John J. Higginson

About John J. Higginson

ChatGPT says of me:\"If I had to summarize you in a line: You\'re a polymath with a punchline—driven by both insight and wit.\" Who would argue with an LLM?I am a business-first Technology & Product executive who bridges the gap between engineering innovation and commercial strategy. With a Master of Laws (LLM) in IT & Privacy and executive leadership training at Kellogg, I offer a rare \"triple threat\" profile: I can build scalable platforms, drive product-led growth, and navigate the complex legal/governance risks of the AI era.My Executive Track Record:* Scaling Impact: Currently leading technology for Curriculum Associates, serving 14M+ students and 1M+ teachers with AI-driven EdTech solutions.* Hyper-Growth & Transformation: Previously led technology at Chief (during its unicorn scaling phase) and Groupon (managing global marketplace dynamics for a public company).* Board Governance: I serve as a Board Director and Advisor, helping companies translate \"GenAI hype\" into sustainable, governed business value.I don\'t just manage technology; I align it with P&L goals to build resilient, future-proof organizations.

Experience

1. Chief Technology Officer and Chief Ai Officer

   Curriculum Associates

   Feb 2024 — Present · Boston, MA, US

   Leading the technology strategy and global engineering organization for a premier EdTech company serving over 14 million students and 1 million teachers. Driving the transformation of digital learning through responsible AI integration, platform modernization, and inclusive team culture.* Scale & Impact: Overseeing the technology ecosystem supporting 14M+ students and 1M+ educators, ensuring high availability and data security for one of the largest K-12 platforms in the U.S and Australia.* Operational Excellence: Evolved the product development lifecycle and engineering operating model for a global team of 450, delivering significant improvements in throughput/velocity while simultaneously reducing overall delivery costs.* M&A & Strategic Growth: Leading technical due diligence and post-merger integration for strategic acquisitions, ensuring seamless unification of product stacks, data governance, and engineering teams to drive inorganic growth.* AI Innovation & Governance: Established Curriculum Associates AI Labs, spearheading the development of \"Responsibly Designed AI\" tools. Achieved Digital Promise certification for the Soapbox speech engine, setting the industry standard for equity and accuracy in AI-driven assessment.* Cultural Leadership: Championing a culture of diversity and allyship within the technical organization, recognized with the 2024 ATHENA Champion Leadership Award for bringing more women into leadership roles

Education

• Northern Illinois University

  B.A.

• Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management

  Executive Education, Negotiation; Team Dynamics

• University of Illinois Chicago School of Law

  Master of Laws, IT and Privacy Law

  2005 — 2007

Skills

• Team Leadership
• Information Technology
• Vendor Management
• Leadership Development
• IT Management
• Retail
• IT Strategy
• Coaching
• Analytics
• Ruby on Rails
• Business Strategy
• Information Security Management
• Contract Negotiation
• Sdlc
• Offshore Software Development
• Open Source
• Strategic Planning
• Social Media
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Privacy Law
• Consulting
• Executive Management
• Compliance
• Disaster Recovery
• Entrepreneurship
• Web Development
• Business Analysis
• Strategy
• E-Commerce
• Digital Media
• Risk Management
• Software Engineering
• Networking
• Saas
• Telecommunications
• Analysis
• Team Building
• Management
• Project Management
• Security