Experience
VP of Technology at a private-equity-backed analytics firm serving 34+ higher education institutions. Accountable for a $10M+ TCO across cloud infrastructure, software delivery, and data platforms — including a multi-tenant AWS-native SaaS platform, a Bronze/Silver data lake architecture on Redshift Serverless, and a regulated enrollment analytics product suite. Directed a 25+ member distributed organization spanning onshore teams, a 20+ engineer offshore team in India, and managed service providers. Led enterprise-wide cloud transformation, delivery modernization, and governance alignment.
- Reduced critical business process latency by 80% (2 hours → 10 minutes) through automated ETL and serverless AWS pipelines
- Replaced $200K annual CapEx infrastructure model with a $4K/month OpEx model through AWS cloud migration
- Stabilized a distressed infrastructure environment with failed backups, implementing DR standards and achieving 99.9% availability
- Established ISO 27001 and SOC 2 alignment; authored security controls, risk protocols, and governance documentation across the organization
- Reduced tier 2 developer escalations by 90% by building a tiered support model and distributing runbook procedures to infrastructure team
- Automated 90% of Workflow process failure resolution at intake through watchdog-driven cleanup; remaining 10% auto-routed to elevated support tier
- Optimized R&D tax credit capture across the technology portfolio
- Scaled offshore delivery team from 0 to 20+ engineers while maintaining cross-site code quality standards
- Owned technology vision, strategy, and execution across cloud, software, and data platforms
- Managed $10M+ TCO including cost optimization and R&D tax strategy
- Led a 25+ member distributed engineering organization (onshore + offshore + MSPs)
- Directed enterprise migration from on-premise systems to AWS cloud-native architecture
- Owned security posture, risk management, and compliance across the organization
- Built DR/HA programs for mission-critical systems handling sensitive institutional data
- Standardized Agile delivery and CI/CD pipelines across all teams
- Partnered with executive leadership and board stakeholders on technology strategy
- Built ITIL Incident, Problem, and Change management practices from scratch; self-documented the framework and used it to communicate operational risk and complexity to non-technical stakeholders, translating recurring issues into investment cases
- Unified infrastructure, SME, and development teams around shared Agile standups; cross-functional visibility surfaced previously unclassified issues and unreported patterns, shortening the gap between emerging problems and formal incident classification
- Built Confluence-based knowledge base from scratch: IC runbooks, escalation documentation, and end-user self-service guides; queried ticketing system quarterly to identify documentation gaps and feed roadmap planning; distributed runbooks to offshore team to reduce onboarding time and context-switching overhead
- Built tiered support structure between infrastructure and development teams; captured common resolution patterns as runbook procedures and trained infrastructure staff to resolve independently, reducing tier 2 developer escalations by 90%
- Built proactive observability and early-intervention tooling: Workflow watchdog detecting behavioral anomalies (missed heartbeats, runtime deviations, subprocess errors) with automated cleanup resolving 90% of Workflow failures at intake and auto-routing the remaining 10% requiring elevated analysis (typically user-caused data errors) to the appropriate tier; AWS spend alerts surfacing unexpected utilization to preempt rogue processes; uptime tracker for business-critical systems providing stakeholder visibility dashboard and internal support team alerts
Senior engineer contributing to architecture and implementation of large-scale interactive, IoT, and cloud-connected systems for global Fortune 500 clients at Second Story (Razorfish Emerging Experiences / Publicis Groupe). Delivered systems supporting 100K+ concurrent sessions and contributed to projects recognized in Adobe Digital Marketing Partner of the Year awards (2015 & 2016). Presented technical work at Adobe Summit Sydney and NRF Big Show.
- Key contributor to Razorshop platform supporting Adobe Digital Marketing Partner of the Year recognition (2015 & 2016)
- Designed SFO "Flight Deck" system contributing to SFO winning 1st Place Creative Innovations Award (2014 Peggy G. Hereford Award)
- Engineered backend for T-Mobile Times Square NYE "Selfie Cam" handling 100,000+ concurrent sessions with 100% uptime
- Presented "Future of Retail" technical work at Adobe Summit (Sydney) and NRF Big Show
- Designed and implemented end-to-end technical solutions for global retail, travel, and enterprise clients
- Built connected systems bridging web, mobile, social media, digital signage, outdoor billboard, and computer vision platforms
- Contributed to UI framework standards, middleware protocols, and backend architecture patterns across projects
- Integrated Adobe Experience Manager with custom IoT systems for real-time personalized content delivery
- Worked closely with Creative, Product, UX, and Security teams throughout the delivery lifecycle
- Researched and prototyped computer vision and augmented reality interaction systems
- Collaborated with clients and vendors on R&D-focused initiatives and rapid prototyping efforts
- Delivered technical work showcased at Adobe Summit (Sydney) and NRF Big Show
Built full-stack web applications, data visualization tools, and automated reporting for institutional research analysts at HCRC. Also prototyped the organization's first data warehouse, which became the direct precursor to HCE's cloud-native ETL platform, and replaced manual data collection with web crawlers and custom parsers.
- Delivered the organization's first structured data warehouse prototype, establishing the foundation for later ETL investment
- Replaced manual data acquisition with automated web crawlers and custom parsers
- Streamlined analyst workflows by building interactive visualization interfaces on top of existing data
- Built data visualization and analytic tools in C# and SQL for statisticians and analysts working with enrollment, benchmarking, and institutional survey data
- Built Tableau dashboards backed by custom SQL view definitions, surfacing enrollment trends, benchmarking comparisons, and survey results for analyst review and client reporting
- Developed web interfaces using ASP.NET, HTML, JavaScript, and jQuery
- Built web crawler software and customized parsers to mine and ingest data from external sources
- Leveraged interactive visualization to streamline existing analyst workflows — replacing manual data pulls and static reports with live, queryable views over the underlying institutional data
- Designed and implemented a template-based public-facing website
- Developed a data portal for retrieving and reporting website traffic data
- Co-managed relationship with external IT vendor
- Designed and prototyped a framework for a data warehouse environment
Inventor of TacTile — a ground-up multi-touch platform built on custom FTIR sensor arrays and a C++ OpenCV tracking engine, deployed at Argonne National Laboratory for federal research applications. Also developed Cli-Mate (climate data visualization for Argonne's Intrepid supercomputer), co-taught a multi-touch game design course across UIC and LSU, and published in ACM Computers in Entertainment.
- Invented TacTile — recognized and demonstrated at SuperComputing 2008 (as undergrad) and productized for global partners including the Science Museum of Minnesota
- Executed technology transfer of TacTile to Argonne National Laboratory for federal research deployment
- Developed Cli-Mate — primary developer of interactive multi-touch climate visualization tool for Argonne; integrated with Ferret and NOAA ocean modeling data (POP) on Argonne's Intrepid supercomputer; demonstrated at SuperComputing 2010
- Secured Argonne National Laboratory research funding as graduate student
- Published technical paper documenting TacTile's design and engineering: "Design Challenges in Creating a High Resolution LCD-based Multi-Touch Display" (June 2009). https://www.evl.uic.edu/pubs/1579
- Deployed TacTile at AAAS 2009 Annual Meeting (NSF booth, Chicago, February 2009) — engaged public audiences including families and children; demonstrated robustness in high-noise IR environments. https://www.evl.uic.edu/events/884 https://www.evl.uic.edu/events/875
- Featured in EVL/Argonne press story "Gamer Edward Kahler Brings His Talent to Argonne" (November 2010, SC2010 New Orleans) — profiled as lead developer of TacTile and developer of Argonne scientific applications. https://www.evl.uic.edu/events/988
- Featured in Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC) Catalyst newsletter (December 2010) — same story republished as example of STEM education impact. https://www.evl.uic.edu/events/993
- Co-authored peer-reviewed ACM publication: "Design Guidelines for Multiplayer Video Games on Multi-touch Displays" — ACM Computers in Entertainment, Vol. 11, No. 1, Article 1 (March 2014). https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2543698.2543699
- Invented, engineered, and productized TacTile multi-touch platform from the ground up
- Executed full technology transfer of TacTile to Argonne National Laboratory (CELS Directorate)
- Developed high-performance visualization tools (Cli-Mate) for federal research use
- Managed the Futures Lab environment at Argonne, delivering multi-touch solutions and gesture-based controls
- Integrated SAGE (Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment) with Kinect-based gesture control systems
- Presented and demonstrated research at SuperComputing 2010 and AAAS 2009 (NSF booth)
- Co-taught interdisciplinary video game design course (2009–2010) using TacTile as the development platform; course ran across UIC and Louisiana State University with 29 and 40 students respectively
Early contributor to TacTile at UIC's Electronic Visualization Laboratory, building tracking software that fed directly into TacTile's native touch tracker. Spent summer 2008 at the Science Museum of Minnesota building the LambdaTable (24 Megapixel LCD) and training exhibit designers on multi-touch table construction. The work led to a funded graduate research position and, eventually, TacTile's technology transfer to Argonne National Laboratory.
- Early TacTile work demonstrated at SuperComputing 2008 (SC08, Austin) — EVL booth 568 (TacTile platform debut with RainTable) and SDSC booth (high-definition telecommuting showcase). https://www.evl.uic.edu/events/862 https://www.evl.uic.edu/events/850
- Built LambdaTable (24 Megapixel LCD display) and 4-Megapixel LCD multi-touch table at Science Museum of Minnesota for the Water Planet traveling exhibit (summer 2008). https://www.evl.uic.edu/events/856
- Research contribution led directly to funded graduate research position at EVL / Argonne (2009–2011)
- Contributed to research and early development of multi-touch interaction systems at EVL
- Assisted with hardware prototyping and software development for visualization research
- Placed at Science Museum of Minnesota (summer 2008) to build exhibit display hardware and train exhibit designers on multi-touch table construction
Part-time Computer Specialist at UIC's Academic Computing and Communications Center during undergraduate studies (2005–2009). Provided technical support across computer labs, developed web-based service scheduling software, and maintained fiber-optic lab alarm systems.
- Developed web-based automated service call scheduling software
- Delivered training seminars on fiber-optic computer lab alarm system operation and repair
- Performed on-site and phone-based technical support; responded to online trouble tickets
- Repaired computer lab alarm systems and performed general computer lab hardware repair
- Monitored computer labs and assisted students and staff with university account issues
Leadership
Led ISO 27001 and SOC 2 alignment across the organization, authoring security controls, risk protocols, and governance documentation. Communicated directly with client CISOs on security posture and compliance positioning.
Coordinated technology-driven organizational change with executive and board leadership, modernizing aging workflows and tooling to compete with more capable modern market entrants. Managed stakeholder alignment across engineering, operations, and executive leadership through multi-year transitions and a private equity acquisition.
Developed pricing strategy for a multi-tenant analytics platform serving 34+ institutional clients, informing service packaging and client engagement models.
Owned the managed service provider relationship as a strategic function, covering vendor selection, contract oversight, and performance accountability within the broader technology operating model.
Owned technology roadmap development from strategy through execution, spanning cloud infrastructure, data platform, product delivery, and security governance across a six-year tenure.
Led two sequential infrastructure transitions over six years: on-premise to colocation, then colocation to cloud-native AWS. Each transition executed without an implementation partner while maintaining continuity for business-critical production workloads.
Drove the delivery toolchain from locally hosted TFS to GitHub over multiple stages, establishing shared CI/CD standards across distributed onshore and offshore teams. Led telco modernization from RFP through execution and the organization-wide transition to modern remote collaboration tooling.
Represented organizational risk posture during the DOE FAFSA simplification and SAI data classification rollout, coordinating compliance response and classification alignment across technology and operations.