Nov 2023 – Present · 2 yrs 5 mos · Oakland, California, United States · Remote

• As Founder of WorkDifferentWithAI.com, I direct the vision and execution of a multidisciplinary community dedicated to shaping an abundant, human-centered AI future. I spearhead original research on Virtual Employee (VE) Economics, convene corporate leaders, academic scholars, and high-growth startups to co-create evidence-based policy models, and translate those insights into practical tools and open-source frameworks. Under my leadership, WDWAI has launched its public manifesto, catalyzed collaborations across Fortune-500 innovation teams and university labs, and become a trusted forum where scientific rigor meets real-world deployment. I oversee content strategy, partnership development, and advocacy initiatives that empower organizations to adopt AI responsibly while safeguarding broad economic participation.

Feb 2021 – Present · 5 yrs 2 mos · Oakland, California, United States

• As Senior Industry Analyst at SalesforceDevops.net, I research and interpret the fast-moving intersection of Salesforce development, AI-driven DevOps, and ancillary data-management technologies. Leveraging two decades of enterprise-software expertise and accredited press access, I break embargoed announcements, publish data-rich analyses, and map competitive landscapes across backup, testing, observability, and low-code automation vendors. My work informs CIOs, architects, and investors by translating technical advances into business risk-reward narratives and by quantifying market trajectories such as Cognitive DevOps adoption and Virtual Employee economics. I also shape editorial strategy, mentor contributing analysts, and collaborate with Salesforce leadership to ensure our coverage anticipates platform shifts and community needs.

Apr 2018 – Mar 2021 · 2 yrs 11 mos · Berkeley, California, United States

• Vernon Keenan implemented a geo-tax database for several tax domains including merchandise, cannabis, SaaS, and telecom. As the Full Stack Engineer on the project, Mr. Keenan simultaneously coded features in the backend while using them in the frontend.
• He created a commercial-grade server cluster with developer-ready REST APIs. The backend is written primarily in Go, with customer data and the US Census-derived geospatial database stored in Salesforce. Devops techniques and custom CLIs migrate Salesforce data into in high-performance Go and Docker clusters.

Jul 2012 – Jul 2024 · 12 yrs · Berkeley, CA

• Vernon Keenan runs a telecom business on Salesforce. They use a custom Quote to Cash telecom billing system written by Vernon Keenan. Many Salesforce features have been used including: CRM, Custom Objects, Apex, Process Builder, Workflows, Flows and Visualforce.
• Vernon Keenan wrote a pixel-perfect PDF generation system using a PHP application server, enabling Telnexus to drop Conga as a rendering system. Vernon Keenan implemented telecom tax, financial objects and ERP workflows using Salesforce native features.

Mar 2007 – Jul 2013 · 6 yrs 4 mos · Berkeley, California, United States

• A small Berkeley-based IT consulting services company. Customers are primarily small business in light industry, scientific, engineering, or biotechnology.

Jan 2004 – Feb 2007 · 3 yrs 1 mo · Berkeley, California, United States

• General manager for System Integration Services. Supervised Internet server operations and end-user implementations.

Mar 1999 – Apr 2000 · 1 yr 1 mo · San Francisco, California, United States

• As an industry analyst, Mr. Keenan was hired by Salesforce.com to write a whitepaper and to provide input on strategy and product development.

Aug 1998 – Jan 2002 · 3 yrs 5 mos · San Francisco, California, United States

• Keenan Vision was a leading industry analyst firm that specialized in small business markets, dynamic pricing models, and the macroeconomic impact of e-commerce on the US economy. Mr. Keenan was known as a global thought leader on B-to-B commerce and Internet marketplaces and was cited in many textbooks and other publications.

Jan 1998 – Jan 2000 · 2 yrs

• Mr. Keenan worked at a management consultant and industry analyst for Merrill Lynch. He reported to the entire corporate IT governance committee, including Vice Chairman John Steffens. He prepared a report advising termination a $1B software development project (which they did). Mr. Keenan was also a technology scout for the committee and organized several VC-style beauty pageants for the committee in the USA and Europe.

Jan 1997 – Jan 1998 · 1 yr

• Provided the IT industry with timely analysis of important trends and developments. I was responsible for developing e-commerce strategy when it was just a new idea.

Jan 1995 – Jan 1997 · 2 yrs

• In the global marketing group, Vernon Keenan was responsible for recruiting software developers into the new Web Application Server. Other positions held at Oracle include Product Marketing Manager for the same product.

Jan 1990 – Jan 1995 · 5 yrs · Felton, California, United States

• Mr. Keenan was a technology journalist who did product reviews and wrote dozens of articles for MacWEEK and other Ziff-Davis publications.

Jan 1986 – Jan 1990 · 4 yrs · South San Francisco, California, United States

• Mr. Keenan founded the computer user services department and helpdesk functions when the company was growing from 500 to 1000 employees. Other work at Genentech included UNIX server operations, working with SAS for biostatistics, clinical research protocols, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and other biotechnology support functions.

Jul 1983 – Sep 1984 · 1 yr 2 mos · Chicago, IL

• In the early days of personal computer adoption, Vernon Keenan authored and taught an original for-credit course called "Computer Literacy" for the School of Nursing.

Jan 1981 – Jan 1984 · 3 yrs · Evanston, Illinois, United States

• Worked as a Database Administrator for the Vogelback Computer Center. Also supported users on statistics and database applications using DEC VAX minicomputer and CDC Cyber 6600 mainframe computer.