About TAG CXO
TAG CXO started on a plane ride home.
During a consulting role with a company in Orlando, Paul Theisen, our Founder and Principal, participated in an eye-opening meeting with the CEO, CFO, and Director of IT. While thinking about the interaction on his flight home, it dawned on him:
Middle-market companies need the leadership of a Fortune 500 CIO. But they simply don’t have the budget to attract that level of talent or enough work to keep them busy full-time anyway. Without a better option, they never really close the tech leadership gap.
What Theisen figured out was that by solving the leadership gap with the right talent, all the other tech problems start to go away quickly.
He started thinking about how to bridge that gap into a win-win for both companies and CIOs alike. From Paul’s clear vision and mission of Technology Leadership Solved™, TAG CXO was created.
Paul, with a bench of fellow tech leaders, set out to help middle market businesses with executive-level IT advisory to guide them toward success and avoid pitfalls that might otherwise go overlooked. These executives looking for their next career step dedicate a fraction of their time to helping businesses solve their unique tech challenges and make vital executive guidance available.
A win for enterprise CIOs
They get the satisfaction of solving unique challenges in the middle market, opportunity to do career-defining work, and connection to a community of fellow passionate problem-solving CIOs.
A win for middle market companies
In turn, middle market companies get incredible value and executive-level clarity at an affordable rate as they only pay for a portion of the CIO’s time rather than hiring a full-time role.
Secure the expert tech leader you thought was out of reach
Different on purpose
We started TAG CXO to bring together a carefully selected team of enterprise-level industry veterans to solve technology problems for mid-market companies.
Our values
Impartial by design
Advise from authority
Manage with stewardship
Grow through integrity
TAG CXO Services
Advisory Services
Fractional/Interim Executives
Program Management
Retained Executive Search
Private Equity Tech Leadership
Technology Leadership Solved™
Our Team
Paul Theisen
Founder, Principal, and Fractional CIO
A tenured executive leader, Paul brings over 30 years of experience across a spectrum of industrial markets serving asset heavy enterprises in commercial and specialty construction, global manufacturing, energy, and the utility industries.
Bryan Kearney
Bryan is passionate about helping mid-market executives build and sustain a framework and process for technology alignment to business objectives.
Ed Escobedo
Ed is a passionate and skilled problem solver. Through focused leadership, Ed helps mid-market organizations build and align their internal technology and cybersecurity systems and processes, leading to positive transformation and operational excellence.
Steve Phillips
Lisa Baldwin
Fractional Executive CIO
Lisa is a global-minded IT leader who brings world-class insights – gained from 30 years of experience – to TAG CXO clients. She has a track record of transformation and modernization with paramount, luxury brands such as Tiffany and Co., Coach and IBM.
Pat O'Connor
Fractional Technology Executive
As a fractional executive, Pat has worked in numerous industries, making him a jack-of-all-trades, able to assess and strategize for any business. He’s passionate about continued education, with an understanding that everything in technology is constantly evolving and embraces the opportunity to learn and implement something new with each project.
Dinesh Rawlley
Fractional Executive CIO
Dinesh Rawlley is a business savvy thinker and seasoned technology executive with over 30 years of experience helping Fortune 500 organizations maximize the business value of technology investments through M&A due diligence, merger integration, carve-out planning, post-merger integration management, and digital transformation.
Todd Henne
Fractional Executive CFO
Todd Henne is a highly accomplished, results-driven senior accounting and financial management executive with more than 40 years of progressive experience in accounting, finance, and operations management within start-ups and global multi-million-dollar organizations.
Lisa Schaffner
Strategic Advisor, Fractional Chief Data and Analytics Officer
Dr. Lisa M. Schaffner, PhD, is an accomplished expert in healthcare strategy, data, and analytics. A visionary and execution-oriented executive, she conquers chaos and accelerates rapid and sustained returns by transforming data and analytics assets into actionable insights.
Ken Starr
Chief Revenue Officer
Ken Starr is a global revenue acceleration leader who consistently exceeds multi-million-dollar quotas and customer retention metrics. Having held titles such as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), Chief Sales Officer (CSO), and Chief Growth Officer (CGO), Ken is dedicated to building business. As a seasoned entrepreneur and technology equity partner, Ken has led successful exits and excelled in enterprise sales, SaaS platforms, ERP implementations, and digital transformation solutions.
Michael Shanko
Fractional Technology Executive
Michael Shanko is a leader in technology implementation and operations. He has a proven ability to discern and execute technology-based change management, business transformation, application development, FinOps, procurement, data security, data migration and modernization, and AI/ML initiatives.
Mark Tonnesen
Fractional Technology Executive
Mark Tonnesen is a highly sought-after business and technology leader with more than 25 years of experience in high-tech, security, financial services, gaming, and transportation. He has key expertise in business, technology, and organizational transformation including cloud computing, application development, contact center solutions, as well as B2B and B2C strategies.
Practice Directors
Darin Howard
Analytics
Darin’s leadership and years of business intelligence experience enable him to design and develop solutions that deliver timely and trusted information, helping organizations make better decisions critical to their success.
Dan Streufert
Practice Director, IT Infrastructure Services
Dan is a proven and experienced, enterprise IT leader with a passion for process enablement and business/IT transformation in rapid-growth organizations. An entrepreneur at heart, Dan’s personal drive and curiosity have honed and complemented his soft skills with deep technical knowledge.
Kim Wineland
Practice Director, Program Delivery
Kim Wineland knows that the right systems deliver enhanced organizational performance and potential for superior achievement. For over 20 years, she has been an unwavering advocate for transformative technology and a masterful program management and business transformation leader.
Scott Carlson
Practice Director, Cybersecurity Services
Scott Carlson is a highly skilled and experienced Information Security advisor with 30 years of experience, adept at identifying risks and developing solutions. He enjoys cracking difficult problems and seeking out hidden solutions that deliver the most secure data management. Scott is a complexity simplifier, translating the technological jargon associated with Information Security into “human speak” so that all team members and leadership are confident in decisions
Kevin Lee
Practice Director, Cybersecurity Services
With more than 35 years as a consulting practice leader and executive with a background implementing a wide range of operational and IT solutions for some 80 different clients, Kevin brings extensive experience and uncommon acumen to the table.
Dan Streufert
Practice Director, IT Infrastructure Services
Dan is a proven and experienced, enterprise IT leader with a passion for process enablement and business/IT transformation in rapid-growth organizations. An entrepreneur at heart, Dan’s personal drive and curiosity have honed and complemented his soft skills with deep technical knowledge.
Strategic Partners
Zach Poth
Strategic Advisor
Zach is a seasoned Sales and Operations Executive with over 15 years of progressive experience in business process development and people management.
Jim Williams
Senior Advisor, Human Resources & Labor Relations
Jim brings over 30 years of Human Resources, Change Management, and Executive Coaching in a diverse set of organizations concentrating on utilities, mining, heavy construction/ maintenance, and municipalities. In his role as a consultant and business coach, Jim will ask powerful questions without judgment.
Kim Moulton
A diverse career of over 30 years focused on people through Health, Safety & Wellness, Human Resources, and large-scale Change Management / Cultural transformation initiatives allows Kim to influence and guide an organization, its leaders and those who get the work done.
