Operating judgment for the decisions that shape an enterprise.
I learned the business from the operation outward, then carried that perspective through three CIO roles. Today I help boards and executive teams connect technology, capital, transformation, and AI to outcomes that matter.
Effort is not the goal. The outcome is.
I learned that on a shop floor long before I learned it in a boardroom. Every decision since has been the same question in a different setting: where does the time and the money actually return value? That question is the whole of how I think about technology now.
From the operating floor to enterprise decisions.
- 01Operating foundation
Kroger made the business real
Store work and management training at Kroger built the operating foundation: customers, labor, inventory, margin, and execution are one system. Technology only matters when it improves that system.
- 02Replenishment and pricing
H-E-B connected decisions across the enterprise
Replenishment, EDI and supplier integration, and pricing and competitive intelligence showed me how better information moves through a business and changes execution at scale.
- 03Commerce and data
A&P expanded the field of view
B2B commerce, collaborative planning and replenishment, and master-data synchronization at A&P made the value of shared information clear. Leadership experience at Lowe's Home Improvement broadened that perspective across another complex retail model.
- 04Enterprise leadership
Three CIO roles made the stakes explicit
At Haggen Food & Pharmacy, Northgate González Market, and Grocery Outlet, I led through decisions that touched revenue, resilience, customer trust, operating continuity, and growth. I also served as Chief Privacy Officer, keeping stewardship of customer and enterprise data tied to business accountability.
- 05Current work
Jacob Meadow Associates brings the operator’s view to the boardroom
As Founding Partner, I work with leaders on enterprise transformation, technology capital allocation, and AI. The principle is constant: define the business outcome, understand the economics, and govern the investment through results.
I still teach the same idea I run on.
Whether the audience is a board weighing a platform decision or a room of students deciding what to build, the message holds: the tool is not the point, and the effort is not the point. The outcome is. The work is choosing the approach that gets you there.
Evidence from inside the operation.
Made the selling day visible.
At Haggen, real-time business intelligence reduced information latency from as much as 24 hours to visibility during the selling day, giving leaders time to act on margin and revenue while the outcome could still change.
Connected suppliers to the operating model.
At H-E-B, efficient-replenishment and EDI work improved product-data accuracy and reduced the invoice exceptions created when retailer and supplier information fell out of sync.
Took cost out while improving recoverability.
Northgate’s move to cloud data protection reduced backup and recovery cost by approximately 60% across more than 450 virtual machines, while improving scale and resilience.
Improved network economics and resilience.
A redesigned Northgate network and security foundation lowered monthly expense by about 40% while increasing bandwidth, visibility, and failover capability across the operation.
Three-time CIO. Chief Privacy Officer. Founding Partner.
Berkeley Chief Executive Officer Program, Berkeley Executive Education, 2026
I took it to be a better chief executive for my own firm, and to understand the decisions my clients face from their side of the table.
Two rules I have kept the whole way.
Say yes to opportunity unless there is a real reason not to
Fear is not a real reason. When a decision frightens me, that is usually a signal the decision matters, not a signal to avoid it. The doors that built this career were ones I could have talked myself out of.
Respect effort, but never mistake it for progress
I have watched three months and seven thousand lines of work produce nothing, and a better approach solve the same problem in an afternoon. Effort is not the result. Direction is what pays.
Giving back to the next bench.
Community service includes a directorship with Human-I-T, service on the Western Washington University Foundation Board, and work as a volunteer company adviser with Washington Business Week. The student program at Renton Technical College was covered by 425 Business.
The same discipline, applied to your portfolio.
For boards and executive teams ready to treat technology the way they treat capital. Run the audit, set the method, or bring me in to speak.