CraigHamill_Resume2025 – Download Here
CraigHamill_HandBill2025 – Download Here
Technology & Innovation Executive Driving Growth, Profitability, and Cyber-Resilient Operations
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Email: craighamill@gmail.com
Phone: (708) 275-6823
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craighamill/
Website: http://craighamill.com
SUMMARY
Dynamic business-first technology executive with 20+ years of extensive cross-industry leadership experience driving revenue growth, profitability, and risk reduction through modern digital transformation, IT, cloud, and data platforms. Proven track record aligning technology initiatives with business strategy, turning IT investments into measurable business outcomes: unlocking new revenue streams, reducing operating costs, accelerating time-to-market, and strengthening cyber resilience. Known for building high-performing teams, simplifying complex environments, and partnering with executives to align technology roadmaps with P&L, growth, and compliance objectives. Forward-looking leader leveraging emerging technologies
(AI/ML, XR, digital twins) to create competitive advantages and build future-ready organizations.
CORE COMPETENCIES
Technology Strategy and Roadmapping | Cybersecurity and Compliance (NIST CSF 2.0 800‐171, ISO 27001, SOC 2) | Identity and Zero Trust | ITIL and ITSM Service Delivery | Data and Analytics Enablement | Budgeting, Forecasting,
and ROI | Vendor and Contract Management | Program and Portfolio Management | Change Management | High‐Performance Computing (HPC) | Disaster Recovery | Business Continuity | Digital Transformation |
Cross‐Functional Collaboration and Leadership | Executive Communication | P&L Impact, Budgeting, and Forecasting | Stakeholder Management | Enterprise Architecture | Threat Detection Engineering & Incident Response
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Azure | AWS | GCP | Microsoft 365 | Entra ID (Azure AD) | Terraform | CrowdStrike | Rapid7 | Salesforce | SharePoint | AI/ML| XR/AR/VR | Digital Twins | IoT | Hybrid Cloud HPC | ELN | Data Fabric | MDM | Virtualization & Clustering | Network Segmentation | Endpoint Encryption | Monitoring | DR / BCP | NIST CSF 2.0 | NIST 800-171 | ISO 27001 | SOC 2 | FedRAMP
| ITIL 4
EXPERIENCE
UL RESEARCH INSTITUTES
Director of IT(Innovation, Technology & Knowledge Management)
2023 – 2025
Directed enterprise technology strategy for a global safety science research organization, managing a $5M annual technology budget to enable revenue growth, expand research contract opportunities, and improve operational efficiency while strengthening cyber and compliance posture.
● Innovation Leadership: Architected and delivered the “Lab of the Future” program, deploying AI/ML and XR solutions across global safety-science institutes. Enabled $5M+ in new research contract opportunities by achieving
federal compliance certifications (FedRAMP, NIST CSF, 800-171, 800-53), opening previously inaccessible government and defense research work, and supporting 15+ additional studies annually, worth $4M+ in revenue.
● Metaverse Safety Initiatives: Unlocked $8M+ in new revenue potential by partnering with the World Economic Forum, Microsoft and Meta to define global safety standards for immersive technologies (XR/Metaverse). Led ULRI’s participation in the World Economic Forum Global Collaboration Village with Microsoft and Accenture to define safety standards for immersive technologies.
● IT Service Excellence & Knowledge Management: Increased IT service delivery efficiency by 55% through ITIL implementation, cutting average incident resolution time from 48 to 8 hours and improving researcher productivity by an estimated $600K annually. Built modern knowledge-management and self-service capabilities that raised transparency
and service quality for researchers, staff, and executives.
● Enterprise Transformation: Served as operational technology lead in UL’s divestiture into non-profit and for-profit entities, designing and delivering new cloud and end-user infrastructures from the ground up with leading service
providers. Executed a seamless separation of IT environments for 500+ employees with zero downtime, establishing a scalable foundation for future growth and a trusted technology program for the new organization.
● Technology Modernization: Modernized research computing by deploying high-performance computing clusters and optimized infrastructure, increasing compute capacity by ~200% and sharply reducing runtimes for data-intensive
workloads. Delivered $2.3M in cost avoidance and cut provisioning time by 75% by architecting a Terraform/Azure infrastructure-as-code environment that eliminated configuration drift and recurring incidents previously driving $400K in annual productivity loss. Defined a multi-year IT strategy and operating model spanning governance, portfolio management, budgeting, vendor management, and risk/compliance (NIST CSF 2.0, 800-171, ISO 27001).
● Center of Innovation (COIN): Launched ULRI’s first Center of Innovation, an industrial metaverse lab combining IoT, XR, and AI in an immersive environment. Generated 12 new research prototypes and attracted $3M+ in pilot funding from public and private organizations for digital twin and XR safety testing. Established a data-first lab program (ELN, data fabric, AR/VR, digital twins) in partnership with Microsoft, improving remote collaboration, onboarding, and safety/compliance training.
● Executive Technology Advisor: Served as the institute’s senior-most technology leader on the executive team, shaping enterprise architecture and technology strategy, championing cybersecurity, and steering multi-million-dollar R&D technology investments. Partnered with research and business leaders to align technology roadmaps with mission outcomes, risk priorities, and financial performance.
PRITZKER SCHOOL OF MOLECULAR ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Director of Information Technology
2019 – 2023
Led comprehensive IT transformation for premier engineering school, managing $3.5M budget and enabling research
excellence that contributed to securing $120M+ in federal grants and industry partnerships.
Highlights:
● IT Strategy and Leadership: Led a comprehensive IT transformation for UChicago’s premier engineering school. Defined a new IT strategy and vision in partnership with university leadership, focusing on enabling and developing
cutting-edge research. Managed a diverse IT team, modernizing technology lab solutions that supported growth in research output over four years.
● Cloud & Research Computing: Deployed an innovative hybrid cloud architecture combining on-premises HPC resources and research compute with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure). Provided faculty and researchers with
on-demand computing and storage, reducing time-to-science from weeks to hours. This innovative process and flexibility drove rapid experimentation and collaboration on projects from core research in quantum computing to
materials science.
● Cybersecurity & Compliance Excellence: Implemented a robust cybersecurity framework with advanced threat detection (CrowdStrike, Rapid7) and strict access controls. Achieved full compliance with federal and industry standards (NIST 800-171, ISO 27001), delivering the school a trusted environment for sensitive research data. Notably improved cybersecurity posture, eliminating major incidents and driving compliance with endpoint, identity, access control, monitoring, and response.
● Service Improvement & Collaboration: Introduced ITIL-based service management to streamline incident and problem tracking and response. A new SharePoint intranet, connecting and collaborating for internal communication and amplification. Helped drive user satisfaction to an all-time high by fostering transparency, self-service tools, and a
culture of responsive IT management.
● Innovation Projects: Guided high-impact projects such as developing a Salesforce CRM to unify stakeholder relationships (students, alumni, partners) and implementing Mobile Device Management within the school and
partners. These initiatives streamlined operations and enhanced community engagement, positioning the school as a technology frontrunner within the university.
REDWOOD LOGISTICS (formerly Strive Logistics)
Senior IT Manager
2011 – 2019
Scaled enterprise infrastructure and security through high‑growth expansion from regional 3PL to national provider; partnered
closely with software teams to architect and engineer proprietary TMS platforms and customer‑facing systems.
Highlights:
● Enterprise Infrastructure Build-out: Engineered and managed Redwood’s IT infrastructure through a period of
rapid expansion (grew from a regional 3PL to a national logistics provider). Designed resilient networks and virtual
server clusters supporting 5 office hubs and 3 data centers, achieving 99.99% uptime for critical logistics platforms and
customer-facing systems.
● Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity: Established a comprehensive Disaster Recovery and Business
Continuity program with live replication across sites and regular failover drills. Successfully protected the business
from multiple potential outages (e.g., weather events) with zero data loss, safeguarding millions in revenue.
● Operational Efficiency & Cost Control: Streamlined IT operations and vendor management, saving ~$500K
through negotiated contracts and cloud optimizations. Introduced ROI-driven project planning and tight cost controls,
contributing to profitable growth.
● Team Leadership: Cultivated a strong IT team and collaborative environment. Mentored junior engineers into
leadership roles and fostered close alignment with software development teams – accelerating deployment cycles and
boosting product innovation for the company’s proprietary TMS (Transportation Management System).
● Security Enhancements: Led company-wide security upgrades, including network segmentation, endpoint
encryption, and enhanced monitoring. These efforts significantly reduced vulnerabilities and ensured compliance with
industry best practices, instilling greater client confidence in Redwood’s IT systems.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
LOYOLA PRESS, Chicago, IL, Systems Engineer, 2008-2011
BONDED COLLECTIONS CORPORATION, Chicago, IL, Systems Engineer, 2006-2008
ROSALIND FRANKLIN UNIVERSITY, North Chicago, IL, Systems and Support Manager, 2003-2006
EDUCATION
DEPAUL UNIVERSITY, Chicago, Illinois
M.S. Business Information Technology
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY, Kalamazoo, Michigan
B.B.A., Computer Information Systems
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Fellow, Technology and Innovation Fellowship, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, 2025
Artificial Intelligence Strategy Executive Program, NYU School of Professional Studies, 2024
ITIL v4 Foundation Certification
COUNCILS & MEMBERSHIPS
- Contributor and Advisor, World Economic Forum – Connected Future Initiative (2024–Present)– Contributing expertise on digital public infrastructure and global collaboration frameworks, with an emphasis on equitable and sustainable technology development.
- Contributor and Advisor, World Economic Forum – Global Collaboration Village (2023–Present)– Guiding the development of WEF’s metaverse-based collaboration platform and focusing on digital collaboration practices, inclusive infrastructure strategy, and sustainable virtual communities.
- Member, Forbes Technology Council – Invitation-only community for senior technology executives recognized for business impact, leadership, and innovation. Contributor of thought leadership articles and insights.
- Member, Chicago Innovation – 2025 Fellow, Ageless Innovators Mentorship Program; Judge for Illinois Student Invention Convention.
- Ambassador, Gartner Peer Community – Recognized contributor and thought leader shaping executive-level discussions on enterprise IT, cybersecurity, and innovation strategy.
- Member, Gartner C-level Communities – Exclusive peer network for CIOs/CTOs/CISOs to collaborate on strategy, technology transformation, and enterprise leadership.
- Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science – (AAAS)
- Member, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) – Active participant in the global community advancing technology for humanity, with engagement across computing, AI, and engineering domains.
- Member, SIM Chicago & AITP Chicago – Actively engage with Fortune 500 CIOs and senior IT leaders through panels, forums, and strategic discussions, contributing through leadership in innovation, digital transformation, and enterprise technology.
SELECTED SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, PANELS & PODCASTS
- University of Chicago “IT Matters” Series — Topics: Quantum Computing (Jan 2021) and PME Technology Strategy (Dec 2022)
- Automox Webinar: “For Fix Sake: IT Trends Set to Shape 2023” (Jan 2023)
- Podcast Guest: “The Data Diva Talks Privacy” (Episode 141, July 2023)
- Oracle Industry Lab Workshop (Interactive Roundtable): “No De-Risk, No Reward” (Sep 2024)
- Oracle Industry Lab Workshop (Case Study): “Mapping Your Digital Product Experience Across the Ecosystem” (Sep 2024)
- AI Ethics Forum: Oakton Community College & Evanston Township High School (Mar 2025)
- Frost and Sullivan – Technology Council Executive Series – “Implementing Innovation – Ideation, Incubation, Culture, and Scaled Impact” (Mar 2025)
- Design and Simulation Summit Keynote – ‘Harnessing Cloud-Based HPC for Safety Science’ (Oct 2025)
- CAMP IT‘s ‘Infrastructure/IT Ops’ Conference – ‘The Advantages and Disadvantages of AI in Cloud Computing (Fireside Chat)’ (Oct 2025)