“Listen First. Understand Deeply. Transform with Purpose.”
Dave Hickman is a highly accomplished technology executive, global operations leader, and business strategist with more than 40 years of experience helping organizations leverage technology to drive growth, improve operational performance, and create lasting business value. Throughout an impressive career that began in the heart of Silicon Valley, Dave has built a reputation for combining deep technical expertise with practical executive leadership, enabling organizations of every size—from innovative startups to multinational enterprises—to modernize, scale, and compete in rapidly evolving markets. His leadership philosophy is rooted in a simple but powerful principle: listen first, seek to understand, and then deliver solutions that create measurable results.
Growing up professionally in Silicon Valley provided Dave with an extraordinary foundation that shaped his approach to innovation and leadership. His experience with industry pioneers including Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Tandem Computers, Ross Stores, and several emerging technology companies exposed him to world-class business practices during some of the most transformative decades in technology. Working alongside exceptional engineers, business leaders, and innovators gave him firsthand insight into how great organizations balance technological advancement with disciplined execution, customer focus, and operational excellence. Those experiences continue to influence the strategic perspective he brings to executive leadership and board service today.
Dave currently serves as President Americas for SpurTree Technologies, where he leads business development, client engagement, and strategic growth initiatives throughout North America. In this role, he partners with organizations across multiple industries to accelerate digital transformation through artificial intelligence, software development, automation, analytics, enterprise applications, and cloud technologies. His leadership extends beyond technology implementation; he works closely with executive teams to align innovation with business strategy, ensuring that technology investments produce sustainable operational improvements, increased efficiency, and long-term competitive advantage. His ability to translate complex technical opportunities into practical business outcomes has become one of his defining leadership strengths.
In parallel with his executive responsibilities, Dave serves as Head of Product Development for Aiden Technologies, where he helps shape product strategy and innovation while mentoring leadership teams on technology adoption and market execution. He also serves as an angel investor and mentor with AngelNV, helping entrepreneurs refine business strategies, strengthen products, and navigate growth challenges. As an active member of CEOLife, Dave collaborates with fellow executives to exchange ideas surrounding leadership, artificial intelligence, market trends, and organizational strategy. These advisory and mentoring roles reflect his passion for helping businesses succeed while developing the next generation of executive leaders.
Prior to joining SpurTree Technologies, Dave served as Vice President of Global Delivery for Quisitive, overseeing worldwide technology delivery organizations across North America, Mexico, South America, and India. During his tenure, he successfully expanded the company’s global delivery capabilities, quadrupling its Latin American workforce while increasing the India organization by approximately 20 percent annually. Under his leadership, globally distributed engineering, consulting, project management, and business analyst teams consistently exceeded revenue goals while delivering high-quality technology solutions to clients. His expertise in managing offshore and nearshore delivery organizations has made him a recognized leader in building scalable, high-performing global technology operations.
Dave previously served as Vice President of Engineering and Delivery at Menlo Technologies, where he was instrumental in scaling engineering, managed services, analytics, mobile development, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise software organizations during a period of exceptional company growth. He established operational frameworks that enabled the company to expand across the United States, India, and South America while creating strategic partnerships that enhanced delivery capabilities and customer satisfaction. During his leadership, the managed services organization achieved tenfold growth, and the overall company expanded approximately five times before its successful acquisition by Quisitive. His accomplishments demonstrate a consistent ability to combine operational discipline with entrepreneurial vision.
Earlier executive leadership positions with Renesas Electronics, Infinera, Azul Systems, Centillium Communications, and Tandem Computers further strengthened Dave’s reputation as an enterprise transformation leader. At Renesas, he led a comprehensive turnaround of the global IT organization, reducing operating costs by approximately 40 percent while simultaneously repositioning IT as a strategic business partner. He successfully migrated enterprise infrastructure to managed cloud environments, implemented Office 365, SharePoint, enterprise analytics platforms, identity management solutions, and modern integration technologies, while delivering approximately $2 million in infrastructure savings through strategic data center consolidation. His ability to modernize enterprise technology while maintaining fiscal discipline exemplifies his balanced leadership approach.
Throughout his career, Dave has cultivated exceptional expertise spanning artificial intelligence, enterprise architecture, software development, ERP systems, cloud computing, cybersecurity, analytics, business intelligence, product development, enterprise integrations, agile methodologies, IT governance, business process optimization, vendor management, and digital transformation. His educational credentials include both a Bachelor of Science in Decision Information Sciences and an MBA from Santa Clara University, providing a powerful combination of technical knowledge and executive business leadership. He has further enhanced his expertise through Microsoft Azure Fundamentals certification, ITIL certification, and decades of hands-on executive experience leading complex technology organizations.
An active advocate for responsible technology adoption, Dave has become a respected voice in the evolving conversation surrounding artificial intelligence and digital transformation. He has hosted recurring executive AI and technology roundtables while presenting at CIO conferences in Canada and the United States on AI adoption, organizational readiness, and technology strategy. His international leadership experience spans Canada, India, Mexico, Germany, and numerous global business environments, providing him with a deep understanding of multicultural leadership, distributed teams, and global technology delivery. He firmly believes that organizations achieve their greatest success by leveraging worldwide talent while maintaining disciplined communication, strong governance, and shared organizational purpose.
Dave’s leadership style reflects a rare combination of technical depth, operational pragmatism, financial awareness, and servant leadership. Colleagues consistently value his grounded perspective, thoughtful decision-making, and ability to simplify complex business and technology challenges into practical, executable strategies. Whether serving as a fractional executive, mentoring startup founders, or advising executive leadership teams, he emphasizes budget-conscious innovation, disciplined execution, and measurable business value over unnecessary complexity. His experience helping CEOs navigate technology decisions naturally positions him to contribute meaningful strategic oversight in the boardroom.
Today, Dave is actively pursuing corporate board opportunities where he can apply four decades of executive leadership to organizations seeking experienced guidance in technology modernization, artificial intelligence, software development, product strategy, global operations, and digital transformation. Motivated by a genuine desire to help executive teams succeed while preparing for the next chapter of his career, he brings boards an exceptional combination of Silicon Valley innovation, global operational expertise, financial discipline, and practical executive judgment. His personal motto, “Listen, seek to understand,” continues to guide every leadership interaction, reinforcing his belief that the strongest solutions are built upon understanding people, aligning around shared goals, and executing with integrity.
Character:
Dave exemplifies integrity, humility, and servant leadership by listening carefully before offering guidance and consistently placing organizational success above personal recognition. His grounded, practical approach fosters trust with executives, employees, and stakeholders while creating cultures built on accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Knowledge:
With more than four decades of executive experience spanning artificial intelligence, enterprise technology, cloud computing, software development, global delivery, and business transformation, Dave possesses exceptional breadth and depth of expertise. His experience across Silicon Valley innovators, multinational corporations, and rapidly growing technology companies enables him to provide valuable strategic insight across virtually every stage of organizational growth.
Strategic:
Dave consistently aligns technology initiatives with measurable business objectives, ensuring innovation delivers meaningful operational and financial results. His success scaling organizations, leading acquisitions, modernizing enterprise operations, and building global delivery organizations demonstrates a leader who combines visionary thinking with disciplined execution.
Communication:
An exceptional ability to translate highly technical concepts into practical business conversations that resonate with boards, executive teams, customers, and investors alike. His experience leading international organizations, mentoring entrepreneurs, hosting executive AI roundtables, and speaking at industry conferences reflects a collaborative communicator who builds alignment, confidence, and lasting relationships.
