Thales ultimately acquired SQLstream for telecom and IoT use cases.

RelayHealth connects key healthcare stakeholders, including patients, providers, pharmacies, payors, and PBMs for online delivery of healthcare. The company initially operated as a free service and needed to transform into a scalable, revenue-generating business while integrating seamlessly with stakeholder systems. RelayHealth also needed strategic partnerships with major insurance payors and self-insured employers to broaden adoption and demonstrate the platform’s value in reducing healthcare costs.

I led the product development and implementation of a scalable platform, building a high-performing engineering team, driving operational efficiency and cost control, ensuring seamless integration with third-party systems, and transforming the business into a revenue-bearing platform. I assisted in forging strategic partnerships with major insurance payors, including WellPoint, Blue Shield of California, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts, as well as self-insured employers including Cisco and Intel. Additionally, I led the effort to demonstrate economic value through a clinical trial and introduced a professional services methodology that accelerated adoption.

RelayHealth became a market leader in online healthcare delivery, successfully generating revenue and scaling its services. The platform’s integration capabilities and new professional services methodology were pivotal in expanding its reach. Its clinical trial demonstrating reduced healthcare costs and strategic partnerships with major payors and employers led to the McKesson acquisition.

The Sprout Group, a leading venture capital firm, needed rigorous due diligence for technology investments and leadership support for a portfolio company struggling to scale its e-commerce coupon platform.

At The Sprout Group, I conducted in-depth due diligence on technology, business models, and teams, providing critical insights to support investment decisions. As Interim CTO for a portfolio company, I accelerated platform development, migrated its architecture to a scalable SaaS model, and implemented a recruitment strategy that grew the team from 12 to 40 employees while fostering a culture of accountability.

My efforts helped The Sprout Group make informed, lower-risk investments and positioned the portfolio company for scalable growth and long-term operational success.

I co-founded Eventus Software to address the growing need for enterprise-level web content management. The company needed to design and deliver a scalable platform to serve clients in high-demand verticals like energy and finance. In addition, Eventus required a clear strategy for growth, including securing capital, scaling operations, and eventually positioning for acquisition.

I designed the product and system architecture, enabling enterprise-level content management for major clients, including Chevron and Fidelity. I built and led a 20-person development team, delivering three major software releases focused on reliability, scalability, and security for mission-critical use cases. I served as the technical spokesperson for the company, engaging with press, analysts, and strategic partners to build brand recognition and industry authority. I also played a key role in technical sales, working with customers to define requirements and close deals, while also raising Series A and Series B capital to fuel growth. After successfully positioning Eventus for acquisition, I managed the integration process, ensuring smooth alignment with Segue’s product family and facilitating cross-functional collaboration to accelerate go-to-market strategy.

My efforts in raising capital and leading software development teams enabled the company to scale efficiently, resulting in a successful acquisition by Segue Software. My efforts to integrate Eventus technology also expanded Segue’s capabilities and streamlined its go-to-market efforts.

The Oracle Workgroup Solutions Division needed to develop a competitive distributed software management system to target the enterprise market, specifically focusing on large-scale, multi-site customers. This system competed against established players like Microsoft Systems Management Server and SQL Enterprise Manager, while also ensuring cross-platform compatibility and scalability.

I led a 50-person team of engineers and product managers, including an offshore team in Bangalore, to develop a distributed software management system. This included market analysis to understand the needs of multi-site enterprise customers and position Oracle’s solution effectively against its competitors. My team developed a system consisting of 350,000 lines of code in C and C++, enabling the deployment and management of Oracle software across large-scale enterprise networks. I also oversaw the cross-platform efforts, ensuring the system performed seamlessly on both Windows and Unix, while leading global collaboration to deliver the product on time.

I delivered a scalable, distributed software management solution that positioned Oracle competitively against Microsoft and others, extending its reach to a wide range of enterprise environments, allowing for effective software deployment and management across large networks.