Technology Strategy for CIOs and Their Boards
Enterprise Strategy.Without the Firm.
For fifteen years I have served CIOs and their boards, first at Deloitte, then at McKinsey, and now under my own shingle. I bring the same rigor to cost pressure, growth, AI, and what the technology budget is actually producing. Without the overhead, the handoffs, or the six-month timelines.
Insurance · Healthcare · Financial Services · Technology · Federal Government · Logistics · Manufacturing · Private Equity · Energy · Retail · Higher Education · Media
Who I Serve
Wherever technology decisions reach the board.
Owner-Led
Under 200 employees
Owner-led firms where the founder makes the technology call and the budget is personal.
Mid-Market
200 to 1,000 employees
Scaling firms where a leadership team owns technology and a board or PE sponsor is asking hard questions about it.
Enterprise
Over 1,000 employees
Fortune 500 and large public sector, where the CIO owns the decision and answers to the board for it.
Client Work
Representative engagements.
Work completed at McKinsey, Deloitte, and through RLK.
Fortune 500 Insurance CIO
Result
Board embraced the framework on first presentation
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A Fortune 500 insurance CIO needed a board-facing technology scorecard. Existing reporting was nonexistent and immature at best: no coherent framework, no financial translation, nothing the board could use to assess technology value. RLK designed 13 board-facing metrics and 30 underpinning IT health metrics for IT leadership, including custom indices calibrated against insurance industry peers. IT became the first function in the organization with reporting that mature. Technology went from a cost center narrative to a value creation story in a single presentation.
Global Logistics Operator
Result
Board approved multi-year program on first reading
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A global logistics operator carried five inherited ERPs across acquired entities and had no commercial case the CFO could take to the board. RLK built the consolidation case across twelve workstreams (finance close, inventory, planning, procurement, HR) with sequencing that ran the lowest-risk workstreams first. The board approved the multi-year program on the first reading.
Large Federal Agency CIO
Result
$4B in modernization capital deployed against named outcomes
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A large federal agency received a major legislative appropriation for technology modernization with no prioritization framework in place. Capital availability was not the problem; deployment discipline was. RLK built the investment prioritization framework tied to specific citizen-facing service outcomes and tranche-level accountability. The agency deployed approximately $4 billion in modernization capital against named outcomes and earned national recognition with industry awards.
Regional Healthcare Organization
Result
11% technology spend reduction, zero capability reduction
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A regional healthcare organization faced a board mandate to cut $3M in annual technology spend without impacting operations. Spend analysis identified the savings by restructuring two major vendor relationships and eliminating redundant licensing. Full savings realized within 90 days, at zero capability reduction.
PE-Backed Tech Services Firm
Result
Board-ready growth plan cleared in a single session
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A PE-backed technology services firm ($220M ARR) needed a board-ready growth plan ahead of a recapitalization. RLK mapped three underserved segments with quantified revenue upside, sequenced the sprint plan, and built the supporting financial model. The plan cleared the board in a single session.
Financial Services Firm
Result
Three pilots moved to production within a single quarter
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A financial services firm with 14 active AI pilots and zero production deployments. Structural diagnostic identified a governance bottleneck: every AI rollout required a compliance committee cycle averaging 8 months. Redesigned approval framework cut cycle time to 6 weeks. Three pilots moved to production within the next quarter.
Six representative engagements across board analytics, systems strategy, cost optimization, growth, and AI enablement.
See all client work →In Their Words
What it is like to work with me.
Ryan came in, got up to speed in days, and gave us a board-ready narrative we could not have produced internally. The board approved the program on the first reading.
Most consultants have an angle. Ryan felt like our own CIO, sitting shoulder to shoulder with us and grinding toward the EBITDA target with no agenda of her own. Her judgment on where to invest in technology, and where the value actually sat, is why we hit it.
Our AI ambitions were lofty, and every other vendor answered with a glorified copilot license. Ryan aimed AI only at the decisions that were repeatable, expensive, and automatable without brand risk, then framed the whole transformation as dominoes to knock down, scored on ROI and risk. Everyone else was selling a tool. Ryan gave us a plan.
Who You're Working With
The strategist you talk to is the one who does the work.
Ryan L. King
Founder, RLK Consulting
Fifteen years advising CIOs, CTOs, and senior technology leaders at McKinsey, Deloitte, and now RLK. I work with leaders in transition: stepping into a new role, navigating cost pressure, modernizing delivery, or preparing for a sale.
Why Leaders Choose RLK
- Every recommendation comes with analytics and a dollar figure. I run a business. So do you.
- No commercial real estate and no large team to carry. You don’t pay for overhead that has nothing to do with your results.
- I can afford to be honest, direct, and finished when the work is done. There is no retainer to protect.
Proprietary Thoughtware
The thinking behind the work.
Original research, frameworks, and tools published alongside client work.
Blog
The RLK Point of View
A real point of view on technology strategy. Not a list of things you could Google on your own.
Read the blog →
Book · Free Ebook · 421 Downloads
The Human and Machine Company
Enterprises move like cruise ships, and AI rewards the nimble. A look at what happens to owner-led, mid-market, and enterprise organizations that chase AI without rethinking how they are built for a world where intelligence is a commodity. Free, because AI moves faster than publishing timelines.
Book · AI and Education
Open Book
The exam went open book in 2022. Nobody told the schools. Nine in ten students already use AI for school, and fewer than one in four was ever taught how. An independent research perspective for heads of school, teachers, and trustees, from someone who advises the companies that will interview their graduates. Every statistic is sourced, and the argument ends in a plan: a year-long path any school can run.
Free Tool
AI Readiness Diagnostic
Most firms pay $35k and up for a diagnostic that scores them on soft frameworks like "ethical use" and never answers the real question: is AI a fit for this business, and where. Mine answers that, in a full report backed by a proprietary model. Free, because small and mid-sized businesses deserve the insight without the invoice.
Take the diagnostic →