Case Studies

Three programs. Three firsts. All built from scratch.

Each of these engagements involved building something that didn't previously exist — a new PMO, a new CDO, a new data platform — inside organizations operating at national or global scale. The work behind each one is documented here.

Case Study 01
HP Inc.
Apr 2022 – Sep 2025 · Fort Collins, CO
Program Manager — AI & Data Science Solutions
Advanced Compute Solutions Division
AI Product PMO Build SW Delivery SAFe / Agile SOC2 / ISO 27001 Global Scale Cross-functional

Building HP's first software delivery infrastructure from the ground up

The situation

HP Inc. is one of the world's most recognized technology companies — and historically, almost entirely a hardware company. When I joined in 2022, the AI & Data Science business was making a fundamental shift: from standalone hardware to integrated solutions combining hardware, software, and services. The problem was that HP had no repeatable operating model, no PMO, and no product lifecycle framework capable of handling that complexity.

I was brought in to lead delivery of the first solution in this new paradigm — a program spanning 20+ workstreams with no established governance and enormous executive visibility. What began as a delivery role became something larger: the foundation for how HP would build and ship AI software products going forward.

What was built
01
HP AI Studio — HP's first direct-to-consumer commercial software product
Led end-to-end delivery of HP AI Studio, establishing entirely new delivery, support, and go-to-market models for subscription-based AI tools. Coordinated across Engineering, Product, Marketing, Sales, Legal, Privacy, Tax, and regional GTM teams to bring the product to market — achieving 15% month-over-month growth and 1,000+ new software accounts in the first major release cycle. Explore HP AI Studio.
02
Solution Product Lifecycle (SPLC) framework
Designed and institutionalized HP's Solution Product Lifecycle — a governance and delivery framework for programs combining hardware, firmware, cloud services, and software. Accelerated release cadence from 12-week Program Increments to 2-week sprint cycles while maintaining SOC2 and ISO 27001 compliance. The SPLC became the enterprise standard for complex solution delivery across the Advanced Compute Solutions division.
03
Solutions PMO — enterprise center of excellence
Established and scaled HP's first enterprise-wide Solutions PMO as the single source of truth for program governance, milestone tracking, and delivery excellence. Standardized workflows for program initiation, risk assessment, RAID management, and change control across all business units. Coached and mentored program managers across the division on governance models and executive review frameworks.
04
Cross-functional operating model for a 100+ person matrixed org
Facilitated alignment across 10+ autonomous cross-disciplinary teams with no direct authority — coordinating three major collaborative initiatives simultaneously through structured stakeholder engagement, executive reporting cadences, and RAPID decision frameworks. Navigated multiple organizational restructures, rebuilding RACIs and operating models to sustain delivery continuity each time.
05
Novel customer support model for AI software
Identified a critical gap: HP's 10,000-person support organization was optimized for hardware and phone-based intake. Led impact analysis and secured executive funding to build an in-app chat system, enabling SaaS-like responsiveness for AI software customers — a support model HP had no prior playbook for.
Outcomes
$641M
Portfolio value at tenure end (FY24)
72%
Portfolio growth over 3-year tenure
8
AI software offerings shipped in 30+ markets
Faster release cycles (12-week → 2-week)
15%
Month-over-month growth on HP AI Studio
Case Study 02
Colorado Dept. of Transportation
Aug 2019 – Apr 2022 · Denver, CO
Program Manager & Management Consultant
Xentity Corporation · CDO Implementation Engagement
First-in-nation CDO Build Data Governance GCP Migration Real-time Data Government Consulting

Standing up the first Chief Data Office at a state department of transportation

The situation

The Colorado Department of Transportation is a 3,000-person agency managing one of the most complex transportation networks in the western United States. Like most state DOTs, CDOT operated its data functions in silos — data was acquired, produced, and stored separately across divisions, with no unified strategy, no shared infrastructure, and no executive function responsible for treating data as a strategic asset.

CDOT awarded Xentity Corporation a multi-year open-competitive contract to build the state's first Chief Data Office from scratch. I served as the primary program manager and client-facing delivery lead — the person responsible for translating that ambition into 20+ concurrent workstreams, coordinating 11 consultants, and producing results that had never been done before at a state DOT anywhere in the country.

What was built
01
CDO governance framework and operating model
Designed and implemented the CDO's organizational structure, governance frameworks, data maturity roadmap, and stakeholder accountability model — establishing the foundational infrastructure for a data function that would coordinate across 20+ state divisions and partner agencies. Inventoried 5,000+ previously unknown data assets and 600+ data-driven applications across the enterprise. Learn more about the CDOT Chief Data Office implementation here.
02
Real-time data hub on Google Cloud Platform
Oversaw delivery of a real-time data platform processing 1.5B+ messages per day from sensors, IoT systems, and partner data feeds — fully migrated to GCP. The platform enabled self-service access through standardized APIs, dashboards, and cataloged datasets across 20+ divisions, transforming CDOT from a passive data archive into an active data services organization. Recognized by Google as a leading example of GCP implementation.
03
Enterprise document management system
Managed discovery through delivery of an enterprise document management system covering 100+ business units — identifying the highest-value workflow opportunities, developing a prioritized roadmap with executive sponsorship, and executing a change management initiative that drove adoption across the organization. Result: 65% reduction in contract processing time across 6,000+ executed documents. Recognized as a year-end executive highlight presented to the Colorado Governor's office.
04
GeoHub and spatial intelligence platform
Supported delivery of CDOT's GeoHub — a location intelligence platform combining traffic, weather, road conditions, and IoT sensor data into real-time operational dashboards. The platform earned Esri's Special Achievement in GIS Award (2019) and the 2021 NASCIO State IT Recognition Award for ICT Innovation.
05
Federal model toolkit for state DOTs
The CDOT CDO implementation earned recognition from FHWA as a model for other state transportation agencies nationwide — with the Federal Highway Administration requesting Xentity package the approach as a reusable toolkit for DOTs across the country. Also managed $5M+ in contract proposals using Shipley methodology throughout the engagement.
Outcomes
1.5B+
Messages/day processed by real-time data hub
5,000+
Data assets inventoried (from ~"a few dozen")
65%
Reduction in contract processing time
20+
Concurrent initiatives across 5 workstreams
Recognition
Google — Leading GCP Implementation
FHWA — National Model Toolkit
Esri — Special Achievement in GIS (2019)
NASCIO — 2021 State IT Recognition Award
Colorado Governor's Office — Year-end Executive Highlight
Case Study 03
NOAA / NCEI
Jul 2016 – Aug 2019 · Boulder, CO
Functional Lead — Metadata & Tools Development
National Centers for Environmental Information · OneStop Initiative
Federal DaaS Platform Metadata Product Ownership Data Governance Published Research

Building the metadata infrastructure for NOAA's first Data-as-a-Service platform

The situation

NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) — part of NESDIS — manages one of the world's largest environmental data archives, spanning satellite records, oceanographic data, climate models, and geophysical observations. The problem: the data was fragmented across dozens of siloed portals, metadata was inconsistent and manually maintained, and discovery across the collection was nearly impossible.

The OneStop initiative was NOAA's effort to change that — building the agency's first enterprise-wide Data-as-a-Service platform unifying 30+ line offices under a shared metadata standard and API layer. My role was to lead the three metadata-focused teams within NCEI that were central to making OneStop possible. Without consistent, machine-readable metadata at scale, none of the discovery or access capabilities OneStop promised could work.

What was built
01
CoMET — Collection Metadata Enterprise Tool
Served as product owner for CoMET, the metadata creation and editing tool that became the operational backbone of NCEI's contribution to OneStop. Translated a crisis (a contracting threat to the metadata team) into an opportunity — proposing and securing approval to build an automated metadata tool with dedicated development resources. Within two months the team had a working system featuring ISO-compliant editing, revision history, validation, publishing workflows, and stewardship assessments. Check out CoMET.
02
Metadata workflow automation at scale
Designed and implemented automated metadata workflows that replaced a heavily manual process — shifting data providers from hand-entry to structured GUI-based input with built-in validation and governance. The automation enabled processing of 37,000+ collection records and 6.5M+ granule records, saving $220K annually in metadata analyst costs and reducing manual entry time by 80%.
03
Data Stewardship Maturity Questionnaire (DSMQ)
Co-developed the DSMQ — the standardized assessment tool used to evaluate metadata stewardship quality across NOAA's entire dataset collection. The DSMQ and its associated workflows were applied to 800+ datasets and are now cited by name in hundreds of published federal Data Stewardship Maturity Reports in the NOAA institutional repository. The work led to a peer-reviewed publication in the Data Science Journal (2019).
04
Cross-agency adoption and knowledge transfer
Deployed a train-the-trainer adoption model to accelerate self-service uptake across the organization and affiliate data providers. CoMET's metadata standards and workflows were subsequently adopted by NESDIS (NCEI's parent organization) and NASA for use in their own metadata workflows — and the peer-reviewed publication generated 11 subsequent publications citing the framework.
05
Contract transition leadership
Managed the team and all delivery operations through a major contract transition — onboarding new resources, realigning responsibilities, and maintaining full delivery continuity throughout the acquisition. Led hiring, onboarding, performance management, and day-to-day direction for 11 staff across three specialized teams.
Outcomes
80%
Reduction in manual metadata entry time
$220K
Annual cost savings from automation
37K+
Collection records processed via CoMET
6.5M+
Granule records published
2
Agencies adopted CoMET: NESDIS + NASA
Recognition
US Dept. of Commerce Bronze Medal — awarded to federal OneStop team (2019)
Multiple ERT Awards — innovation in federal data stewardship
Peer-reviewed publication — Data Science Journal, 2019
CoMET adopted by NASA — framework cited in 11 peer-reviewed publications

Looking for someone who can build what doesn't exist yet?

Open to senior program and product management roles in AI, data, and enterprise technology.

Get in touch → Read the full story