About Craig Corbin
30 years from Marine Corps avionics to enterprise IT leadership , with a hands-on approach that never stopped.
The Short Version
I started maintaining combat avionics at 19 and have been building and leading IT operations for 30 years since. I’ve managed IT for $850M cruise ships, $350M luxury resorts, and satellite-connected corporate jets. I’ve led teams of 22+ across international time zones and managed budgets exceeding $3.5M.
What makes me different from most IT executives? I can still do the work. I deploy clusters, write Ansible playbooks, build API integrations, and architect zero-trust networks , which means I evaluate technology solutions myself rather than depending on vendors to tell me what I need.
My Approach
Measure First
I don’t change what I can’t measure. Every initiative starts with establishing baselines, defining success metrics, and building observability so we can prove impact , not just claim it.
Automate Relentlessly
If a human does it more than twice, it should be automated. Infrastructure-as-code, API-first architecture, and documented runbooks turn tribal knowledge into institutional capability.
Build for Tomorrow
Technology decisions should solve today’s problems AND create tomorrow’s options. I evaluate solutions through a framework that weighs cost, scalability, security, and organizational fit.
The Technology Lab
My career has always combined strategic leadership with hands-on technical depth. Recently, that led me to build an enterprise lab environment to evaluate how AI and automation could improve IT operations , and critically, to understand where the risks and limitations are.
The result? A measured 7-10x productivity improvement across 48 tracked sessions, an open-source stack replacing $75K-$109K in annual commercial licensing for $240/year, and 50+ pages of documentation covering architecture decisions, governance considerations, and lessons learned. I built it to answer a question, not to prove a point , and I learned as much about where AI shouldn’t be used as where it should.
Read the full case study , detailed methodology, architecture decisions, and measured results from 48 tracked sessions.
Documentation Architecture
Core Competencies
Strategic Leadership
- IT Strategy & Digital Transformation
- Budget & P&L Management ($3.5M+)
- Board-Level Communication
- Vendor Negotiation & Contracts
- Change Management
Technical Operations
- Enterprise Architecture
- Cybersecurity & Zero Trust
- Infrastructure as Code (Ansible)
- Full-Stack Observability
- API-First Architecture
Innovation & Emerging Technology
- AI Strategy & Governance
- Technology Evaluation Frameworks
- Multi-Site / Distributed Operations
- IT Governance & Compliance
- Business Continuity & DR
Where I’m Headed
With 30 years of operational leadership and a technology-forward approach, I bring the rare combination of executive-level strategic thinking and the hands-on technical depth to evaluate, implement, and govern emerging technology , including AI , in complex enterprise environments.
Military Service
United States Marine Corps , Avionics Maintenance Supervisor (1989–1994)
Maintained 99.8% full mission readiness for 12 combat fighter aircraft during the Gulf War , leading 10 technicians in a mission-critical, 24/7 operational environment. Completed one year of advanced avionics school, initiated three corrections to official technical documentation, and received three promotions to Corporal.
How I’m Wired
The engineering mindset doesn’t clock out. I cook the way I build infrastructure , with a commercial induction burner accurate to one degree, a steam oven with precision humidity control, predictive thermometers that calculate thermal gradients, and a WiFi-connected smoker I can monitor from my phone. My recipe app is my kitchen’s equivalent of runbooks and SOPs. Every variable measured, every outcome repeatable. It’s the same approach I apply to monitoring 65 hosts or orchestrating 336 infrastructure tools , just with better smells. Read the full story.
People Development
I created and run a voluntary weekly career development call for a ~100-person IT team , covering technical skills, career advancement, and leadership development. 18 months in, we’ve never missed a session and never had zero attendance. When we invited our CIO and Chief HR Officer as guest speakers, 50 people showed up. Read the full story.
Publications
- “Hospitality Bandwidth: Two-lane Road or A Superhighway?” , CIOReview , 2,977% bandwidth increase, 40% cost reduction at Fontainebleau
- “Luxury resort upgrades to five-star internet” , Toggle Magazine, 2017 , Third-party profile of the 20 Gbps infrastructure upgrade