Christopher Rayburn

About Christopher Rayburn

Enterprise strategy and operations executive with experience scaling global SaaS and technology organizations from growth-stage through multi-billion revenue. I focus on building operating systems — cadence, metrics, governance, and capital discipline — that improve execution predictability, margin performance, and long-term growth.At Qualtrics, I lead enterprise operating mechanisms across a global Product & Engineering organization and partner cross-functionally with GTM, Customer Success, Finance, and People. My work centers on strengthening execution discipline, increasing investment transparency, and modernizing the operating model to support platform scale and AI adoption.Recent areas of focus include:• AI-enabled productivity initiatives across product, engineering, and support• Cloud hosting performance and cost optimization through FinOps discipline• R&D efficiency and global footprint strategy• Development of product-led growth maturity frameworks embedded in-product• Transition to consumption-oriented monetization models aligned to customer outcomesEarlier, as a General Manager at Fluke (Danaher / Fortive), I held global P&L responsibility for a $100M+ hardware and software business, delivering $150M in new-product revenue, expanding margins by 10 points, and reducing development cycle time by 40% through disciplined operating model design.I am particularly interested in strengthening enterprise operating models, aligning capital allocation to strategy, and developing leaders and organizations capable of sustaining long-term performance.

Experience

1. Vice President, Product and Engineering Operations

   Qualtrics

   Oct 2023 — Present

   Appointed to lead enterprise operating transformation across a 1,500-person global Product & Engineering organization and cross-functional executive interfaces. Built and institutionalized the company’s operating system — planning cadence, performance dashboards, portfolio governance, and capital allocation discipline — to improve execution predictability and margin performance.Lead 55-person global organization spanning Product Operations, Engineering Operations (TPM), FinOps, and Data Science & Analytics.Selected Contributions:• AI Transformation: Deployed AI agents reducing cost-to-support; implemented AI-driven spend forecasting and anomaly detection to increase cloud cost visibility and accelerate optimization actions.• Cloud Performance & Cost Optimization: Migrated from hybrid to fully cloud-hosted platform; delivered multi-million dollar cost avoidance by end of 2025.• R&D Efficiency & Footprint Strategy: Increased lower-cost region footprint, reducing R&D spend while maintaining delivery capacity.• Product-Led Growth: Built ICP-based maturity system embedded in-product, driving increase in net retention ratio.• Capital Governance: Own AOP, reforecasting, headcount planning, and investment tradeoffs across global product portfolio.• Executive Partnership: Partner with CEO and President of Product & Engineering to provide board-level updates on execution, capital allocation, and portfolio risk.

Education

• University of Washington

  MS, Aeronautics and Astronautics

  2001

• Boston University

  BS, Aerospace Engineering

  1999

• University of Washington

  MBA, Technology Management

  2007

Skills

• Product Launch
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• New Business Development
• Marketing Strategy
• Fortive Business System
• Business Development
• Project Management
• Business Strategy
• Medical Devices
• Program Management
• Demand Generation
• Marketing Operations
• Team Building
• Strategic Planning
• International Sales & Marketing
• Forecasting
• Continuous Improvement
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Competitive Analysis
• Product Development
• Product Marketing
• Product Innovation
• P&L Management
• Marketing Communications
• Danaher Business System
• Product Management