Transformation leader · product strategist

Turning complex technology change into measurable outcomes.

I work where enterprise strategy meets delivery, helping leaders make better portfolio decisions, modernize how teams build, and turn cloud and AI investments into durable business value.

Professional headshot of Cris Santiago
Based in New York Cloud · AI · Portfolio strategy

Selected impact

At a glance
$70M+ Forecasted annual operational savings and benefits
6,000+ Users supported through enterprise modernization
$7M New contract awards secured through trusted advisory work
15+ High-priority strategic initiatives managed concurrently

How I work

Strategy through delivery

I started out building the systems I now help leaders decide about, and that grounding still sets my approach:

  • Learn how the system actually works before recommending a direction.
  • Put the trade-offs on the table early, in plain language.
  • Keep the strategy tied to what teams can realistically ship.

Today I partner with director, VP, and C-suite stakeholders on enterprise portfolios, product delivery, and transformation. The work I am best at sits between teams, where a decision needs executive clarity and technical credibility at the same time.

Enterprise portfolio strategy Product and program leadership Cloud and AI transformation Executive stakeholder engagement Customer adoption and expansion Engineering delivery systems

Career path

2019-Present
2024-Now

Zeal IT Consultants

Management consulting and enterprise transformation

Leading strategic initiatives, portfolio governance, AI and DevOps pursuits, and enterprise adoption for a major U.S. commercial airline.

2021-2024

Booz Allen Hamilton

Product leadership for critical financial infrastructure

Managed secure cloud modernization, identity platforms, and cross-functional delivery for a major federal financial institution.

2020-2021

INTELITY · Cybernet Systems

Customer success, deployment, and software engineering

Led SaaS deployment operations and built automation and continuous-monitoring systems for high-security environments.

2019-2020

Sighthound

Applied AI and data foundations

Built Python data-collection tools and contributed to computer vision training pipelines and quality assurance.

Education and credentials

Business + technology

Education

MBA, Data Analytics

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

B.S., Computer Science

University of Central Florida

Certifications

  • Generative AI Leader
  • Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • SAFe Practice Consultant 6.0
  • AWS Solutions Architect (Associate)
  • CompTIA Security+