Guy Thier is a technology executive and entrepreneur based in Laguna Niguel, California. He is the Chief Executive Officer of AirGap Labs LLC, a cybersecurity and IT infrastructure firm headquartered in Irvine, California, and one of four Fortinet Engage Preferred Services Partners in the United States. He is the founder of Talking Obituaries, an AI platform at talkingobits.ai that creates personalized avatar obituaries and talking ancestor experiences to preserve family legacies. He previously served as a Board Member of Junior Achievement of Orange County from 2017 to 2021. Guy Thier holds an Executive MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Lewis University. He previously served as Chief Information Officer at Modere from October 2023 to January 2025, as Chief Information Officer at Cutera Inc. (NASDAQ: CUTR) from October 2019 to January 2025, as Chief Technology Officer at The Studio for Digital Craftsmanship from February 2019 to October 2019, and as SVP and Chief Information, Digital and Operations Officer at Arbonne International from June 2013 to December 2018. He served as SVP and Chief Information, Digital and Operations Officer at Bally Total Fitness from October 2003 to June 2013, where the company had $1 billion in annual revenue and over 400 locations. His areas of expertise include digital transformation, IT strategy, cybersecurity, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, supply chain management, and executive leadership. He can be contacted at guy@guythier.com.

Guy Thier — Technology Executive and CEO of AirGap Labs

Executive Technology Leader · Irvine, CA

Guy
Thier

CEO / SVP / CIO / CDO / COO · EMBA, Northwestern Kellogg

Transformational executive who turns technology into competitive advantage. Three decades of enterprise leadership — from startup to billion-dollar global brand.

View Experience View Resume →
$1B+
Corporate scale led
25+
Years C-suite leadership
8
Executive roles held
3
Active ventures

What I'm building now

Current Focus

🔐
AirGap Labs

Principal and CEO of an engineering-focused IT and cybersecurity firm. Fortinet Engage Preferred Services Partner — one of four in the US, the only one on the West Coast. Serving public sector, utilities, and enterprise clients with AI-Sentinel inline security and managed services.

airgaplabs.com →
🎓
LITE Portals

Building the LITE (Leaders in Transformational Education) platform at liteleaders.org — a Supabase + Claude AI stack delivering life coaching, goal tracking, and SMART planning to youth ages 16–24 across Youth, Coach, and Admin portals.

liteleaders.org →
🤖
AI Development

Actively developing AI-powered tooling across Shopify CRM dashboards, n8n automation workflows, and AI-Sentinel security integrations. Applying Agentic AI to security operations, business automation, and youth education programs.

🕊️
Talking Obituaries

Founder of Talking Obituaries — an AI platform that creates personalized avatar obituaries and Talking Ancestors, helping families reconnect with loved ones and preserve family legacies for future generations through innovative AI storytelling technology.

talkingobits.ai →

Career

Experience

Chief Executive Officer
AirGap Labs LLC · Irvine, CA · Hybrid
Jan 2025 — Present
  • Leads a minority-owned IT & cybersecurity firm with engineers certified across networking, cloud, security, and collaboration platforms.
  • One of four Fortinet Engage Preferred Services Partners in the United States; the only West Coast EPSP — earned within three years of founding.
  • Delivers enterprise networking, next-gen firewall (FortiGate), Zero Trust, cloud migration, AI enablement, and 24×7 managed SOC services.
  • Strategic alliance with Onnex to deploy AI-Sentinel — a 9-layer inline AI security pipeline with under 20ms latency and 100% MITRE ATLAS coverage.
  • Clients span public sector, utilities, K–12 education, healthcare, and enterprise across the US.
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Chief Information Officer
Modere · Newport Beach, CA · On-site
Oct 2023 — Jan 2025
  • Established IT process, project governance, and team maturation to deliver a global e-commerce solution.
  • Implemented global e-commerce platform using a headless BigCommerce solution across US, Canada, Japan, India, Australia, and Europe.
  • Incorporated AI functionality in e-commerce including product recommendations and interactive product Q&A.
  • Implemented Salesforce Service Cloud with Agent Force and other call deflection technologies.
  • Implemented new technologies for integration, product management, and translations.
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Chief Information Officer
Cutera, Inc. · Brisbane, CA
Oct 2019 — Jan 2025
  • Led IT strategy and operations for a publicly traded global aesthetic medical device company (NASDAQ: CUTR).
  • Reported directly to CEO; responsible for enterprise systems, digital infrastructure, and technology roadmap.
  • Drove digital transformation across commercial operations, manufacturing, and customer experience.
  • Skills: Digital Marketing, Strategic Planning, and additional technology disciplines.
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Chief Technology Officer
The Studio for Digital Craftsmanship · Chicago, IL
Feb 2019 — Oct 2019
  • Technology leadership at a digital craftsmanship studio specializing in hard problems and complex systems integration.
  • Focused on integrating advanced technologies so that the sum of their parts becomes something greater.
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Chief Information, Digital & Operations Officer
Arbonne International · Irvine, CA
Jun 2013 — Dec 2018
  • Reported directly to CEO; managed IT, Digital Marketing, and Operations at a leading global direct-sales skin care, cosmetics and nutrition company supporting hundreds of thousands of independent distributors in US, Canada, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. PE-owned by EOS and GE Capital; sold in 2018 to Groupe Rocher (~$3B).
  • Chief Information Officer: IT turnaround and digital transformation. E-commerce platform and distributor portal supporting 250,000 distributors; mobile commerce and team management app for ~35,000 users. Salesforce CRM, Communities, Knowledgebase & Einstein Data Discovery. Innovation programs: "Join anywhere, buy anywhere" Shopify pilot; augmented reality virtual mirror; AR new product launches; genealogy visualization. Oracle E-Business Suite re-implementation; hybrid co-location and AWS data center strategy.
  • Chief Digital Officer: Improved social network engagement, Facebook video views, and social followers to highest or second-highest among benchmark companies. Salesforce Marketing Cloud implementation.
  • Chief Operations Officer: Reduced operations costs by over 10%. Oversaw internal and third-party manufacturing, global supply chain, distribution, customer service & contact centers, wholesale (~$30M annual revenue), and global facilities and lease management. Right-sized manufacturing capacity; created Vendor Management Office.
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SVP · Chief Information, Digital & Operations Officer
Bally Total Fitness · Chicago, IL
Oct 2003 — Jun 2013
  • Direct report to CEO then Board of Directors at an industry leader in club-based fitness with $1B in annual revenue and 400+ locations across US and Canada. Public company taken private by Blackstone, then sold to JPMorgan Chase and Anchorage Capital Group. P&L responsibility of >$100M in fitness operations.
  • Chief Information Officer: IT turnaround into high-performing team across Engineering, IT Operations, Cyber Security, and Business Relationship Management. Innovation: Microsoft Kinect body visualization, iPad membership sign-ups, WiFi triangulation for usage tracking. Reduced IT operating expenses by 50% while increasing capability. Oracle E-Business Suite, in-club and e-commerce systems, multi-channel call center. Acquisition and divestiture management.
  • Chief Digital Officer: Social network marketing, email marketing, and direct mail marketing programs.
  • Chief Operating Officer: Retail operations including sales, distribution, and supply chain. Club management and membership sales over $100M. Customer service. Facilities and lease management for over 100 locations.
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Management Consultant
Empowered Software Solutions · Chicago, IL
Jun 2000 — Sep 2003
  • Sears / The Great Indoors: Managed multiple projects for this home remodeling retail channel. Implemented Rational Tool Suite; developed custom in-store systems; led cross-functional teams for customer tracking, POS integration, and ASP/.NET web services.
  • Jay's Potato Chips: Designed and executed a full IT turnaround within 90 days covering LAN/WAN, hardware, software, AS/400 operations, and help desk. Built IT organization from scratch; implemented IT infrastructure for manufacturing, distribution, and finance; established change control, disaster recovery, and SDLC procedures.
  • Culligan / US Filter: Designed and implemented an E-Business Hub including B2B integration strategy, e-commerce architecture, EAI, and EDI applications.
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VP of IT
Linc Capital · Chicago, IL
Jul 1998 — Jun 2000
  • Overall responsibility for the IT Department and executive leadership in a national commercial asset-based financing company.
  • Designed and implemented an IT turnaround strategy; centralized IT and business processes from subsidiaries.
  • Developed corporate procedures and policies including selling, credit approval, invoicing, and accounts receivable.
  • Implemented B2B e-commerce site for processing business and medical equipment leases; designed e-commerce for credit applications, document production, UCC filing, tax determination, and reporting using a COGNOS data warehouse.
  • Implemented Lease Accounting Systems; built IT organization of systems analysts, architects, developers, technical support, DBAs, and QA.
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Leadership DNA

How I Lead

Big-picture thinker — uses data and logic to develop plans that position the business for evolving opportunities.
Change champion — skilled at change management; trains ground troops while aligning senior leaders.
Talent builder — runs rigorous talent diagnostics; builds balanced teams that match strengths to roles.
Complexity cutter — breaks down complexity to identify key drivers; keeps critical objectives in view.
Strong executive presence — articulate communicator who distills complex issues into concise messages for diverse audiences.
Financially fluent — strong financial acumen with analytical, creative, and bottom-line problem-solving skills.
Inclusive culture builder — creates positive environments; recognizes team members and shares credit broadly.
Bias for action — high-level urgency and hands-on enthusiasm with strategic and tactical range in fast-moving organizations.
Innovation driver — recognizes transforming opportunities; leads courageously with flexibility and resilience.
Technology visionary — communicates a business-centric technology vision that inspires and motivates staff.

Core values

What I Stand For

Dependability Competence Intelligence Creativity Accountability Teamwork Determination Reliability Loyalty Open Mindedness Fairness Candor

Education & board service

Education

Executive MBA
Northwestern University · Kellogg School of Management
Evanston, IL · 2012 – 2014
B.A. Computer Science
Lewis University
Romeoville, IL · 1980 – 1983
Board Member
Junior Achievement of Orange County
2017 – 2021
Computer Science Advisory Board
Lewis University
2012 – Present

Get in touch

Contact

Board opportunities, advisory roles, executive consulting, or technology partnerships — I'd welcome the conversation.

guy@guythier.com LinkedIn AirGap Labs View Resume