Richard is a seasoned IT leader with a career that’s been shaped by a mix of technical expertise, cultural adaptability, and entrepreneurial spirit. His journey started in systems engineering and application programming, where he built a solid foundation in understanding the technical underpinnings of today’s IT environments. Working as a business analyst early on helped him bridge the divide between technology and business, translating complex requirements into actionable solutions that drive results.
As he moved into leadership roles, he had the opportunity to lead diverse teams, bringing together people with different backgrounds and skill sets to foster collaboration and innovation. Living and working in 14 countries has given him a unique perspective on leadership, where he’s learned to appreciate the value of different viewpoints and problem-solving approaches. This global experience has also been invaluable in shaping his expertise in data strategy and governance—areas where cultural awareness is critical.
He’s always been entrepreneurial at heart, and he prides myself on being able to wear multiple hats. Whether leading a practice area, consulting, or stepping in as a utility player, he thrives on staying at the forefront of industry developments and embracing new challenges. Specializing in data strategy and governance has allowed hime to guide organizations through the complexities of managing their data in today’s digital world. Throughout his career, he’s focused on adaptability, technical mastery, and a strategic vision to navigate the evolving landscape of IT.
Biography
Sample Projects
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Enterprise Data Governance Framework for a Financial Institution
Scope: Executed a DG Maturity Assessment. Designed a comprehensive Data Governance Framework for a leading financial services company.
Key Contributions: Bridged business and IT requirements by establishing data quality and integration policies that aligned with strategic business goals. Collaborated with executive stakeholders to ensure alignment, translating technical requirements into impactful business language.
Outcome: Improved data accuracy and consistency, which led to enhanced decision-making capabilities and significant cost reductions in data processing.
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AI Governance Maturity Assessment for a Leading Financial Services Firm
Scope: Conducted a comprehensive AI Governance Maturity Assessment for a financial services organization to evaluate their readiness for AI adoption and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
Key Contributions: Led workshops with business and technical teams to gather requirements and understand the organization’s current AI governance practices. Assessed the organization’s AI capabilities using a maturity model, identifying gaps in risk management, data quality, ethical guidelines, and accountability structures. Performed a side-by-side analysis of existing governance frameworks versus industry best practices. Developed a cost-benefit analysis for recommended improvements and created a roadmap for advancing AI governance maturity.
Outcome: Provided strategic recommendations that significantly enhanced the organization’s AI governance, positioning them to manage AI risks effectively and support responsible AI deployment. The assessment led to the establishment of new AI governance policies, ensuring regulatory compliance and improved decision-making across AI initiatives.
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Vendor and Platform Selection for a Healthcare Payor
Scope: Led the software package selection process for the implementation and configuration of an enterprise MDM platform.
Key Contributions: Conducted a thorough analysis of potential solutions, including performance, scalability, and cost considerations. Created a decision matrix and presented findings to the executive team. Collaborated with cross-functional teams to evaluate long-term strategic fit.
Outcome: recommended and supported the implementation of a modern, scalable solution, improving data accessibility and reducing infrastructure costs.
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Creation of a Comprehensive Data Strategy Roadmap
Scope: Developed a strategic data roadmap to align with the firm’s long-term business objectives and regulatory requirements.
Key Contributions: Assessed current data management capabilities and identified key gaps impacting data quality, integration, and governance. Created a multi-phase implementation strategy that prioritized high-impact initiatives such as data consolidation, AI-driven analytics, and enhanced data governance. Provided a cost-benefit analysis to justify investments and designed a governance model to oversee execution.
Outcome: Enabled the organization to maximize the value of their data assets while ensuring compliance and supporting business growth.
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Development of a Digital Transformation Strategy
Scope: Advised a healthcare provider on leveraging technology to transform operations and improve patient care.
Key Contributions: Conducted a strategic assessment of existing processes and identified opportunities for automation and digital engagement. Created a detailed implementation roadmap that included the integration of AI for predictive analytics and improved patient outcomes. Provided recommendations for managing change and training staff on new technologies.
Outcome: Positioned the organization for sustainable growth by enhancing operational efficiency and delivering a better patient experience.
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Formulation of a Strategic Growth and Expansion Plan
Scope: Developed a strategic growth plan focused on increasing market share and enhancing customer experience.
Key Contributions: Analyzed market trends, customer behavior, and competitive landscape to identify new revenue opportunities. Crafted a strategy that included omnichannel retailing, personalized marketing, and partnerships for geographic expansion. Provided detailed financial modeling to evaluate the potential ROI of each growth initiative.
Outcome: The plan led to a significant increase in market share and optimized the company’s investment in growth opportunities.
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Design of an Operational Efficiency Improvement Strategy
Scope: Created a strategic plan to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs across the organization.
Key Contributions: Conducted a comprehensive review of processes and identified inefficiencies impacting service delivery. Recommended the use of automation, process reengineering, and strategic sourcing to optimize operations. Provided a phased implementation plan with clear KPIs and cost savings targets.
Outcome: The strategy resulted in streamlined operations, reduced operating costs, and improved service quality for customers.
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Development and Implementation of an Enterprise Data Governance Framework
Scope: Designed and implemented a comprehensive Data Governance Framework to improve data quality, consistency, and compliance across multiple business units.
Key Contributions: Conducted an assessment of existing data governance practices, identified gaps, and developed policies and standards for data management. Established a Data Governance Council and implemented a data stewardship program to ensure ongoing governance. Deployed a data catalog to enhance data discoverability and lineage tracking.
Outcome: Improved data quality and compliance, reduced regulatory risk, and empowered business users to make data-driven decisions.
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Data Quality and Standardization Program
Scope: Led a data quality improvement initiative to enhance the accuracy and reliability of patient and clinical data.
Key Contributions: Defined data quality metrics, implemented data profiling and monitoring tools, and established data cleansing processes. Worked with stakeholders to standardize data definitions and create a data dictionary for consistent usage. Developed a data quality dashboard to track and report on improvements.
Outcome: Enhanced data quality and trust in clinical decision-making, supporting better patient outcomes and efficient regulatory reporting.
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Design and Implementation of an MDM Strategy
Scope: Developed an MDM strategy to centralize and manage product, customer, and supplier data across the organization.
Key Contributions: Created a governance model for MDM, identified and prioritized master data domains, and selected an MDM tool. Defined data ownership roles and responsibilities, and developed a data integration plan to ensure seamless data flow between systems.
Outcome: Reduced data duplication, improved customer insights, and enabled better inventory management, leading to increased operational efficiency.
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Data Governance for Regulatory Compliance (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)
Scope: Implemented data governance policies to ensure compliance with data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.
Key Contributions: Conducted data mapping exercises to understand data flows and identify high-risk data assets. Developed data privacy policies, implemented data access controls, and conducted training sessions for data handlers. Established audit processes to regularly review compliance and data protection measures.
Outcome: Achieved full regulatory compliance, reducing the risk of fines and enhancing customer trust in data handling practices.
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Data Governance Maturity Assessment and Roadmap for a Telecom Company
Scope: Performed a Data Governance Maturity Assessment to evaluate the telecom company’s current state and create a roadmap for improvement.
Key Contributions: Assessed the maturity of data governance practices using a structured framework, identified gaps, and provided a detailed roadmap with prioritized initiatives. Focused on data stewardship, data quality management, and policy enforcement.
Outcome: The telecom company gained a clear understanding of its data governance maturity level and a strategic plan to elevate its governance practices, supporting data-driven decision-making and operational efficiency.
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Enterprise Data Governance Framework for a Financial Institution
Scope: Led the design and implementation of a comprehensive Data Governance Framework for a leading financial services company.
Key Contributions: Bridged business and IT requirements by establishing data quality and integration policies that aligned with strategic business goals. Collaborated with executive stakeholders to ensure alignment, translating technical requirements into impactful business language.
Outcome: Improved data accuracy and consistency, which led to enhanced decision-making capabilities and significant cost reductions in data processing.
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Implementation of Data Lineage and Catalog Solutions for a Pharmaceutical Company
Scope: Deployed a data lineage and catalog solution to improve data transparency and support research and regulatory reporting.
Key Contributions: Worked with data owners to document data flows and create a comprehensive data catalog. Implemented tools to automate lineage tracking and provide visibility into data transformations across the data lifecycle. Trained users on how to leverage the data catalog for research and compliance purposes.
Outcome: Enhanced data discoverability and traceability, reduced time spent on data validation, and improved the efficiency of regulatory audits and research activities.
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Development and Launch of an AI-Driven Call Center Platform
Scope: Managed the end-to-end development and launch of a new AI-based call center platform designed to provide automated, contextual responses to both voice calls and SMS messages for retail clients.
Key Contributions: Conducted market research to identify customer needs, created a detailed product roadmap, and defined feature priorities. Worked closely with cross-functional teams to develop, test, and refine product features. Developed a go-to-market strategy, including pricing, marketing, and training plans.
Outcome: Successfully launched the platform, achieving a 40% decrease in call drop rates, improved customer retention rates for early adopters and significant new revenue streams for the business.
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Product Modernization for a Legacy Software Platform
Scope: Led the modernization of a legacy software product to meet current market needs and enhance user experience.
Key Contributions: Conducted a comprehensive assessment of the existing product, gathered user feedback, and identified key pain points. Developed a modernization plan, prioritizing enhancements like a new user interface, improved performance, and additional integrations. Managed sprints and ensured timely delivery of updates.
Outcome: Revamped product increased user engagement by 40% and extended the product’s market life by an additional five years.
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Creation of a New SaaS Product for Financial Planning
Scope: Managed the development of a cloud-based financial planning tool targeting wealth management firms.
Key Contributions: Defined product requirements and collaborated with stakeholders to ensure alignment with market demands. Created and executed a product roadmap, including MVP release, user feedback loops, and continuous improvements. Coordinated with engineering, marketing, and sales teams to ensure seamless product rollout.
Outcome: Launched the SaaS product on time and within budget, securing initial contracts with three major financial firms and achieving strong early adoption.
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Transition to Agile Product Management for a Software Company
Scope: Led the transition from a traditional waterfall approach to Agile methodologies to improve product delivery and responsiveness to market needs.
Key Contributions: Trained product and engineering teams on Agile principles, implemented Scrum practices, and established sprint planning and review processes. Created a product backlog and prioritized features based on user feedback and business value.
Outcome: Reduced product development cycle times by 30% and improved team productivity and collaboration, leading to faster releases and better product-market fit.
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Expansion of Product Line to New International Markets
Scope: Managed the strategic expansion of an existing product line to new international markets, ensuring product-market fit and regulatory compliance.
Key Contributions: Conducted market research to understand local consumer behavior and regulatory requirements. Adjusted product features and pricing strategies to cater to new markets. Developed a localization strategy, including translation and cultural adaptations, and coordinated with local marketing and sales teams.
Outcome: Achieved successful product launches in three new countries, contributing to a 15% increase in global revenue and broadening the brand’s international presence.
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Executive Reporting Strategy for Retail Organization
Scope: Conducted a strategic evaluation of the organization’s reporting needs by engaging with business users to gather and document requirements.
Key Contributions: Performed a detailed analysis of existing reporting systems, identified critical gaps and pain points, and proposed a streamlined reporting architecture. Created comprehensive business cases to justify new feature implementations.
Outcome: Delivered a roadmap that enhanced executive reporting capabilities, providing greater visibility into key business metrics and facilitating more data-driven decisions.
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Strategic Assessment of Reporting Tools for Healthcare Client
Scope: Evaluated multiple reporting solutions for a healthcare client to support their strategic executive reporting needs.
Key Contributions: Assessed the strengths and limitations of the existing reporting systems, mapped capabilities to business objectives, and performed a side-by-side feature comparison of potential new tools. Analyzed the cost/benefit of each option and provided a strategic recommendation to executives.
Outcome: The client adopted a new reporting tool that optimized reporting efficiency and reduced operating costs by 20%.
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Legacy System Modernization for a Fortune 500 Financial Institution
Scope: The client’s COBOL-based core banking platform was outdated, expensive to maintain, and lacked scalability to support digital transformation initiatives.
Key Contributions: Conducted a detailed system analysis to identify dependencies and critical business processes. Migrated core functionalities to a modern microservices-based architecture using a phased approach. Integrated the system with AWS cloud services, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.
Outcome: Reduced operating costs by 40%. Enhanced scalability, supporting a 200% increase in digital transaction volumes. Improved customer experience with faster response times.
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New List ItemDatabase Conversion for a Global Retailer
Scope: The client sought to migrate their IMS database to a modern relational database (PostgreSQL) to enable advanced analytics and reduce licensing costs.
Key Contributions: Designed a comprehensive migration roadmap, ensuring data quality and integrity. Automated data mapping and transformation processes using ETL tools. Implemented a real-time data replication solution to minimize downtime.
Outcome: Achieved a 99.9% reduction in downtime during migration. Enabled advanced analytics capabilities, leading to better inventory management. Reduced database licensing costs by 60%.
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Integration of Mainframe Systems with Cloud Services for a Healthcare Provider
Scope: The client needed to integrate their mainframe-based patient records system with a modern cloud platform to support telemedicine initiatives.
Key Contributions: Deployed middleware to enable API-based access to mainframe data. Implemented a hybrid cloud model, storing non-sensitive data in the cloud while retaining sensitive data on-premises. Used encryption protocols to ensure data security during transfer.
Outcome: Enabled telemedicine services, increasing patient engagement by 30%. Reduced data retrieval times by 70%, improving operational efficiency. Maintained compliance with HIPAA and other regulatory standards.
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Disaster Recovery Strategy for a Regional Insurance Company
Scope: The client lacked a robust disaster recovery system for their mainframe-based claims processing platform, risking data loss and downtime.
Key Contributions: Implemented a geographically distributed backup solution using high-availability clusters. Developed an automated failover mechanism to minimize service disruption. Conducted regular disaster recovery drills to ensure readiness.
Outcome: Achieved a 99.99% uptime guarantee. Reduced potential downtime costs by an estimated $5 million annually. Increased customer confidence with a robust disaster recovery framework.
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Mainframe Decommissioning for a Global Airline
Scope: The client aimed to decommission their legacy mainframe-based ticketing system and migrate it to a cloud-native solution without impacting ongoing operations.
Key Contributions: Conducted a full inventory of applications and data to identify reusable components. Migrated applications to a containerized environment using Kubernetes. Retained critical historical data in a secure data lake for compliance purposes.
Outcome: Reduced IT operating costs by 50%. Accelerated ticketing processes by 35%. Enhanced scalability to handle peak loads during holiday seasons.
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Mainframe application Re-engineering for a Manufacturing Company
Scope: The client required re-engineering of legacy mainframe-based production scheduling software to improve its adaptability and extend its lifespan.
Key Contributions: Reverse-engineered the mainframe code to document business logic and dependencies. Rebuilt the application in a modular architecture using Java, with integration capabilities for third-party ERP systems. Implemented rigorous performance testing to ensure parity with legacy functionality.
Outcome: Improved flexibility in adapting to new manufacturing processes. Reduced dependency on hard-to-find mainframe expertise. Enhanced system reliability, reducing downtime by 25%.