IT Manager / Leader / Director / Technologist / AI Innovator

Darren DeBaillon

Chattanooga, TN 423-***-**** ******@*********.***

linkedin.com/in/darren-debaillon debaillon.org

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Strategic Chief Information Officer and Enterprise Architect with 30+ years of progressive IT leadership in large, complex, regulated environments. Proven record building and scaling high-performing technology organizations, establishing enterprise governance frameworks, driving cloud modernization and digital transformation, and delivering measurable business outcomes. Deep expertise across the full technology leadership spectrum: IT operations and infrastructure, cybersecurity and risk management, enterprise architecture, AI/ML strategy and governance, application portfolio management, vendor and MSP oversight, and large-scale program delivery. CISSP and TOGAF v9 certified. Founder of DEBAILLON, LLC providing executive-level advisory on AI strategy, cloud modernization, and IT governance.

CORE COMPETENCIES

•Executive IT Leadership: CIO/VP-level strategy and execution; IT-business alignment; technology roadmap development; CapEx/OpEx budget management; board and executive communication

•Enterprise Architecture: TOGAF v9; federated EA model design and implementation; architecture review governance; technical standards and patterns; application portfolio rationalization; ServiceNow APM/EA Pro

•Cybersecurity & Risk Management: CISSP; Zero Trust architecture; IAM; SIEM implementation oversight; GenAI governance and risk frameworks; NERC CIP; FISMA; endpoint security (Intune MDM); vulnerability management; audit compliance

•Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS highly available geographically distributed systems; Azure hybrid cloud; Microsoft 365; Entra ID/Azure AD; VMware vSphere; Cisco UCS; Dell VxRail HCI; Supermicro SuperBlade HPC; EMC VNX/Unity SAN; Infoblox DNS/DHCP/IPAM; Schneider StruxureWare DCIM; Eaton VCOM

•AI & Emerging Technology: Enterprise GenAI governance framework design; LLM integration strategy; robotics deployment (Boston Dynamics Spot/Scout, 5 locations); VR/AR; CLIP embeddings/semantic search; AI operational boundary frameworks

•Digital Transformation & Program Delivery: Large-scale infrastructure and cloud migration programs; M365/SharePoint migrations; converged infrastructure design; PMO governance; SAFe Agile; ITIL v3

•Vendor & MSP Governance: Third-party MSP/MSSP vetting, SLA/KPI governance, and performance management; multi-vendor contract oversight; RFP design and evaluation

•Team & Organizational Leadership: Multi-disciplinary team building and scaling; performance management; hiring; mentoring; federated practice development; culture of ownership and accountability

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Principal Technology Consultant DEBAILLON, LLC — Chattanooga, TN 2025 – Present

•Providing executive-level advisory on AI strategy, cloud modernization, IT governance, cybersecurity posture, and digital transformation to enterprise clients.

•Designing enterprise GenAI governance frameworks including use case prioritization, vendor evaluation, data security controls, shadow IT risk mitigation, and operational readiness programs.

•Delivering infrastructure maturity assessments, cloud migration roadmaps, and technology strategy consulting for organizations scaling their IT functions.

Sr. Manager, Enterprise Architecture Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) — Chattanooga, TN 2019 – 2025

TVA is a $13B federal utility operating under NERC CIP and FISMA compliance — a mission-critical regulated environment demanding infrastructure reliability, cybersecurity rigor, and governance discipline.

•Innovation Center (TechX) — Founded from Zero: Launched TVA's first enterprise Innovation Center, establishing governance, vendor evaluation, and operational integration frameworks that moved emerging technology from pilot to production. Deployed Boston Dynamics Spot robotic inspection platforms across 5 operational locations using Scout for remote monitoring and control in hazardous environments. Introduced VR/AR and AI automation to the enterprise workforce.

•Enterprise Technology Plan: Authored TVA's definitive multi-year Enterprise Technology Plan — architectural principles, platform standards, integration patterns, cloud migration strategy, and technology roadmap governing a $13B enterprise. Presented regularly to CIO and Senior Leadership Team.

•GenAI Governance Framework: Designed and implemented TVA's enterprise GenAI governance framework — LLM usage controls, data privacy boundaries, vendor security requirements, shadow IT risk mitigation, and audit mechanisms. Delivered AI automation pilots reducing manual effort by ~20%.

•Federated EA Practice Transformation: Rebooted centralized EA function into a federated model, embedding business, solution, data, and cyber architects across the enterprise — scaling architectural discipline and delivery velocity simultaneously.

•Cybersecurity Architecture Governance: Governed enterprise security architecture with CISO — security architects as voting ARB members enforcing controls, vulnerability management, and compliance. CISSP-certified with active security governance accountability.

•AWS Distributed Systems: Co-led architecture and delivery of highly available, geographically distributed systems on AWS, establishing patterns for fault tolerance, geographic redundancy, and multi-region failover.

•Application Portfolio Rationalization: Reduced application portfolio by 33% through platform consolidation and Microsoft license optimization, realizing ~$500K in annual savings. Governed 500+ platforms using ServiceNow APM/EA Pro.

•MSP & Vendor Governance: Managed strategic MSP relationships — establishing SLAs, KPIs, and governance frameworks for providers delivering tier-1/tier-2 support and infrastructure management.

•Microsoft Ecosystem: Oversaw Microsoft 365, Azure, Entra ID/Azure AD, and Microsoft Intune MDM strategy and deployment standards, including M365 and SharePoint migration governance.

Manager, Operating Systems / Cloud Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 2018 – 2019

•Led a geographically dispersed team of 25+ engineers delivering cloud infrastructure, OS platform operations, DNS/network services, and data center automation as a core member of TVA's 'IT of Tomorrow' digital transformation leadership team.

•Drove cloud platform migration outcomes including hybrid cloud adoption across AWS and Azure, infrastructure standardization, and automation of cloud provisioning and configuration management using Terraform and Ansible Tower.

•Managed on-call operations, incident response, Engineering Design Review governance, and capacity planning; provided structured operational reporting to executive stakeholders.

Sr. Program Manager Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 2013 – 2018

•Program lead for TVA's converged infrastructure (T-BLOCK) and hybrid cloud transformation — directing data center redesign and multi-year delivery across Cisco UCS, Dell VxRail (HCI), Supermicro SuperBlade (HPC), and EMC VNX/Unity/CLARiiON SAN environments.

•Managed vendor relationships with Cisco, Dell EMC, Supermicro, and Schneider Electric; led vendor evaluation, contract governance, and SLA oversight.

•Built business cases, financial models, and technical roadmaps for major infrastructure investments; delivered complex programs on time and within budget.

IT Infrastructure Engineer Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 2008 – 2013

•Designed TVA's T-BLOCK converged infrastructure standard including Supermicro SuperBlade HPC architecture with SuperDoctor monitoring, and built enterprise automation frameworks for deployment and configuration management.

•Designed and operated enterprise DNS/DHCP/IPAM infrastructure using Infoblox appliances; implemented Schneider StruxureWare DCIM and Eaton VCOM for data center monitoring and capacity management.

•Hands-on Linux/UNIX and Windows systems engineering, VMware virtualization, EMC SAN administration, and PowerShell/Python automation at enterprise scale.

UNIX/Windows Systems Administrator Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 2000 – 2008

•Led VMware virtualization strategy and enterprise P2V conversion program; designed foundational data center infrastructure underpinning TVA's subsequent architecture generations.

•Managed large-scale Linux/UNIX and Windows server environments across a geographically distributed footprint, including DNS/network services and storage administration.

Lead Support Specialist (Principal) — Call Center Operations Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 1996 – 2000

•Built and operated TVA's Help Desk and call center from the ground up — establishing service delivery frameworks, telephony infrastructure, staffing models, escalation paths, and ITSM operational standards for a high-volume customer-facing environment.

•Designed and managed the enterprise telephony and customer support technology stack; established incident management and service level frameworks that became TVA's IT service delivery baseline.

EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS

•CISSP — Certified Information Systems Security Professional, (ISC) (2002, active)

•TOGAF v9 Certified — Enterprise Architecture (2019)

•SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) Practitioner (2014)

•ITIL v3 Foundation — IT Service Management (2011)

•MCSE / MCP+I — Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (2000)

•Computer Science University of Louisiana at Lafayette

TECHNICAL SKILLS & KEYWORDS

Leadership & Governance: CIO, VP of IT, SVP, Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Architecture, IT Strategy, PMO, IT Governance, Digital Transformation, TOGAF, ITIL, SAFe Agile, SecDevOps, Architecture Review Board, Application Portfolio Management, ServiceNow APM, ServiceNow EA Pro

Cybersecurity & Compliance: CISSP, Zero Trust, IAM, SIEM, Microsoft Sentinel, MDM, Microsoft Intune, Endpoint Security, GenAI Governance, Vulnerability Management, NERC CIP, FISMA, Risk Management, Data Loss Prevention, Microsoft Purview, Incident Response, Business Continuity

Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS, Azure, Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Azure Active Directory, Hybrid Cloud, VMware vSphere, Cisco UCS, Dell VxRail, HCI, Supermicro SuperBlade, SuperDoctor, EMC VNX, EMC Unity, EMC CLARiiON, SAN, Infoblox, DNS, DHCP, IPAM, Schneider StruxureWare, Eaton VCOM, DCIM, IPMI, BMC

AI & Automation: Generative AI, GenAI, LLM, Large Language Models, Prompt Engineering, RAG, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Robotics, Boston Dynamics Spot, Boston Dynamics Scout, RPA, CLIP, Semantic Search, Qdrant, VR, AR, AI Governance, Shadow IT Risk

DevOps & Automation: Terraform, Ansible, Ansible Tower, PowerShell, Python, CI/CD, ServiceNow DevOps Velocity, Infrastructure as Code, Configuration Management

Platforms & Collaboration: Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Power BI, Power Platform, Jira, ZenDesk, NinjaOne, ServiceNow, VMware, SailPoint

Methodologies & Frameworks: TOGAF, SAFe, ITIL, Agile, Scrum, PI Planning, Waterfall, Architecture Decision Records, Federated EA, NERC CIP, FISMA

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