Chris Bakke

Founder

Currently: Investing, writing, and enjoying downtime.

Previously: CEO of Laskie (acquired by X/Twitter in 2023), Co-founder of Interviewed (acquired by Indeed in 2017), COO of 42Floors (acquired by Knotel), managed business development for Zillow (NAS $ZG), RentJuice (acquired by Zillow in 2012).

Founder, CEO

Aptos Retail

As a global CIO, I lead the day-to-day operations for our multi-cloud SaaS including the departments of Cloud Operations, Cybersecurity, FinOps, Enterprise Applications, Infrastructure, Compliance, and the IT Service Desk on a global scale.
Key Responsibilities:
- Oversee and manage multi-cloud solutions, including AWS, Azure, and GCP.
- Drive the modernization of cloud delivery and optimize cloud costs through modern FinOps frameworks.
- Implement infrastructure as code within DevOps and CloudOps frameworks for CI/CD.
- Globally align and enhance next-generation cybersecurity operations.
- Lead transformation of internal business systems including HRIS, CRM, and other business intelligence tools.

Chief Information Officer

guardDog

Guard Dog Solutions is the first plug-and-play cybersecurity AI device that exposes, contains, and shuts down threats to all of our wireless devices. We now protect the work-from-home environment to VPN Network leaks and protect the internal office, corporate, healthcare, and government infrastructure from Numerous WiFi devises that are typically not even on anyone’s radar.

Advisory Board Member

Forbes Technology Council

Members are respected tech leaders — CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, and others — selected for the council based on their deep knowledge and diverse experience in the industry.

Official Member

Glynn 100

Glynn 100 is a curated network of leaders within Technology, IT, Security, Finance, Marketing, and Human Resources at Glynn Capital. Glynn Capital is focused on investments in leading private and public technology growth companies (www.glynncapital.com).

Partner

Menlo Ventures

We are investors and company builders—we know what it takes to turn a budding idea into a scalable business. We work with early-stage founders to find product-market fit, develop go-to-market strategies, scale their organizations, and support them as they grow

CxO Advisory Member

HMG Strategy

Inflationary pressures and other macro-economic challenges are creating headwinds for technology executives and fellow members of the C-suite to execute on and achieve strategic goals through 2023. The fast-changing socio-economic landscape is prompting technology executives to become more creative than ever and to draw upon authentic and inclusive leadership skills to inspire their teams.

CIO Advisory Board Member

Open Raven

Open Raven is a cloud-native data security platform purpose-built for protecting modern data lakes and warehouses. From finding all data locations to proactively identifying exposure, the platform solves a broad spectrum of problems organizations commonly face when living with large amounts of cloud-based data.

Open Raven acquired by Formstack in June 2024: 
https://www.formstack.com/press/formstack-acquires-openraven

#CIO #CISO #acquistions #cybersecurity

Advisor

Net Health

Led the strategy, development, and digital transformation of all IT applications, remote work strategy, data management/modernization, cybersecurity, infrastructure, IT Service Desk, DevOps, SREs, DBAs, FinOps, and operations. Responsible for the delivery of IT services including Software-as-a-Service, Security/Compliance, Data Centers, Network Operations, Cloud, Compliance, and DevOps.
- Successfully led the migration to Office 365, expansion of AWS, Azure, and integration of Netsuite Salesforce and other ERP systems.
- Transformed SaaS platform to support 5 million daily patients from traditional hosting models to Public Cloud Services.
- Led the digital workplace transformation that allowed the entire organization to go fully remote in 24 hours due to the global pandemic. Included rollout of frictionless Always-On VPN, web conferencing, Unified Communications Services, Mobile Device Management, and two-factor authentication.
- Lead all IT M&A integration of new companies including products and services.
- Lead IT Governance including SOC 1, SOC 2, HITRUST, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance.
- Served as CISO and expanded IT Security services to incorporate next-generation security including EDR, Network Threat Detection, Zero Trust security, and security awareness training for all employees.

Optima Healthcare Solutions

Led successful digital transformation strategy.
Led SaaS Operations, IT Infrastructure, IT Operations, Data Services, IT Service Delivery, DevOps, Network Operations, and Security/Compliance.
Grew SaaS solution to serve over 3.2 million patients.
Expanded the organization's multi-cloud strategy to include Azure, AWS, and traditional data centers.
Created the organization's first offshore IT team to supplement onshore resources and create 24/7 operation. 
Managed the Microsoft Office 365 adoption. 
Led all compliance reporting including HIPAA, SOC1, and SOC2 compliance.  
Led all IT activity for mergers and acquisitions.

Optima Healthcare Solutions was acquired by Net Health in July 2019:
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/net-health-to-acquire-optima-healthcare-solutions-expanding-its-purpose-built-electronic-medical-record-platform-1028324061

EarthLink Internet

Responsible for transforming and modernizing IT Operations and Infrastructure including data centers, systems, storage, and network-related infrastructure.  
Managed all IT integration-related activities related to the merger with Windstream.
Led the IT operations and IT integration-related activities related to the Windstream merger. 
Partnered with Windstream integration teams to identify synergies in both personnel and services.


EarthLink was acquired by Windstream in a $1.1 Billion Merger:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-earthlink-hldgs-m-a-windstream-hldgs/u-s-telecom-firm-windstream-to-buy-earthlink-idUSKBN1321HF

VP, IT Operations

Transformational and award-winning CIO with over 20+ years IT Leadership experience and 15+ years of experience in managing global IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and operations across diverse industries. Extensive experience in both private equity-backed organizations and publicly traded companies. Extensive IT leadership in SaaS, digital transformation, mergers and acquisitions, security, infrastructure management, disaster recovery, cloud computing, and partner relations.  Frequent industry speaker and contributor to IT thought leader podcasts and publications such as Forbes, WSJ, CIO.com, IDG, and The Enterprisers Project.

Expertise: Leadership, CyberSecurity, SaaS. Digital Transformation, Digital Workplace/Remote Work, Cloud Computing, Infrastructure, Turn-Around, Big Data, IT Management, International Operations, Mergers and Acquisitions/Divestitures, Start-ups, Data Center Management, DevOps, Network Management, System Administration, IT Project Management, Tactical and Strategic Planning, and Disaster Recovery.

Jason  James

I’m proud to share that I was recently recognized as a member of The Wall Street Journal Tech Council, a collective community of leading technology experts from the world’s most influential companies. 

https://lnkd.in/gn3uUxuj

#WSJTech #WSJ #CIO #Leadership

IBM announces $11 billion all-cash acquisition of data streaming platform, Confluent.

https://lnkd.in/eTvjcYDi

#CIO #Acquistion #deals #data #datastreaming

Open article: Confluent stock soars 29% as IBM announces $11 billion acquisition deal by cnbc.com

Confluent stock soars 29% as IBM announces $11 billion acquisition deal

Aptos Retail and private equity firm Axcel have entered into a definitive agreement through which LS Retail, an Aptos Company business unit, will be acquired. 

Wishing Kristjan Johannsson and the entire LS Retail team continued success. 

#CIO #acquistions #deals #PE #retailnews

View company: LS Retail, an Aptos Company

We are pleased to share that Axcel Management A/S has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire LS Retail.

With Axcel, we gain a partner with extensive experience in vertical software, partner-led growth, and cloud transformation, creating a strong community whose combined expertise will help tackle retail transformation challenges and industry-specific complexities.

"The past few years at LS Retail have been marked by exceptional growth and increased global recognition, both by retailers who express mounting interest in working with us, and by analyst firms such as IDC and Gartner. We are thrilled about the partnership with Axcel, a Nordic investor with a deep understanding of the B2B technology sector, and see this as a meaningful step that will further support our ambitions of delivering bold technological innovation across the globe." 
- Kristjan Johannsson General Manager of LS Retail.

Read the full announcement on our website: https://hubs.li/Q03Xsz2Q0

#LSRetail #Axcel #LSCentral

AI-powered shopping tools contributed to a significant increase in U.S. online spending on Black Friday, with online sales reaching $11.8 billion. 

https://lnkd.in/gcuec_mm

#CIO #RetailNews #AI #onlineshopping #BlackFriday #ecommerce

Open article: AI helps drive record $11.8 billion in Black Friday online spending by reuters.com

AI helps drive record $11.8 billion in Black Friday online spending

I’m excited to lead a discussion with industry experts on safeguarding retail operations at #NRF2026. Be sure to join me at the Big Ideas session.

#CIO #CISO #security #retailnews #NYC #Amazon #Snowflake

At #NRF2026, we're taking the Big Ideas stage with technology leaders for a discussion on safeguarding retail operations.

Aptos CIO Jason James will be joined by Krithika Ganesamoorthi | Amazon Web Services (AWS), Roger Delph, CISSP, QTE | Oxford Industries and Rosemary DeAragon | Snowflake to review the state of retail security and how leading brands are staying resilient in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Learn more about the session and Aptos' full schedule at Retail's Big Show here: https://bit.ly/4q82xbO

Think twice before leaving your SSD backups off and in a drawer for years. SSD could suffer from corrupted or lost data if left unpowered for extended periods. 

https://lnkd.in/gKFW6S-C

#CIO #backup #storage #SSD #dataloss

Open article: The unpowered SSDs in your drawer are slowly losing your data by xda-developers.com

The unpowered SSDs in your drawer are slowly losing your data

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jason James's LinkedIn Performance

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