Russell Castagnaro

Technology executive who turns skeptics into champions

Atlanta, GA (Dunwoody) · r@castagnaro.com · LinkedIn · GitHub (cryptowampum) · GitHub (myunicornaccount) · GitHub (RussellEth) · Presentations (slides.com) · Presentations (SlideShare)

I've spent 28 years leading technology where mandates don't work and trust has to be earned: state governments, payments platforms, Web3 communities, and AI-first startups. The through-line is scaling, taking something that works for one team and making it work for a thousand, whether that was Hawaii's digital government (43rd to 1st in the nation), Colorado's digital ID (the first DMV-issued digital driver license in the US, now 2M+ users), or ETHDenver's first profitable year.

The pattern that works: find the people with the most urgent problems, prove value there first, and let early wins build momentum. I still build, daily, with generative AI, TypeScript, and Solidity, because strategy without hands on the keyboard drifts. Currently co-founder and CTO at Unicorns, Inc., living in the Atlanta area.

Professional Experience

يناير 2024 – Present

Unicorns, Inc. — Co-Founder & CTO

Denver, CO (Remote)

Leading product and technology for a B2B platform providing enterprise account infrastructure, serving 170+ business customers and 30,000+ end users. AI-first development shop building daily with Claude and OpenAI.

Lead product strategy and AI-driven development for an enterprise B2B platform serving 170+ business customers and 30,000+ end users
Built a distributed team across 5 countries with established delivery processes and governance frameworks
Lead the team's use of generative AI (Claude, OpenAI) across product development, operations, and customer solutions
Secured $425K in funding; manage product roadmap, compliance, and partner relationships

مارس 2023 – سبتمبر 2024

SporkDAO / ETHDenver — Chief of Staff

Denver, CO

Brought structure, governance, and financial discipline to the world's largest open-source technology event (20,000+ participants from 115 countries) and its member-owned cooperative, while preserving the community culture that made it successful.

Turned 7 years of losses into a $1.3M surplus in the first profitable year (2024) by implementing financial controls, KPI tracking, and governance (NPS 59.6)
Directed cross-functional delivery across engineering, product, partnerships, and community teams spanning sponsors, government partners, and global volunteer networks
Oversaw technology integrations, contracts, and partnerships for a 22,000-attendee event and $6M budget
Implemented transparency controls so the board and general members could understand the co-op's financial position and effectiveness
Led contacts with the Colorado Governor's office and state departments

أبريل 2022 – أغسطس 2025

Bufficorn Ventures — Investment Steward

Denver, CO

Led operations for a venture fund focused on emerging-technology startups, advising portfolio companies on AI strategy, roadmap development, and responsible adoption.

Guided 50+ portfolio companies on integrating AI into products and operations, prioritizing high-impact use cases with clear ROI
Led investment strategy, due diligence, and sponsor relations for the fund
Managed the ColoradoJam program, collaborating with Colorado state government to fund and launch pilots
Built frameworks for evaluating technology readiness, data quality, and go-to-market strategy
Made build, buy, and partner recommendations for early-stage technology companies

يوليو 2019 – أبريل 2022

Colorado Governor's Office of Information Technology — Director of Digital Transformation

Denver, CO

Led statewide digital transformation across 50+ agencies in a large, matrixed organization: digital identity, AI-powered contact centers, cloud-first policy, and adoption won through negotiation rather than mandates.

Launched myColorado, the most successful state digital ID in the U.S. (2M+ users) and the first DMV-issued digital driver license in the country, built on mobile driver license (MDL) and verifiable-credential standards with Ping Identity SSO
Scaled myColorado from 25K to 250K users in one month when COVID hit, reaching 750K by end of summer 2020; collaborated with 19 law enforcement agencies to accept it as valid identification
Migrated 22 call centers from Genesys to Amazon Connect in 4 months, deploying AI omnichannel solutions that cut handling time 40%, proving value center-by-center until demand pulled the rollout forward
Turned the Department of Revenue from the platform's largest skeptic into its second-largest adopter through negotiation rather than mandates; they brought Public Safety with them
Deployed COVID vaccination verification integrated with the digital ID for under $500K through partnership with CDPHE
Defined the state's cloud-first policy focused on AWS and GCP and facilitated remote-work programs before and during COVID
Managed 7+ concurrent transformation initiatives, earning NASCIO, AAMVA, and GovLoop awards

يناير 2017 – يوليو 2020

Wampei, Inc. — CEO & Co-Founder

Denver, CO

Co-founded a peer-to-peer digital payments platform expanding electronic payments to businesses and individuals underserved by traditional banking.

Owned end-to-end technology strategy, architecture, and delivery as founder-CTO alongside the CEO role
Built core payments infrastructure supporting invoices, credit cards, cryptocurrency, and ACH transactions
Led Java and Python software development on AWS, designing cloud-based systems for secure, scalable payment processing
Implemented security, reliability, and operational controls for regulated financial workflows
Transitioned the customer base to BRD following acquisition, ensuring continuity and data integrity

نوفمبر 2016 – يناير 2017

NIC Inc. (Tyler Technologies) — Director of Digital Services

Olathe, KS

National strike-team role at the leading provider of eGovernment services to U.S. states.

Strike team lead on pre-RFP work, RFP responses, and oral arguments for state digital-services adoption
Subject matter expert on state eGovernment, eCommerce, payments, and licensing initiatives
Advised on enterprise platform strategy and architecture decisions
Evangelized electronic government services across state partnerships

ديسمبر 2007 – نوفمبر 2016

Hawaii Information Consortium, LLC (NIC subsidiary) — President

Honolulu, HI

Led the 54-person organization delivering SaaS eGovernment and eCommerce services for all Hawaii state and county agencies, on an enterprise platform processing $2B+ annually.

Managed a $10M P&L and oversaw $2B+ in annual payment volume across credit cards, ACH, and SWIFT, operating under NACHA rules
Delivered 120+ active online services across 30+ government agencies, from payments and licensing to permitting and citizen engagement
Took Hawaii's government services rating from 43rd to 1st in the nation, earning 42 national and international awards including Best State Government Website (2013, 2014)
Scaled the organization from 18 to 54 staff, building cross-functional teams across engineering, product, operations, and government relations; named Best Place to Work four years by Hawaii Business Magazine
Migrated 250+ state websites to AWS in 12 months, improving performance, reliability, and security while maintaining uninterrupted public access
Maintained PCI-DSS, SOC 2, HIPAA, CJIS, and SOX compliance with zero breaches, balancing delivery speed with operational stability
Launched the first personalized and gamified eGovernment experience in the U.S., increasing citizen engagement and service adoption
Partnered directly with the Governor's Office, State CTO, Department of Health, and State Procurement Office

أغسطس 2004 – ديسمبر 2007

Hawaii Information Consortium, LLC (NIC subsidiary) — Director of Portal Operations

Honolulu, HI

Directed end-to-end SaaS eGovernment and eCommerce operations for all Hawaii state and county agencies.

Executed a rapid infrastructure modernization, migrating all State of Hawaii websites in 4 months and improving uptime, scalability, and security
Established and enforced HIPAA and SOX compliance programs for regulated health and financial data
Doubled annual revenue from $2M to $4M through operational efficiency, service expansion, and improved delivery execution
Scaled the organization from 12 to 18 full-time staff plus 8 consultants while maintaining service continuity

سبتمبر 2003 – أغسطس 2004

Hawaii Information Consortium, LLC (NIC subsidiary) — Director of Software Development

Honolulu, HI

Led full-lifecycle SaaS eGovernment and eCommerce platform development for all Hawaii state and county agencies.

Modernized the legacy technology stack by initiating the migration from Perl to Java, establishing a scalable, maintainable foundation
Designed and delivered the centralized payment processing platform handling invoices, credit cards, and eChecks across government services
Transformed the engineering culture from siloed development to collaborative, delivery-focused teams; established engineering standards and code-review practices
Scaled the engineering organization from 5 to 9 developers, introducing structure, standards, and sustainable practices

سبتمبر 2000 – أبريل 2002

4Charity.com — Chief Mentor

Honolulu, HI

Built the first SaaS electronic donation and payment processing platform (ACH and credit card) for 501(c)(3) nonprofits, on Oracle WebLogic (Java). The platform became the core of Network for Good, which acquired the company.

Led hands-on architecture and development of a first-of-its-kind enterprise donation platform on Oracle WebLogic (Java)
Led the technical team of 7 building enterprise donation and payment processing systems, including real-time and stored-payment processing
Designed workflows for donor-advised giving, fund accounting, and nonprofit disbursements
Partnered with the Hawaii Community Foundation on donations processing and fund-management integration
Platform became the core of Network for Good following acquisition

أغسطس 1999 – سبتمبر 2005

Synctank Solutions, Inc. — Principal

Honolulu, HI

Enterprise architecture and engineering consulting for Fortune 500 clients including Bank of Hawaii, Canon, Samsung, and the State of California.

Provided whole-lifecycle enterprise project stewardship, from kickoff and architecture through delivery and post-mortems
Acted as an extension of BEA Systems Professional Services for Pacific Rim clients
Created training curricula and delivered training on new technologies and development methodologies
Spoke at multiple technology conferences and worked to bring high-tech business to Hawaii

أغسطس 1997 – أغسطس 1999

Datahouse.com — Chief Technical Architect

Honolulu, HI

Hands-on Java and eCommerce engineering and architecture consulting for enterprise clients across Hawaii and the mainland.

Architected and deployed cross-application business intelligence solutions integrating PeopleSoft, Oracle Financials, CICS, and DB2
Implemented Enterprise Java solutions and transitioned them to client staff, acting as application design mentor for client teams
Developed and sold a Lotus Notes-hosted, Java-based reporting framework
Clients included BEA WebLogic, Bank of Hawaii, Hawaii Department of Education, Kamehameha Schools, Bishop Estate, and Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound

أبريل 1996 – أغسطس 1997

Claremont Technology Group — Chief Architect

Beaverton, OR

Early-web enterprise consulting, including the first Java-based e-commerce website in production.

Designed and developed the first Java-based e-commerce website, for AT&T Universal Card (1996)
Built software interfacing with CICS, Oracle, Sybase, and MQ Series systems
Created a web-based press kit and Internet publishing distribution system for Sun Microsystems
Worked on early-phase engagements with Intel and Bank of America

Skills

Leadership & Transformation. Digital Transformation · Change Management & User Adoption · Cross-Functional & Matrixed Leadership · Stakeholder Engagement · P&L Management · Team Building (5 to 54 staff) · Vendor & MSP Management · Executive Communication & Board Engagement

AI & Emerging Tech. AI Strategy & Roadmap · AI Adoption at Scale · Generative AI (Claude, OpenAI) · Responsible AI Governance · Capability Building & AI Literacy Programs · Use Case Prioritization & ROI · Workflow Automation

Cloud, Platforms & Engineering. AWS (Lambda, RDS, SES, SNS, Amplify, Bedrock) · Amazon Connect · Google Cloud Platform · Ping Identity · Cloudflare & Vercel · Docker & Kubernetes · CI/CD & DevOps · Java & Spring Boot · JavaScript / TypeScript (React, Next.js, Vue) · Python · PHP & WordPress · REST APIs & GraphQL

Payments & Compliance. Payments Infrastructure ($2B+/yr) · Payment rails: credit cards, ACH, SWIFT, crypto · Operating under NACHA rules · PCI-DSS · SOC 2 · HIPAA · CJIS · SOX · DPPA & FERPA

GovTech & Digital Identity. eGovernment Platforms (Hawaii, Colorado) · Digital Identity & Mobile Driver Licenses (MDL) · Verifiable Credentials · Public-Private Partnerships · Government Procurement & RFPs · Enterprise Content & Records Management

Web3 & Blockchain. Solidity Smart Contracts (ERC-721, ERC-1155) · Crypto Payments · Wallet Abstraction & Token-Gated Access · Tokenomics · DAO Governance

Product & Delivery. Product Vision & Roadmap · Portfolio Management (120+ services) · Agile & Scrum (CSM) · Go-to-Market Strategy · KPI Frameworks & Data-Informed Decisions · Build / Buy / Partner Decisions

Board & Advisory

Bufficorn Ventures — Investment Board (Advisor) 2025–2026
SporkDAO — Board of Stewards 2024–2026

Education

University of North Dakota — Master of Science, Space Studies 1998–2002
Emory University — Bachelor of Arts, Economics 1986–1990

Certifications

Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
ITIL 4 Foundation (in progress)

Signature Stories

Revenue Skeptic to Champion (Colorado)

The Department of Revenue didn't want our AI platform. They had their own vendor and the Governor's office pressuring adoption. We negotiated instead of forcing: we wouldn't compete if they went mobile-friendly. Eighteen months later they were our second-largest partner, and they brought Public Safety with them.

eBench Warrant Transformation (Hawaii)

A 90,000-warrant backlog had defeated two prior initiatives and a blue-ribbon commission. We found early adopters with specific pain points, delivered quick wins, and let success build momentum. The AG's Office, initially the biggest skeptic, hosted a celebration: "I've never seen government agencies work together like this."

43rd to 1st (Hawaii)

Hawaii's government services rating went from 43rd to 1st in the nation during my tenure, earning 42 national and international awards.

7 Years of Losses to $1.3M Surplus (ETHDenver)

First profitable year after seven years of losses, with an NPS of 59.6. We implemented governance and financial controls while preserving the community culture that made the event successful.

myColorado Pandemic Scaling (Colorado)

25K users grew to 250K in one month when COVID hit, reaching 750K by the end of summer. Nineteen law enforcement agencies accepted it as valid ID, and COVID vaccination verification was integrated with the digital ID for under $500K through a partnership with CDPHE.

5 to 54 (Hawaii)

Grew the organization from 5 to 54 people while scaling to 120+ services and $2B+ in annual transactions. Named Best Place to Work four years by Hawaii Business Magazine.