The Challenge
Sound Familiar?
Most of my engagements start because a company leader is dealing with one of these situations.
Acquisition Uncertainty
You have closed or are closing an acquisition and you are not sure if the target’s technology is an asset or a liability.
Board Pressure
Your board or investors are asking about your technology strategy and you do not have a clear, defensible answer.
Technology Drag
You know your current technology setup is creating drag on your business, but you are not sure where to start or who to trust for an honest assessment.
The Cost Gap
You have a critical technology decision or initiative that needs senior judgment, but not a full-time executive to run it.
Services
How I Work With Clients
Three core engagements, all built around executive advisory, not implementation.
01
Fractional Technology Leadership
I operate as your CIO, CTO, or CISO on a fractional or project basis. You get executive-level thinking, decision-making, and accountability without the overhead of a full-time hire.
- Technology strategy tied to business outcomes and investor expectations
- Board and investor-ready technology roadmaps
- Vendor evaluation, contract negotiation, and technology spend optimization
- Security posture assessment and risk management
- Executive oversight of critical technology initiatives
- Software evaluation, platform selection, and enterprise integration
02
AI Strategy and Governance
Every company is feeling the pressure to implement AI; few have a strategy that would survive board scrutiny. I help leadership teams identify where AI moves your business and establish the governance to back it up.
- AI opportunity assessment, separating genuine business value from vendor hype
- AI governance framework, acceptable-use policy, and board-level reporting
- Vendor and platform evaluation, independent of reseller incentives
- Data readiness assessment for AI initiatives that will actually work
- AI security, privacy, and risk review led by a CISSP
- Portfolio-level AI readiness reviews for PE firms
03
M&A Technology Advisory
Acquisitions create some of the highest-stakes technology decisions a company will face. I help PE-backed companies evaluate, integrate, and rationalize technology across transactions.
- Pre-acquisition technology due diligence and risk assessment
- Post-acquisition integration planning and execution oversight
- Technology stack rationalization across portfolio companies
- Security debt analysis and remediation roadmaps
- EBITDA impact analysis of technology investments
Track Record
What Clients Get
Real outcomes from real engagements. Thirty years of doing this, not talking about it.
PE-Backed • Environmental Services
$400M PE-Backed, Multi-Acquisition Integration
Directed enterprise IT, cybersecurity, and digital transformation across a twelve-acquisition integration program over seven years. Built repeatable integration playbooks, unified disparate systems, and aligned security operations to NIST, CMMC, and SOC 2. Partnered with executives to translate business priorities into secure technology roadmaps.
Applied AI • Proprietary Development
Production AI Development, End to End
Designed and built production AI systems end to end, spanning data integration, model orchestration, security controls, and governance, to solve problems seen repeatedly across client engagements. Advisory grounded in what actually ships, what actually breaks, and what AI initiatives truly cost to do right.
Defense • Global Operations
$5B+ Defense Contractor, International Technology Integrations
Led cross-border IT integrations across five countries for a major defense technology organization. Delivered the federal healthcare enrollment platform for the Affordable Care Act rollout under federal NIST audits, and executed mission-critical programs including Royal Saudi Air Force training and thirteen rapid-deployment call centers.
Government • Service Delivery and Modernization
Public Agency, Citizen-Facing Modernization
Rebuilt IT strategy and security for a county tax collection agency processing DMV and property tax transactions for hundreds of thousands of residents. Renegotiated vendor contracts, consolidated multi-agency cashiering onto a secure unified platform, and modernized customer service delivery with a virtual queuing system.
Earned, Not Claimed
What Senior People Say
Credibility in this work is not something you assert. It is something that accumulates over time, across the people who have watched you make calls, partner with them, or lead them through change. These are a few of those voices.
A highly capable leader and a man of integrity, who always does the right things, the right way. Year over year he made the business better, reduced our risks, and enhanced our value.
David Fabianski
Board Member and Executive Advisor
Former President & CEO
A clear vision, always with a strong pulse on how to actually bring that vision to life. Super sharp, incredibly practical, and knew how to drive change without getting lost in the noise.
John Pasalano
Area Vice President, Sales
Technology Solutions Partner
He trusted his team, created space for innovation, and always made time to mentor and develop those around him. The best leader I have ever worked for, one who inspired confidence, growth, and accountability.
David Nelson
Director of IT Operations
PE-Backed Services Firm
Engagement Models
Flexible. Straightforward. Built Around What You Need.
No long-term lock-ins. Every engagement starts with a conversation to find the right fit.
Monthly Retainer
Best for ongoing leadership
Ongoing fractional leadership on a predictable monthly basis. Best for companies that need a steady executive presence guiding technology decisions, managing vendor relationships, and keeping strategy aligned with business goals.
Project-Based
Best for defined objectives
Defined-scope engagements with clear deliverables and timelines. Best for acquisitions, technology assessments, security reviews, or strategic roadmaps. Structured with milestone-based payments so you see progress before you pay in full.
Advisory Hours
Best for getting started
Prepaid blocks of executive advisory time for companies that need periodic access to senior technology guidance without a standing engagement. A good starting point if you want to test the fit.
Every engagement starts with a free 20-minute conversation to understand what you are dealing with and whether I am the right fit. No pitch. No pressure.
About
About Jim Cochrane
Veteran OwnedBusiness
Executive Technology Leadership, Available When You Need It
I founded Arquentix to solve a problem I saw repeatedly in my career: growing companies making expensive technology mistakes because they did not have the right person in the room when the decisions were being made.
Over three decades in technology and twenty years in executive leadership, I have served as CIO, CTO, and CISO for organizations under multiple private equity portfolios and within the defense sector. I have directed technology strategy for a $400M PE-backed organization, led more than twenty acquisitions and integrations across multiple companies, driven digital modernization for a major government agency, and managed global technology operations across international divisions at one of the largest defense contractors in the country.
My approach comes from a mission-focused mindset developed during my service as carrier-based aircrew in the U.S. Navy: assess the situation clearly, make a decision, execute with discipline, and deliver the outcome.
I work remotely with clients across the United States from my home base in Orlando, Florida.
Start with a Conversation
If you are accountable for a major technology decision, it is rarely simple, and it is almost never reversible without cost. That might be an acquisition with an uncertain tech stack, an AI strategy that has not had the scrutiny it deserves, a security posture that nobody has tested in years, or a software investment that will shape your business for the next decade.
If any of that sounds familiar, twenty minutes is all it takes. It is a small investment against a decision or initiative that will shape your business for years.
Book a 20-Minute ConversationPrefer email? Reach me at info@arquentixgroup.com or call (407) 283-7550.