Gus Bekdash — CTO

I help enterprises grow and turn around stuck programs by aligning strategy, architecture, execution, and teams. Enterprise Architect and advisory CTO driving solutions, presales and GTM, cloud and Edge Services, and AI and automation to develop & sell new offers. I spot white space and unarticulated needs, then turn them into delivered offers by lining up partners and integrating across towers. I build innovation chains from concept to process to sales (and wrote a book about it “Innovation Anywhere”, in progress). Selected wins • Closed a $1.7B state cloud program, leading solution architecture, service flows, and proposal. • Reframed a ~$15M equipment sale into a lifecycle Edge Services program that grew to ~$100M. • Incubated a KYC compliance offer; convened 11 global banks; built a $300M TAM thesis adopted in a financial vertical. • In a startup, built consulting and ops that removed blockers to software sales and added $10M+ revenue. • Pivoted GTM to verticals and built top-performing practices. Breadth • Edge Services across IoT, edge network, edge compute, applications and AI, multi-cloud; contact center AI architect and strategy advisor. • GTM and presales, RFPs and proposals, pricing and packaging, vendor selection; deals from $10M to $2B. Results • $1B+ in new offers across AI, automation, managed services, cloud, and telecom; closed deals up to $2B. • Built an AI and automation vertical from $0 to $33M in three years; multiple turnarounds at $100M+ scale. Industry Contributions Co-authored an AI book (2019). Writing “Innovation Anywhere.” Publish on AI and strategy for technology leaders. Let’s talk Driving transformation, building new offers, or need Enterprise Architecture, NPD, GTM or presales, or Fractional CTO advisory? Let’s connect.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic leader in Cloud Services and AI-driven Digital Transformation.

Location: New York City, New York, United States

Experience: 20 yrs 11 mos

Skills

Enterprise Architecture
Business Development
Solution Architecture
Offer Development
Strategy Consulting
Digital Transformation
Solution Engineering
Consulting
Sales Strategy

Career Highlights

Closed a $1.7B state cloud program.
Built an AI and automation vertical from $0 to $33M.
Transformed sales processes to increase revenues by 400%.

Work Experience

NTT DATA, Inc.

Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture, Consulting CTO (4 yrs 3 mos)

Innovation Anywhere (Consulting and Executive Education Organization)

Principal Consultant / Practice Lead / Founder (5 yrs 7 mos)

Amelia

Executive Director of Solution Engineering / VP Business Development (7 yrs 8 mos)

CDW

Principal Consultant / Managing Consultant / Director of Solution Engineering (Presales) (9 yrs)

Education

MS at Lehigh University

Gus Bekdash

CTO

New York City, New York, United States20 yrs 11 mos experience

AI ML PractitionerAI Enabled

Key Highlights

Closed a $1.7B state cloud program.
Built an AI and automation vertical from $0 to $33M.
Transformed sales processes to increase revenues by 400%.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic leader in Cloud Services and AI-driven Digital Transformation.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Enterprise ArchitectureBusiness DevelopmentSolution ArchitectureOffer DevelopmentStrategy ConsultingDigital TransformationSolution EngineeringConsultingSales Strategy

Other Skills

PresalesRFP managementPricing optimizationCloud servicesAI architectureProposal managementFinancial complianceStakeholder engagementLifecycle managementService integrationProduct architectureInnovation managementVertical solutions strategyPartner managementPre-sales management

About

Experience

Ntt data, inc.

Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture, Consulting CTO

Jan 2022 – Present · 4 yrs 3 mos · NY, United States · Hybrid

Leadership in four areas:
1. Enterprise architecture & presales
I coordinate cross-tower deals, integrate services across silos, oversee solution architects & RFP/proposal management, and optimize pricing for large deals. E.g., won $1.7B State of Texas cloud/managed services deal.
2. Enterprise support for three global enterprises
Supported ~$200M revenue across Morgan Stanley, Honeywell & Schneider Electric.
3. Offer development, GTM & business development
I initiated and incubated or supported strategic initiatives in Fintech, Cloud Edge Services, and AI
Initiated & incubated a financial compliance & KYC offer and initiated contact with 11 global banks.
Contact center AI: architecture & strategy advisor for live agent/supervisor AI assist.
Edge Services: lead enterprise architect for NTT Edge Solutions across five towers (IoT, edge network, edge compute, apps/AI, multi-cloud)
Reframed a one-time $15M equipment deal into a $100 recurring lifecycle managed edge services
4. Consulting CTO
For a $7B healthcare provider: migration strategy, vendor selection, decision bottlenecks.

Enterprise architecturePresalesSolution architectureRFP managementPricing optimizationBusiness development+3

Innovation anywhere (consulting and executive education organization)

Principal Consultant / Practice Lead / Founder

Sep 2020 – Present · 5 yrs 7 mos · New Jersey, United States

Consult on strategy, product architecture and Digital Transformation. Special interest in digital products and data strategies. Hyper-focused on original and supportive innovation, which is innovation in multiple parts of a new product lifecycle, since a truly innovative product will require supplemental innovation in how to develop it, ensure product-market fit, sell it and support it.

Strategy consultingProduct architectureDigital transformationInnovation management

Amelia

Executive Director of Solution Engineering / VP Business Development

Jan 2013 – Sep 2020 · 7 yrs 8 mos · New York Metro Area

Company started as IPsoft. I helped transform IPsoft from a managed services to an automation software / SaaS company as part of the strategic leadership. Established new business, conceived and started strategic initiatives and formed various teams. Drove growth by steering IPsoft towards a vertical solutions strategy, and launched IPsoft’s most lucrative vertical.
AI and automation Solution Development by vertical
▪ Identified high-value target verticals using market data and use models, and pursued them to lead by example.
▪ Spearheaded verticalization in Global Service Provider segment (NTT Com, NTT Data, Orange), Quick Service Restaurants (McDonalds), Insurance (Liberty Mutual, MetLife), Value Added Resellers (VAR) and others.
▪ Partner management including leading account management, partner success and operations support teams
▪ Established service providers partners as the most productive vertical and built global support teams covering operations, joint development, and business consulting and success.
▪ Pre-sales management and support
▪ Led and coached solution engineers globally, contributing to the entire revenue base of more than $100M.
▪ Produced architecture, proposal, statement of work and contract templates plus pricing policies and tools.
▪ Architected solutions that incorporated AI, Machine Learning, analytics, RPA, SaaS, business process design, contact centers, CRM, and financial modeling. AI solutions were implemented following Agile methodology.
▪ Advised CEO and COO and developed strategy, restructuring, solution, go-to market, partnering and pricing plans
▪ Developed corporate business plan that included financial and P&L model and use of investment proceeds.
▪ Worked with potential investors and venture capital.

Solution engineeringBusiness developmentVertical solutions strategyPartner managementPre-sales management

Cdw

Principal Consultant / Managing Consultant / Director of Solution Engineering (Presales)

Jan 2004 – Jan 2013 · 9 yrs · New York, NY

Managing Consultant / Director – Took initiative and improved sales performance by transforming how and what we sell and evolving from small and unpredictable transactional selling to multi-year, $20M, outsourcing agreements.
▪ Increased service revenues by 400% and profit by almost 10x by conceiving, developing and launching new services integrated from many internal and external sources and forming a new delivery team.
▪ Penetrated new market segments for the first time by using the new service to outflank incumbents.
▪ Grew despite market downturns, which were previously always detrimental.
▪ Customers included New York Life, Liberty Mutual, Disney / Children’s Place and Blue Cross.
▪ Used advisory consulting as an umbrella that integrated various outsourcing services including enterprise architecture, managed services, IT Operations and automation SaaS.
▪ Recruited partners (Cisco, IPsoft, NCR) and negotiated partnership agreements.
Previously, Forsythe Solutions before acquisition by CDW.

ConsultingSales performance improvementOutsourcing agreementsPartnership negotiationSales strategy