Unbehagen

About Unbehagen

Executive Leader | Digital Transformation | Technology Strategy | Energy, Financial Services, and Payments Baron Unbehagen is a senior executive with more than 25 years of experience leading business transformation through technology and operational strategy across the upstream oil & gas, banking, retail, and payments industries. He has served as CEO, CIO, and General Manager in both private equity–backed and publicly traded companies, with a track record of scaling growth businesses, executing turnarounds, and integrating acquisitions. Baron specializes in identifying high-value operational challenges and delivering technology-enabled solutions that drive measurable financial impact. His cross-functional leadership experience spans technology, finance, sales, and marketing, giving him a holistic perspective on digital transformation and business model innovation. Most recently, Baron served as Chief Information Officer of Encino Energy, where he led enterprise digital and IT strategy across all upstream operations. His responsibilities included AI/ML strategy, cybersecurity, infrastructure, networking, data architecture and governance, enterprise applications, SaaS strategy, and application development. As part of Encino’s executive leadership team, he also served on the Operational Excellence Committee and the Corporate Disclosure Committee. During the company’s first two years of operations, technology and digital initiatives generated more than $150 million in net present value through cost reduction, accelerated operational timelines, and faster revenue realization. Encino was subsequently acquired by EOG Resources, delivering a 3.5x return on equity to shareholders. Earlier in his career, Baron spent nearly two decades building and scaling early SaaS platforms in leadership roles spanning product management through business unit general manager with companies such as Tivoli Systems, Works, Inc, Performance Retail and S1. His work focused on delivering innovative internet banking, mobile banking, payments, and retail point-of-sale solutions, often within high-growth startup environments and turnaround situations requiring strategic repositioning and operational restructuring.

Experience

1. CIO

   Encino Energy

   Jan 2019 — Present · Houston, TX, US

   Lead enterprise technology strategy for a $2B energy company operating in the Utica Basin. Direct IT security, applications, DevOps, infrastructure, data architecture, and AI/ML initiatives while aligning technology investments with operational performance and corporate strategy.• Built the company’s complete technology platform during formation in six months.• Established a cloud‑first architecture with ~95% of applications operating in hybrid cloud environments.• Developed custom applications using low‑code platforms generating more than $150M in business value.• Implemented enterprise data governance and master data architecture company wide.• Implemented cyber security program for IT and OT environments.I am also a member of the following corporate committees- Operational Excellence Committee- Disclosure Committee

Education

• The University of Texas at Austin

  BBA, Finance

  1985 — 1989

• Texas McCombs School of Business

  MBA, Marketing and Entrepreneurship

  1996 — 1998