John Dougherty

Technologist.

With over twenty-two years' experience in information technology, emphasising: Executive Leadership, Enterprise Security, Data & AI Infrastructure, and Business Development.

Established Technology Leader.

Proven effectiveness in security architecture, data engineering, and digital transformation — from startup to enterprise. Leveraging each level of growth, risk, and opportunity to deliver measurable results.

How I Deliver Value.

A strategic component in securing global platforms at global enterprises. Known within financial, energy, research, and commercial industries for the execution of cost-benefit driven deliverables.

More About What I Do ↓

What I Do.

Helping organizations navigate security, AI adoption, and technology transformation.

Data & AI Infrastructure & Deployment

End-to-end AI platform architecture and deployment for organizations ready to operationalize AI.

  • NVIDIA H100/GPU cluster provisioning and optimization
  • Local LLM deployment (Ollama, Open WebUI, vLLM)
  • AI-assisted development tooling (Claude Code, Copilot)
  • Enterprise AI platform architecture and governance

Enterprise Security

Application, API, and data security architecture informed by years at global enterprise security leaders.

  • WAF, bot management, and API security
  • Threat analysis and incident response
  • Security architecture and zero trust design
  • AI-specific threat mitigation (LLM security, prompt injection defense)

Automation & DevOps

Streamlining operations through infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and systems automation.

  • Infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible, Puppet)
  • CI/CD pipeline design and implementation
  • Containerization and orchestration
  • DevSecOps integration and toolchain optimization

Fractional CTO / vCIO

Strategic technology leadership without the full-time overhead. From budgets to architecture to board-level reporting.

  • Technology roadmapping and vendor evaluation
  • Compliance and governance (ISO, HIPAA, SOC)
  • IT budget optimization and cost-benefit analysis
  • Team building and talent strategy
22+
Years Experience
800+
Community Members Built
$2B+
Assets Managed
50%
Cost Reductions Delivered

Experience.

A career built on progressive leadership in security and technology.

January 2024 — Present

Global Enterprise Security Leader

Principal Security Consultant

  • Lead security consulting for enterprise platform security across global industries at a world leader in data and application protection
  • Architect and deliver application, data, and process security solutions for complex enterprise environments
  • Advise on emerging threat vectors including AI/LLM-based attacks and defense strategies
April 2022 — January 2024

Global Enterprise Security

Principal Security Consultant

  • Promoted to Principal, leading complex security engagements through a major platform acquisition
  • Consulted on WAF, API security, bot management, and DDoS protection for enterprise clients
  • Developed security architecture recommendations spanning cloud and on-premises deployments
July 2018 — April 2022

Global Enterprise CDN & Security

Security Consultant II → Senior Security Consultant

  • Promoted through two levels; integrated and supported enterprise security products for global clients
  • Drove threat identification and resolution workflows, consistently exceeding KPI targets
  • Created technical documentation, policy frameworks, and client-facing security procedures
January 2017 — July 2018

JohnDou, llc.

vCIO | Developer

  • Provided fractional CIO advisory services and IT strategy consulting for medium-to-large businesses
  • Established software development lifecycles (front-end SPA, backend architecture) within Agile/Kanban frameworks
  • Delivered systems audits, workflow optimization, and measurable ROI for technology investments
March 2016 — January 2017

Synoptek

Client Advisor (vCIO)

  • Provided CIO-level perspective across multiple industries, identifying workflows and resources to drive client outcomes
  • Obtained and retained high-volume/risk accounts as the primary liaison between IT teams and clients
August 2010 — March 2016

Viriton, llc.

CIO & Founder

  • Founded and led an MSP bringing enterprise-grade solutions to growing businesses across financial, legal, energy, and medical sectors
  • Built Denver's largest Big Data meetup (800+ members), hosting presentations with Hortonworks, Cloudera, Datastax, and MapR
  • Managed R&D for big data infrastructure; created remediation products for NoSQL and SQL massive data deployments
  • Represented IT interests for clients managing >$2B in assets; delivered 50% operating cost reductions through decentralization

Earlier Career

Syntron Computer Services — CIO (May 2005 – May 2010) • Managed deployments, design, and budgeting for workflows, clients, and infrastructure.

NSI — National Surveillance Inc. — CIO (Feb 2004 – May 2005) • Designed and deployed large-scale multiplex camera installations; developed regional expansion plans.

Industries Served
Financial
Energy
Research
Commercial
Medical
Legal

Expertise.

Technical depth across security, infrastructure, data, and leadership.

Security

WAF / WAAP Bot Management API Security DDoS Protection Zero Trust Threat Analysis SASE Incident Response LLM Security

AI & Machine Learning

LLM Deployment NVIDIA GPU / H100 Ollama / Open WebUI vLLM AI-Assisted Dev Prompt Engineering RAG Pipelines

Infrastructure & DevOps

Linux Administration Containerization Virtualization CI/CD Terraform Ansible Data Center Ops Cloud Platforms DevSecOps

Data Engineering

Big Data Architecture Hadoop Ecosystem NoSQL / Cassandra Data Governance ETL Pipelines Data Quality / ML

Leadership & Governance

Executive Leadership PMP / ITIL ISO / SOC HIPAA / HITECH Budget Management Vendor Strategy Talent Acquisition

Development

Full Stack SPA / Frontend Backend Architecture Agile / Kanban SDLC Management R / Statistical Modeling

Thought Leadership.

Presentations from my years leading Denver's 800+ member Big Data community — demonstrating early thought leadership in data engineering, analytics, and security.

Security Overview presentation thumbnail

Security Overview

Policy & Procedure

Applying Big Data presentation thumbnail

Applying Big Data

Pragmatic Approaches

Big Data ROI presentation thumbnail

Big Data ROI

CBA & Forecasting

Semantic Web presentation thumbnail

Semantic Web

Web 3.0 & Graph Search

sqrrl and Accumulo presentation thumbnail

sqrrl & Accumulo

Security & Credential Mgmt

Big Data Overview presentation thumbnail

Big Data Overview

Hadoop Introduction

Big Data Tools presentation thumbnail

Big Data Tools

Ecosystem & Toolset

Power of Big Data presentation thumbnail

Power of Big Data

Applied Data Science

John is incredibly knowledgeable, resourceful, and he has a natural passion for computers and the internet. Very educational and fun.
Jonpaul Kronser Professional Recommendation
It seems probable that once the machine thinking method had started, it would not take long to outstrip our feeble powers. They would be able to converse with each other to sharpen their wits. At some stage therefore, we should have to expect the machines to take control.
Alan Turing Mathematician & Computer Scientist
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
Steve Jobs CEO — Apple

Start a Conversation.

Available for consulting engagements, advisory roles, and strategic partnerships.

Get in Touch

Whether you need a security assessment, AI infrastructure guidance, fractional CTO leadership, or want to discuss a potential opportunity — I'd like to hear from you. Please fill out the form to the right and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.