James Szendel

About James Szendel

I’m a technology executive with 20+ years of experience leading global engineering organizations, building award-winning SaaS and IoT platforms, and driving enterprise-scale digital transformation. Throughout my career, I’ve combined deep technical expertise with business acumen, aligning technology strategy to measurable outcomes, scaling teams of 180+, and managing $50M budgets to deliver growth, efficiency, and innovation.As CTO at Neptune Technology Group, I spearheaded the company’s AI product offering, developing an agentic AI product that opened a new SaaS revenue stream, re-organized enterprise applications to save $1M annually, and launched Neptune’s first agile-driven hardware product. My focus on modernization extended to infrastructure, data, and analytics, laying the foundation for an AI-First, cloud-native enterprise.Earlier, I built Neptune’s SaaS engineering organization from the ground up, scaling platforms that process 1B+ daily transactions and onboard hundreds of customers annually. At Scientific Games, I led the creation of Sciplay, the industry’s first white-label, multi-tenant loyalty and lottery subscription platform, driving $40M in annual revenue and earning Product of the Year recognition.My leadership style is grounded in resilience and collaboration, shaped by my service as a U.S. Marine and honed in executive roles across fast-moving industries. I thrive at the intersection of technology and business, guiding organizations through disruption, scaling innovation, and ensuring teams are AI-ready, secure, and cloud-first.I’m especially passionate about building high-performing teams, modernizing legacy systems, and creating transformative digital platforms that unlock new revenue, resilience, and growth.Core Competencies:Technology strategy and roadmaps • SaaS and IoT platforms • AI and machine learning • Agentic AI • Cloud migrations (AWS) • Cybersecurity and Compliance (SOC 2, SOX) • P&L and budget management • Enterprise applications • Agile and DevOps methodologies • M&A integration • Executive stakeholder engagement

Experience

1. Vice President of Technology CTO

   Neptune Technology Group

   Mar 2023 — Present · Duluth, GA, US

   Directed $50M project budget, managed $12M OpEx and 180+ staff across software, firmware, hardware, IT, enterprise applications, and PMO. Partnered with CEO and Results Delivery Office on technology strategy and transformation.• Championed AI transformation, Created agentic AI product offering to open entirely new SaaS revenue stream. Created an AI-First and AI-Ready strategy that positioned the technology team for long-term innovation and growth.• Strengthened Neptune’s recurring revenue model and delivered $1M in annual savings by assuming leadership of enterprise applications, transforming a failing subscription management program into a scalable platform, and streamlining systems, workforce structure, and platform complexity.• Modernized data and analytics strategy, by creating a Data and Analytics practice team to support business owned data stewards, allowing generation of real time business outcomes across operations, marketing, finance, and sales.• Accelerated product innovation, launching Neptune’s first agile-driven hardware product, cellular multicarrier ultrasonic meter, reinforcing the company’s market leadership.• Advanced infrastructure resilience, sponsoring modernization initiatives from WAN redesign to cloud migration that increased scalability, security, and performance.• Created cost management strategy, replacing older technology with newer cost effective technology allowing the use of offsetting funds for new product offerings.

Education

• The University of Georgia

  Bachelor's degree, Cognitive Science

  1994 — 1999

Skills

• Agile Methodologies
• Software Development
• Php
• Sharepoint
• Project Management
• Sdlc
• Xml
• Microsoft Sql Server
• Scrum
• Cloud Computing
• Enterprise Architecture
• Integration
• Javascript
• Leadership
• Leadership Development
• Requirements Analysis
• Sql
• Saas
• Software Project Management
• Team Leadership
• Visio
• Web Development
• Management
• Vendor Management
• Product Management
• Business Analysis
• Program Management
• Business Process Improvement
• Software Development Life Cycle (Sdlc)
• Business Development
• Product Development
• Business Intelligence
• Strategic Planning