Raafat Elfouly, Ph.D.
(US Citizen)
C-Level Systems Executive | Digital Transformation Leader | AI/ML & IOT Innovator
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Career Profile
Visionary Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, and C-Level
Executive with 25+ years of building/leading global engineering teams (SAAS and Embedded
Systems), M&A strategy, and digital transformation for SaaS, AI/ML, and IoT platforms. Advise
CEOs/boards on M&A, investor relations, and scaling enterprise. Proven success in startups and
Fortune 500 environments, delivering $30M+ products, 40%+ cost reduction, and patented IoT.
Core Competencies
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M&A Leadership: Unified technology stacks/process re-engineering, pre-acquisition,
retaining 90%+ talent and accelerating integration timelines.
Board & Investor Collaboration: Partnered with CEO/CFO to negotiate $100M+
funding, articulating technical vision to investors.
Strategic Road mapping: Aligned/architected/designed/delivered 20+ product portfolios
with C-suite priorities, reducing time-to-market by 30%.
Global Team Scaling: Built/mentor, and scale high-performing distributed engineering
teams, improving delivery efficiency by 60%, and product quality by 40%.
Cost Optimization: Reduced operational costs by 40%+ via cloud modernization,
offshore teams, and best practices DevOps adoption.
Innovation Culture: Instituted AI/ML and Agile practices, achieving 99.99% uptime
and 60% defect reduction.
Budget Planning: Managed engineering budgets, resource planning, and technology
investments to support scaling operations.
Professional Experience
Chief Technology Officer | MP-365 | Vernon, CT | June 25 – Present
• Directed end-to-end project delivery for 3 concurrent initiatives, consistently meeting
deadlines and maintaining a 100% on-time delivery rate by implementing rigorous scope
and change control processes.
• Translated complex business needs into a prioritized product backlog of 20 user
stories and use cases, directly informing the development of 6 key features.
• Bridged the gap between business and technology teams, translating strategic goals
into actionable development sprints, which accelerated time-to-market for new initiatives
by 20%.
• Pioneered the adoption of Agile/Scrum methodologies, leading sprint planning and
grooming sessions that improved team velocity by 15% and reduced sprint carry-over by
40%.
• Leveraged data analytics to define and track 4 key product metrics, using insights to
re-prioritize the backlog and drive a 20% increase in customer satisfaction.
Chief Information Officer | Digital Factory LLC | Chicago, IL | June 2024 – June 2025
• Scaled Engineering 7x: Led global expansion of engineering teams (onshore/offshore),
delivering cloud/mobile platforms for Fortune 500 clients (CVS, BCBS, Ford).
• Funding: Co-led investor negotiations with CFO/CEO, aligning technical roadmaps with
ROI expectations.
• Pre-M&A Strategy: Unified tech stacks/processes for acquisition readiness, retaining
70%+ key talent.
• Digital Transformation: Migrated legacy systems to AWS, cutting costs by 20% and
accelerating product delivery by 25%.
Director of Engineering | Reality Interactive LLC | Middletown, CT | Feb 2022 – Apr 2024
• $10M+ Product Portfolio: Delivered AR/VR and cloud solutions for BMW, Spectrum,
and PC Richard & Son (10M+ users).
• Cost Savings: Modernized monolithic systems for AWS microservices, reducing costs
by 40% and boosting uptime to 99.99%.
• Client Retention: Slashed defects by 60% via Agile/DevOps adoption, increasing
retention by 25%.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Led task force to implement AWS TLS changes,
preventing $4M+ in contract losses.
Founder & CEO | Edge Technology Inc | Cairo/Riyadh | Feb 2006 – Aug 2020
• IoT Pioneer: Built first regional energy management company, scaling to 100+
employees and $10M revenue.
• Acquisition Positioning: Patented IoT systems reduced client energy costs by 45%,
securing 12M+contracts and positioning for 18M exit.
• Infrastructure Impact: Systems still control 250K+ public streetlights, slashing
operational costs by 65%.
Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering | RIT, UCONN, RIC, ECSU
|2004- Present
• Published 50+ papers, secured 2 patents, and developed 20+ products with measurable
societal impact. Secured 1M in grants for IOT research and development.
• Recognized for transforming CS programs (e.g., doubled enrollment at Rhode Island
College) and fostering industry partnerships (Amazon, Google).
• Strong background in curriculum development and mentoring students in hands-on,
industry aligned projects/courses.
• Led curriculum redesigns that reduced graduation time by 25%.
Education & Credentials
Ph.D., Computer Science & Engineering | University of Connecticut, CT
M.Sc., Computer Science & Engineering | Cairo University, Cairo
B.Sc., Electronics and Communications Engineering | Cairo University, Cairo
IESE Executive Leadership Program | Barcelona, Spain
Situational Leadership Training| Building leaders
Awards & Recognition
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2nd Place, Most Innovative Company | Egypt (2012) – Awarded by the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology for IoT energy solutions.
Patents:
o IoT-Based Energy Management System (EGPatent 2010/1854)
o Underwater Sensor Networks (US 2020/- AI).
Selected Publications
“Optimal ANN Models for Oil/Gas Pipeline Defects” | IEEE ICPS (2021)
“Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks: A Review” | SENSORNETS (2022)
“Cost Minimization Algorithm for Provisioning Cloud Resources” | ISSPIT (2020).
*[47 additional peer-reviewed papers; full list available upon request] *
Key Strengths for C-Level Roles
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Boardroom-Ready: Proven ability to align technical strategy with investor/board
priorities.
Turnaround Expertise: modernized outdated systems, teams, and processes with
measurable ROI (e.g., 40% cost reduction at Reality Interactive).
Scalability Mindset: Scaled engineering teams 5–7x while maintaining product quality
and talent retention.
Foster Innovation Culture: adapt new technologies, drive engineering practices and
processes to support growth in a fast-moving, dynamic environment.