JAMES PHILLIPS
@jamesphillips1
Practice Lead and enterprise architecture leader delivering modernization, resiliency, and revenue-driving strategies.
What I'm looking for
I’m an enterprise architecture leader with 20+ years driving multi-million-dollar infrastructure decisions, complex modernization programs, and go-to-market strategy for national technology services organizations.
I translate ambiguous business challenges into clear architectural direction, investment strategy, and executable roadmaps—building trust with executive stakeholders across regulated manufacturing, defense, public-safety, federal, public transportation, power generation, and hospitality/gaming verticals.
Across my roles, I’ve led enterprise architecture, BCDR, and delivery programs that influenced $3M–$15M+ infrastructure investments. I focus on investment roadmapping, governance, technical-debt reduction, and practical, board-ready plans that shift organizations from reactive recovery to structured, investment-backed resiliency.
I bring hands-on depth in hybrid cloud transformation, network and zero-trust security architectures, and platform modernization—leading complex migrations such as multi-site BCDR strategy, Juniper-to-Cisco transformations, enterprise AD modernization, and private AI reference architecture pre-sales. My ethos is advisory with outcomes: simplify what’s over-engineered, reduce platform lock-in, and deliver architectures teams can operate reliably.
Experience
Work history, roles, and key accomplishments
President
AiArise
Apr 2026 - Present (1 month)
Founded AiArise to build AI systems that convert discovery calls into client-ready proposals, SOWs, and kickoff materials in a company’s brand and voice. Led the business as an end-to-end sales-cycle automation provider for B2B services firms.
Practice Lead, Data Center
Evotek
Oct 2024 - Apr 2026 (1 year 6 months)
Led the data center engineering practice, guiding technical work and remote team execution from 2024 to 2026.
Data Center Practice Lead
EVOTEK
Oct 2024 - Apr 2026 (1 year 6 months)
Served as Practice Lead for Data Center Engineering at EVOTEK, guiding engineering practice and delivery for data center initiatives.
Data Center Engineering Manager
EVOTEK
Oct 2020 - Apr 2026 (5 years 6 months)
Managed the Data Center Engineering team at EVOTEK, overseeing engineering operations and remote collaboration.
Manager, Data Center Engineering
Evotek
Oct 2020 - Apr 2026 (5 years 6 months)
Managed data center engineering responsibilities across teams from 2020 to 2026. Coordinated engineering execution to support ongoing infrastructure needs.
Information Technology Strategist
Evotek
Oct 2020 - Sep 2021 (11 months)
Provided information technology strategy support and guidance for infrastructure and IT planning activities in the Las Vegas area from 2020 to 2021.
Director of Continuous Infrastructure
Native12
Feb 2020 - Oct 2020 (8 months)
Directed continuous infrastructure efforts, overseeing ongoing infrastructure improvements and engineering execution from early 2020 to October 2020.
Director, Continuous Infrastructure
Native12
Feb 2020 - Oct 2020 (8 months)
Directed Continuous Infrastructure efforts at Native12, leading infrastructure improvement and delivery programs.
Engineering Manager
Technologent
Jul 2018 - Feb 2020 (1 year 7 months)
Managed engineering work at Technologent as an Engineering Manager, supporting cross-functional delivery.
Engineering Manager
Technologent
Jul 2018 - Feb 2020 (1 year 7 months)
Managed engineering teams and coordinated delivery of technical initiatives while leading engineering work from 2018 to February 2020.
Senior System Engineer
Credit One Bank
Feb 2016 - Jun 2018 (2 years 4 months)
Worked as a senior system engineer supporting enterprise systems from February 2016 to June 2018. Contributed to system design and ongoing engineering support.
Senior System Engineer
Credit One Bank
Feb 2016 - Jun 2018 (2 years 4 months)
Worked as a Senior System Engineer at Credit One Bank, delivering and maintaining production systems.
Senior Systems Engineer
Wynn Las Vegas
Jan 2015 - Dec 2015 (11 months)
Led an engineering effort for a PCI-driven OS and application upgrade program, designing the MDT deployment infrastructure to support the rollout.
Senior Systems Engineer
Wynn Las Vegas
Jan 2015 - Dec 2015 (11 months)
Led an engineering team for a PCI-driven OS and application upgrade program, designing Microsoft MDT deployment infrastructure to support controlled enterprise rollout.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
University of Central Arkansas
Bachelor of Business Administration, Business Administration
Earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas.
Tech stack
Software and tools used professionally
Availability
Location
Authorized to work in
Salary expectations
Job categories
Skills
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