Dan Szabo

About Dan Szabo

As Chief Innovation Officer at Baretz+Brunelle, I lead innovation as a commercial growth engine—aligning AI strategy with operations to help firms expand capabilities, enter new markets, and deliver differentiated platforms that clients actually use and love. I partner across in-house teams, law firms, and technical vendors to turn strategy into shipped products, combining executive vision with deep hands-on engineering. With 15+ years as a full-stack software engineer and technical leader, I\'ve designed, built, and deployed real-time web, mobile, and distributed systems—including AI/ML platforms with agentic workflows, monitoring dashboards, and multi-device interfaces. Whether rapidly building elegant applications to solve complex problems, rebooting stalled initiatives, or going directly to the field to ensure solutions work in real-world conditions, I operate with a bias for action and a \"whatever it takes\" mentality. My Army Communications Sergeant background sharpened my ability to deliver reliable technology in high-stakes environments—and gave me a people-first view of change: how teams adapt, collaborate, and thrive amid transformation. The spectrum of experience I\'ve gained—moving vertically through leadership roles in large organizations and horizontally across operational, engineering, and cross-functional teams—gives me a rare ability to connect strategy, execution, and adoption. This has produced award-winning systems recognized by ILTA (Transformational Project of the Year, twice), the Financial Times (Digitizing Law), and American Lawyer Media (Innovations in Pro Bono)—driving measurable business growth, stronger team morale, and improved retention of key talent.Awards / Accolades- Financial Times Digitizing Practice (Winner)- 2x ILTA Transformative Project of the Year- ALM Innovations in Pro Bono Award- ALM Technologist of the Year (Runner-Up)

Experience

1. Partner, Chief Innovation Officer

   Baretz Brunelle

   Oct 2025 — Present · US

   As Chief Innovation Officer, I lead innovation as a commercial growth engine—aligning AI strategies with operations to expand capabilities, enter new markets, and deliver differentiated AI-powered platforms that clients actually use. I combine executive vision with deep hands-on engineering: designing, building, and shipping full-stack web and mobile solutions that integrate generative AI, agentic workflows, and real-time data interfaces.Whether resetting stalled multi-million-dollar initiatives, deploying distributed systems across web, mobile, and physical devices, or going directly to the field to ensure solutions work in real-world conditions, I operate with a bias for action and a “do whatever it takes” mentality. My engineering background and Army Communications Sergeant experience give me a practical edge in building reliable, mission-critical technology that scales from the whiteboard to the front lines.

Education

• Folsom Lake College

  Associate of Science - AS, Computer Science

• Colorado Technical University

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Computer Software Engineering