Taylor Higley
CIO / VP Technology Leader for Mission-Critical Platforms, Secure Modernization, and Value Creation.
Washington, DC-based technology executive leading secure AI adoption, cybersecurity, identity, payments, cloud modernization, and SaaS operations across complex stakeholder environments.
I help organizations modernize securely — aligning architecture, governance, vendors, adoption, and reliability into measurable operating outcomes. Recent work includes a Stripe Billing-based dues platform processing $70M+ annually, NIST 800-53-aligned security, AWS modernization, and AI enablement across internal and client-facing teams.
By the numbers
Experience
Where I’ve led technology — AFGE and ETTE.
Director, Information Services
Top technology executive (functional CIO) reporting directly to the President. Leads through deputy directors; 15-person team, 11+ year median tenure.
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
Washington, D.C.
Technology executive leadership scope across cloud, cybersecurity, identity, payments, SaaS operations, AI enablement, and nationwide stakeholder support.
Lead the technology function for the largest U.S. federal employee union. Promoted through three roles over a 20-year tenure to oversee all technology initiatives, security operations, and board-facing technology governance with no senior technical leader above me. Scope includes budget ownership, cybersecurity, cloud modernization, enterprise platforms, payments technology, and AI enablement.
- Payments platform. Led the technology team responsible for designing, launching, and scaling a Stripe Billing-based recurring dues platform processing $70M+ in annualized dues, spanning payment operations, dunning optimization that improved recovery from 50% to 70.6% over two years, reliability, reporting, delayed-payment logic, and stakeholder adoption.
- Reliability & Support. Built and operated mission-critical digital services at 99.9%+ uptime, sustained for 5+ years, while maintaining a 99.8% internal technical support satisfaction rate across nationwide operations.
- Security and governance. Built a NIST 800-53-aligned cybersecurity program covering MFA, IAM, Zero Trust architecture, SOC/SIEM monitoring, policy, risk management, and governance. Coverage runs from endpoint to policy.
- Cloud and SaaS modernization. Led enterprise modernization, migrating legacy infrastructure to AWS and SaaS, eliminating technical debt, and building scalable operating platforms.
- AI enablement. Advanced AI policy, tool evaluation, workflow discovery, support automation, and cross-functional workforce enablement.
- Executive translation. Translate technical, security, financial, and operational decisions for AFGE’s IT Governance & Security Subcommittee, executive leadership, vendors, staff, and cross-functional stakeholders.
Fractional CTO / Technology Advisor
Concurrent fractional engagement held alongside the AFGE role.
Empowerment Through Technology and Education (ETTE)
Washington, D.C.
Reporting directly to the President and Owner, provide fractional executive technology leadership to organizations scaling greenfield operations or modernizing legacy systems. Drive commercial technology strategy across diverse B2B and highly regulated sectors, including professional services (legal, CPA, accounting, capital consultancy), construction, human resources, associations, and social justice nonprofits. Helped scale ETTE from 3 to 20 technical staff across teams in the U.S., La Paz, and Lima, while continuing to advise leadership on technology strategy and client delivery.
- Executive advisory. Advise leadership teams on technology strategy, cybersecurity, cloud modernization, AI adoption, vendor governance, and operating model decisions.
- AI enablement offerings. Help shape practical AI enablement offerings, including policy, workflow discovery, tool training, and adoption planning.
- Risk translation. Translate technical risk and modernization options into business language for owners, executives, and nontechnical stakeholders.
- Client delivery and planning. Support service quality, client delivery, and executive-level technology planning across SMB and mid-market clients.
- Outcomes. Internal client satisfaction metrics have included 97.9% CSAT and an 88 NPS across the SMB and mid-market client base.
External Recognition
Public artifacts and named speaking engagements.
- Speaker — Stripe Sessions Public Sector 2026. Discussed recurring payments modernization and the AFGE E-Dues platform with Stripe and peer public-sector technology leaders. Stripe’s public-sector program at Stripe Sessions 2026, San Francisco.
- Invited by Okta as its AFGE customer reference for the Nashville IT Symposium (EFM), 2016. Presented AFGE’s identity modernization journey across MFA, IAM, and nationwide adoption to an audience of CIOs and senior IT leaders. okta.com/customers/afge ↗
- Case study — Stripe customer story on AFGE. Stripe’s public customer story on AFGE’s Stripe Billing-based E-Dues platform highlights payment operations scale, chapter onboarding, pricing-plan complexity, and recurring-dues growth. stripe.com/customers/afge ↗
- Report — AFGE Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (June 2024). Served on the committee. Read the report (PDF) ↗
About
Twenty years running technology inside a complex stakeholder environment — and now looking for the same kind of problem at commercial scale.
I am a technology executive who turns under-modernized environments into secure, scalable operating platforms, often stepping into greenfield or rapid-scale scenarios to secure the financial and operational future of the organization.
I’m strongest where the hard part is not picking tools, but aligning executives, engineers, vendors, governance bodies, staff, and end users around systems that have to work every day.
Core Competencies
Technology Leadership
- IT Strategy & Operations
- IT Financial Management & Budget Ownership
- Team Building & Retention
- Vendor Optimization & Tech Debt Remediation
Security & Platforms
- Cybersecurity & Risk
- NIST 800-53
- AWS
- Identity & Access
- Compliance & Governance
Business Modernization
- Recurring-Revenue Platform Architecture
- AI Adoption & Enablement
- Board & Stakeholder Communication
Credentials
Education
- MBA — University of Maryland Global Campus
- MS Technology Management — UMGC
- BS Information Systems Management — UMGC
Certifications
- CISSP
- CISA
- AWS Solutions Architect Pro
- AWS DevOps Pro
- M365 Expert
Target Fit
Best fit is commercial or PE-backed technology leadership where mission-critical platforms, regulated AI adoption, and value creation matter.
- PE-Backed Value Creation: Leading modernization, security remediation, and operational scaling for portfolio companies transitioning from legacy tech debt to enterprise maturity and exit readiness.
- Executive Technology Operations: CIO, VP of Tech Ops, or Internal Platform leadership at hands-on operating shops, providing the critical bridge between deep engineering execution and executive board strategy.
- AI-Enabled Vertical Platforms: Directing technology for workflow, compliance, and back-office automation products in regulated industries (e.g., FinTech, LegalTech) transitioning from experimentation to secure, governed at-scale use.
- Complex Recurring-Revenue Platforms: Architecting and stabilizing mission-critical payment operations, subscription architecture, and revenue recovery systems where reliability is an existential requirement.
- Consulting & Advisory Leadership: Managing Director or Practice Head roles building and scaling AI, security, or cloud practices, where upside is directly tied to P&L growth, go-to-market strategy, and client adoption and account expansion.
Contact
I’m open to confidential conversations about CIO, VP Technology, Head of Technology Operations, Head of AI Enablement, and internal platform leadership roles in commercial, growth-stage, PE-backed, SaaS/platform, and mission-adjacent organizations.
Selective advisory conversations are welcome where the work aligns with secure AI adoption, cloud modernization, cybersecurity, payments platforms, or executive technology operating models.