Chris Verbracken

About

Technology leader and Salesforce Architect with CISO experience, currently Director of Technology & Chief Information Security Officer at Punch & Associates Investment Management (a $2.1B AUM boutique RIA). Over 12 years in the Salesforce ecosystem (including 7 years at Salesforce) with 50+ implementations and 21x certifications. Architected and shipped a production Salesforce MCP server on Azure with JWT authentication and custom AI skills to deliver agentic workflows into daily advisor and operations work, while building and operationalizing enterprise security and compliance programs for RIA environments.

Experience

• Director of Technology & Chief Information Security Officer · Punch & Associates Investment Management01-01-2024

  Member of the firm's four-person Operating Committee, functioning as the collective COO for a $2.1B AUM boutique RIA. Own technology strategy, execution, and security across 35 employees and a ~$1.3M annual budget. • Built and shipped the firm's AI platform, architecting a production Salesforce MCP server on Azure with JWT Bearer authentication and a portfolio of custom AI skills (Meeting Prep, Client Lookup, Skill Discovery) that bring agentic workflows into advisor and operations daily work. • Eliminated $200K+ in annual Salesforce consulting spend by insourcing architecture, development, and admin work previously outsourced — zero external consulting spend since joining. • Negotiated improved Salesforce contract terms and deprecated multiple redundant legacy applications, streamlining the core tech stack across Salesforce FSC, APX, Black Diamond, eMoney, and Microsoft 365. • Stood up the firm's security program as CISO: commissioned a third-party security assessment, partnered with the CCO to refresh policies, rolled out MFA and enterprise password management firm-wide, and built the process for responding to vendor and client security questionnaires. • Lead a team of 4–6 full-time employees and contractors, managing vendor relationships and setting technology strategy that supports both the investment management and wealth planning sides of the firm.

• Salesforce Delivery Manager · EightCloud02-01-2023 – 01-01-2024

  Led a team of 7–10 Salesforce consultants while splitting time 60/40 between hands-on senior technical delivery and Delivery Leadership Team responsibilities at a Salesforce consulting partner. • Recovered and shipped a critically struggling $500K engagement, stepping in as senior technical lead to reset scope, stabilize delivery, and guide the project to successful go-live. • Delivered complex multi-cloud Salesforce implementations as a Senior Technical Consultant on the firm's largest and highest-risk accounts. • Served on the Salesforce Delivery Leadership Team, contributing to practice growth, consultant development, and the standardization of delivery methodology and best practices across engagements.

• Senior Engagement Manager, Public Sector Professional Services · Salesforce07-01-2020 – 02-01-2023

  Led Salesforce Professional Services engagements for higher education and nonprofit customers, spanning pre-sales scoping through full delivery lifecycle as the executive point of contact. • Owned relationships for two of the practice's largest higher education engagements ($5M+ combined services value), covering advancement/alumni relations and student success transformations. • Managed 3–5 concurrent pre-sales scoping engagements alongside live delivery — sizing and shaping new opportunities while maintaining existing customer relationships. • Served as trusted advisor to customer executives and CxOs across the full engagement lifecycle, maintaining long-term strategic roadmaps anchored to business value rather than implementation checklists.

• Senior Customer Success Architect · Salesforce02-01-2018 – 07-01-2020

  Embedded as a long-term technical advisor to strategic nonprofit and education customers, providing architecture guidance and broader technology leadership counsel. • Retained and renewed both assigned customer relationships across full two-year engagements — a 100% renewal rate on strategic accounts reflecting deep trust and demonstrated value. • Advised customer leadership on Salesforce architecture, data governance, org strategy, and large data volume design, alongside adjacent technology decisions spanning system architecture, SSO, security posture, hiring, and platform governance. • Guided IT roadmap development for both nonprofit and higher education customers, helping translate business vision into platform strategy across multi-year horizons.

• Senior Salesforce Consultant · Modacto / Xede Consulting08-01-2015 – 02-01-2018

  • Co-founded the firm's Higher Education practice as on-staff industry expert, delivering engagements focused on Admissions & Recruitment and Student Success. • Served as certified Salesforce consultant across dozens of customer implementations, functioning in architecture, delivery lead, and hands-on build roles depending on engagement needs.

Education

• Bethel UniversityMaster of Arts, Theological Studies
• Northwest UniversityBachelor of Arts, Theological Studies

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