CTO · Engineering Leader · 28 Years

Lorenzo Ciacci

28 years building platforms, teams & technology at scale
Healthcare · SaaS · E-Commerce · Travel · Media
Platform Architecture
AI Transformation
Engineering Culture
P&L Ownership
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I've spent 28 years at the intersection of technology strategy and business execution — turning engineering organizations into competitive advantages. I've led through acquisitions, rapid scale, and platform transformations across healthcare, SaaS, e-commerce, travel, and media. I don't just set direction; I stay in the work.

Operator, not just leader
Hands-on in architecture, technical direction, and engineering decisions. Board-facing and still close to the code.
AI & Agentic Development
Currently leading an AI-enabled development transformation — compressing multi-sprint initiatives into days through agentic tooling rollout.
Platform Agnostic
Deep experience across AWS, GCP, Azure, Snowflake, Kafka, and modern data stacks. No religious attachment to any one approach.
Compliance & Governance
HIPAA, HITRUST, GDPR, PCI. Security-first culture, incident response ownership, and board accountability at every company.
2022 — Present
WebMD Ignite
(formerly Mercury Healthcare)
Portland, OR
CTO, Ignite Growth Platform
VP of Technology

Brought in post-acquisition to right-size the business, reduce costs, stabilize the platform, and drive toward profitability — achieved within year one. Leading a globally distributed engineering organization, rolling out AI-enabled development practices and agentic tooling across all teams with measurable velocity gains. Present technology strategy and engineering investment decisions to board stakeholders.

AI Transformation Agentic Tooling Cost Reduction HIPAA · HITRUST · GDPR Board Communication
2020 — 2022
HealthStream
Portland, OR
VP of Technology

Led engineering across 6 development teams spanning 13 applications. Built HealthStream's Capacity Management & Staffing vertical from a collection of acquisitions into a cohesive, best-of-breed product serving nurses and healthcare workers across 6 countries. Established shared engineering standards and consistent delivery cadence across teams previously operating in silos.

Healthcare Acquisition Integration Multi-Country Ops Platform Consolidation
2018 — 2020
NurseGrid
Portland, OR
Chief Technology Officer

Scaled NurseGrid to the #1 nursing app in the U.S., then led technology through acquisition by HealthStream. Built and owned Engineering, QA, and IT Infrastructure. Designed data warehouse and BI platform as both an internal tool and a customer-facing offering. Presented product strategy and technology roadmap through the full acquisition process.

Mobile Platform Data Warehouse M&A Board Reporting
2017 — 2018
Lytics
Portland, OR
VP, Customer Engineering

Created a new discipline to manage data-focused real-time integrations, contributing directly to 100%+ YoY revenue growth. Unblocked Platform and Product teams to accelerate core delivery. Built a self-sustaining team through targeted hiring tailored to real-time data integration work.

Real-Time Data SaaS Revenue Growth
2015 — 2017
Vacasa
Portland, OR
Chief Technology Officer

Joined when Vacasa operated in 8 U.S. states; by departure, expanded to most of the continental U.S. and 6+ countries. Built Engineering, Product, and QA from the ground up, scaling in step with aggressive company expansion. Implemented OKRs company-wide and owned the full security program — penetration testing, incident response, PCI compliance.

Rapid Scale Travel & Hospitality OKR Implementation International Expansion
2012 — 2015
The Clymb
Portland, OR
Sr. Director of Product Engineering

Led Engineering and Product for a fully in-house flash sales e-commerce platform in the outdoor industry. Owned the product roadmap end-to-end, bridging engineering and product to design consumer-facing features and internal tooling. Attracted and retained technical talent while building the platform to support rapid daily sale events at scale.

E-Commerce Flash Sales Product Ownership Board Reporting
2010 — 2012
CMD Agency
Portland, OR
Director of Technical Services

Built CMD's digital technical practice from the ground up — establishing processes, tooling, and team structure to deliver web and digital experiences for brand clients at scale. Accountable for group profitability, scoping, and on-time delivery. Served as senior technical expert for client presentations and business development.

Agency Digital Products P&L Ownership Client Services
1997 — 2022
Rio Yeti
Portland, OR
CEO & Founder

25-year consulting practice spanning digital product strategy, brand experiences, team leadership, and creative production. Clients included Sony, Nike, Disney, Universal Music Group, Adobe, Intel, AT&T, and Renaissance Hotels. Also produced music, soundtrack scoring, and audio for video games and interactive media.

Consulting Digital Products Audio Production Enterprise Clients

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Open to conversations about executive technology leadership, platform transformation, or building engineering organizations that last.

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