| Follow @mike_cronesMike joined Draper as the Chief Information Officer in September 2015 to enable and support an overall corporate transformation. In his role as CIO, he strategically addressed the people, process and technology aspects of IT as it related to the overall corporate vision for change and innovation.
Mike led a struggling IT department through a transformation to a high-performing, leading-edge team. Operational excellence, compliance, security and innovation were key themes in building out this new organization. He has developed strong relationships throughout the corporation in an effort to truly understand the mission and customer perspective. This has enabled Mike to build a clear vision for Draper’s IT future ensuring that it is closely tied to business outcomes.
Based on the transformation of IT, Mike was asked lead a new Program Operations department focused on delivery of facilities, security and IT resources for Draper’s customer facing efforts. Mike is a champion for delivering superior customer service while balancing the need for appropriate information security and enabling the business.
Prior to Draper, Mike was with MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MITLL) serving in roles from technical staff, to program management, and eventually culminating as the Deputy CIO. During his time with MITLL, he helped run the Laboratory’s central IT services and was intimately involved all aspects of supporting research and development activities. Additionally, Mike has held technical IT implementation, management and architecture roles across various industries.
Mike was awarded the Dell Technologies Innovator Award for 2019; was a finalist for the 2019 Boston CIO of the year; and a 2012 MIT Excellence Award winner. He is actively engaged with local universities as a mentor, guest speaker and champion for student transitions to the workforce. He holds his bachelors from Merrimack College and a masters from Brandeis University.
