Technology exists to unlock human potential — not the other way around. I walk into organizations where IT has been treated as a cost center and rewrite the equation. Patient listening turns skeptical executives into allies 8 times out of 9; early wins drive 62% average efficiency gains. The result: IT as strategic partner — in practice, not just in title.
Shawn is a technology executive with 26 years in IT — the last 11 in senior leadership. Most recently CIO / VP of Information Systems at The Baby Fold, reporting to the CEO and board. His path into the C-suite is unusual: engineering mechanics and psychology research at Illinois, a summer designing non-nuclear components for the U.S. nuclear stockpile, and fifteen years as a hands-on infrastructure engineer and vCIO before ever taking a full-time management title.
Across four employers, the same pattern: take an under-resourced or under-governed IT organization and rebuild it into a strategic asset. Modern cloud infrastructure. Real data governance. Board-approved AI that gets used, safely. Centers of Excellence that outlast his tenure. He's now exploring his next VP or CIO seat, and taking select fractional or interim engagements for organizations needing executive IT leadership without a full-time hire.
Beyond the office, family is the center of everything. Shawn and his wife Lisa are raising five kids. An Eagle Scout and Scout leader of fifteen years, he coaches his kids' sports teams and can usually be found on weekends building something with his hands — treehouses (currently remodeling the second), sets for the community theater the family takes part in, or the next project.
Ask about specific engagements, leadership philosophy, technical decisions, or fit for a particular role. The chatbot is trained on Shawn's full career history and speaks on his behalf.
From hands-on sysadmin serving Fortune 500 clients to the CIO seat at a 120-year-old nonprofit — a two-decade arc where the technical scope grew but the philosophy stayed the same.
The same executive shows up in both places — translating strategy into architecture, and architecture back into board-level clarity.
Leading hybrid executive conversations that turn skepticism into direction. Comfortable in the room, on the screen, and reporting to the board.
System architecture reviews where deep technical fluency still matters — cloud, infrastructure, integrations. Fifteen years hands-on before the C-suite is not a small thing.
Whether it's a full-time seat or a fractional engagement to stabilize IT during a transition, I'm glad to talk through where you are and where you need to get to.
This page was designed and built in collaboration with Claude — layout, copy, and a working AI chatbot trained on Shawn's full career history — as a demonstration of how he puts agentic tools to work.