With more than twenty-five years in technology leadership roles, Walt specializes in change leadership, value delivery, and technology innovation.
Prior to joining HOMESTAR Financial Corporation in his current role as Chief Digital Officer and CIO in March of 2018, Walt and his teams implemented technology changes for Primary Capital Mortgage to drive 205% growth in origination volume in a remarkably short period. Before that, his teams at Generation Mortgage received accolades from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger's, Bloomberg and MarketWatch for innovative use of technology as a key differentiator for the company and he was named CIO of the Year by the Georgia CIO chapter of Inspire CIO Group.
Walt is adept at working through complex business challenges and has successfully implemented many enterprise-wide packaged software solutions for companies with global footprints. Walt is a frequent speaker to professional groups on the topics of change leadership and using culture as a lever for optimization. His signature talk on “Lessons from Nuclear Silos and Cold War Command Posts” frequently gets tears flowing and standing ovations.
After earning a BS in Physics from Guilford College, he began his career as a technical officer in the US Air Force supporting nuclear weapons systems and serving in very challenging Cold War assignments as a logistics planner and strategist while earning an MSA in Public and Private Administration. Since then, he has served in a variety of technology leadership roles with companies such as Fidelity, Gannett, BDM, TRW, and Ajilon Consulting. While at TRW, he won the President's Award for his leadership on their largest commercial project. Walt has enjoyed learning and coaching inside organizations as a Chief Operating Officer, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer. One of the first to hold the Chief Digital Officer title, he brings a “team sports” philosophy to every role.
Recently, Walt has been named to the Constellation Research “Business Transformation 150” – a global list recognizing transformational leadership in his current role at HOMESTAR. His first book on change leadership, “We Can’t Stay Here!” is an international bestseller and he is working on a new book on leadership systems titled “Driving Behind Idiots”, which will be published later this year.
