David A. Cooke, 2015 Honoree
- Title
- Director of technology
- Employer
- Altum
- Location
- Reston, Va.
- An example of your leadership style:
- Recently, the support team was struggling to fix a production issue. When it was escalated, I dove in to help get them over the hump. The next day, I organized a meeting to present a proposed process, collected input, gained consensus and had the process implemented for any future support issues.
- Career highlight:
- Being part of the first scoring and reporting run for the SAT test that contained the subjective essay. Seeing the architecture handle the load of all those taking the test was very gratifying.
- What's your boldest prediction for IT in the next five years?
- A new class of business leader who is more experienced with technology will blur the line between business and IT. These hybrid leaders will devalue dedicated IT leaders, meaning more tactical decisions will be made for business need. In order to maintain a cohesive strategy for IT, technical leadership will have to work harder to show value to an organization.
- What title do you aspire to?
- Chief technology officer