Meet The Team

I founded Octavian Technology Group because I wanted to introduce businesses to the possibilities that exist through new approaches and advancements in technology. Since then, I’ve surrounded myself with some of the area’s brightest minds in data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual & mixed reality, fractional CIO services and project management.

Together, we help organizations stay connected to these and other business technologies. Octavian can show you the power of your data, how to take advantage of this asset, gain efficiencies, grow your organization and, ultimately, enhance your bottom line.

With nearly 30 years of experience in IT, including time spent as a manager, director, managing partner and now president & CEO, I’ve come to know success is never about one person. It’s critical to align around a vision everyone can believe in. At Octavian, we are here to help reveal, construct and act upon that vision.

But as President and CEO, I want to do more than help build better businesses. I want to help build better communities.

That’s why I also co-founded and lead Code the Way, a 501©3 organization teaching high school students to become junior developers, build software and contribute to their community in a meaningful way. Since 2016, Code the Way students have provided more than $250,000 in tech services to Milwaukee non-profits in need.

At Octavian Technology Group, I serve as a producer helping our clients to produce and deploy data science and software solutions.

My favorite thing is to get product and development teams together to develop product, development and deployment strategies together and then get the engine of production running from start up to completion.

The core tenants of a good producer is to act honestly about the situation at hand, make sure everyone, including yourself, is properly trained, become acquainted with every job and role on the team, distinguish between gain and loss in the features, team and financially, develop a keen intuition about everything to do with the product which allows perception of issues that are not normally evident, pay attention even to the seemingly trifling things and most importantly: do nothing which is of no use.

I’m grateful to have helped deliver software systems and data science applications for some of Wisconsin’s most recognizable businesses, including Trek Bikes, Quad Graphics, Miller Coors, SAB Miller, Johnson Outdoor, and Harley Davidson.

As a data scientist, I specialize in predictive modeling, forecasting, and natural language processing to help companies identify opportunities for business improvement.

Once I recognize their challenges, I can help them learn from and extract the most essential information so they can make more informed business decisions. It’s gratifying when I see clients unlock the power of data and turn it into actionable insight.

My job is sort of like being a detective. First, I grasp a foundational understanding of how my client’s profession works – whether it’s healthcare, financial services, criminal justice or manufacturing. I look to learn from their industry specialists to better understand how they think. Then, once I know a bit more about the inner workings, goals and pain-points, I’m best able to put their data to use in solving their problems.

Being a successful data scientist is as much about attitude as skill. You need a thirst for knowledge and a general  sense of curiosity. I gladly learn from and share my expertise with others at various Data Science Camps and with the Milwaukee Data Science Meetup group.

At Octavian Technology Group, my responsibilities are leveraging data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning in custom solutions designed to improve a client’s business.

Essentially, I help companies discover how company data can be better leveraged and organized to reveal valuable insights, and help solve tangible business problems.

My goal is to listen, learn and bring out the best in a collaborative environment. I find groups that are highly-skilled, motivated and team-oriented are successful when there is no “rank in the room.” Instead, everyone plays a role and we all get our hands dirty together.

I establish high-performing teams that deliver a full spectrum of analytics across all facets of an organization, from service to marketing to internal operations. I hope to challenge the group, but always provide them a legitimate sense of empowerment.

Through my career, a passion for mathematics and computer science has allowed me to teach at the collegiate level, and journey from software developer to IT architect to a C-level leader in analytics and data science – a rewarding role where delivering measurable results are always among my teams’ primary objectives.

​At Octavian Technology Group, I work with clients to unearth meaningful technical strategies.

With a deep expertise in cloud architecture, I’m probably best described as an “enterprise architect.” But for the past several years I’ve also been working within the disciplines of machine learning and mixed reality. I’m grateful my experiences in these various arenas have afforded me many creative outlets in development, architecture, infrastructure, management, and leadership.

I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned during the past 20 years by speaking at national, regional and local conferences, including THAT Conference, The Midwest Architect Community Conference, Milwaukee Code Camp and at various technology user groups. I’m also the co-organizer of the Milwaukee Azure User Group and run the Milwaukee Global AI Group, which is known to draw more than 5,000 participants from cities around the world.

In 2019, I was proud to be named a Microsoft MVP for Artificial Intelligence (AI) – one of the first such honorees in the U.S. And most recently I teamed up with other MVP’s to write a book about machine learning, due out in 2020.