About Keith Brautigam CIO

Keith Brautigam is an IT and cybersecurity executive whose career runs from hands-on systems administration to the Chief Information Officer’s office. Over more than 20 years in IT, he has worked in healthcare research, higher education, and global manufacturing, with a consistent focus on identity and access management, security, and compliance.

He has served as Interim Chief Information Officer, Deputy CIO, and Chief Information Security Officer at a large public research university, and as Global Cybersecurity Director of Identity and Access Management at Hunter Douglas. He holds the CISSP certification, an MBA, and a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Leadership.

How Keith Brautigam Started in IT

Keith’s interest in technology began with early Amiga and Atari computers. He soon cared less about playing games than about tuning the machines to run them well, which led him toward systems administration.

While studying Communication and Media Studies at the University of Iowa, he worked in a research lab at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He graduated just after the 1990s eCommerce bubble burst, when IT jobs were scarce. He moved to the Research Triangle in North Carolina and worked as a supervisor at a Borders bookstore, where he received customer service and supervisory training he still draws on.

On a later visit to Iowa City, the lab hired him as an IT Systems Administrator. The lab was fully digital and focused on lung imaging research for diseases such as emphysema. HIPAA was taking effect at the time, so from the start, compliance and data security were part of his IT work.

After four years, he moved into research administration. The department worked much like a startup, moving internal processes online, and Keith was trained early in Agile Scrum development. He was then recruited into the University of Iowa’s central IT organization, where he joined the Identity and Access Management team and helped enable the secure transition to cloud applications.

From Manager to Interim CIO

At the end of 2014, Keith was recruited to a management position at a large public research university. He was promoted to Director, Senior Director, Chief Information Security Officer, and Deputy CIO, and was later appointed Interim Chief Information Officer, leading the university’s IT enterprise.

As CISO, he led an information security program that supported more than 200,000 students, faculty, and staff and protected over $1 billion in annual research expenditures. He planned and carried out the Shields Up initiative, which applied CISA best practices to the university’s network, devices, and business email.

Highlights of his identity and access management work include:

• Moving more than 500 applications to a modern Web Single Sign-On platform on Microsoft Entra ID in 12 months, after securing buy-in from executives and IT leaders
• Changing the multi-factor authentication platform, which improved security and saved $500,000 a year
• Directing an initiative that onboarded 80,000 users to MFA in three months
• Establishing a Privileged Account Management service used by more than 500 IT staff to manage 5,000 privileged accounts
• Implementing an enterprise identity governance system for role-based access and provisioning across 1.2 million user accounts
• Consolidating 92 separate authentication systems into a single enterprise instance of Microsoft Active Directory

As Deputy CIO, he led the reorganization of the 600-person central IT department to align services with key stakeholders and improve span of control.
In another role, he also led a cross-functional team that corrected ERP records for more than 360,000 individuals.

Building a Global IAM Program at Hunter Douglas

After relocating to the Denver Metro Area, Keith joined Hunter Douglas in Broomfield, Colorado, in March 2024. The company makes window coverings and architectural products. As Global Cybersecurity Director of Identity and Access Management, his task was to establish an IAM program quickly, covering strategy, staffing, and software.

He led a fast-paced, six-month identity governance implementation across North America and EMEA, replacing legacy systems and supporting SOX compliance. He also designed a solution architecture for global access management that included privileged account management, unified single sign-on, and privileged remote access.

Keith worked with IT and business leaders to strengthen security for critical HR and finance systems under regulatory controls in multiple countries. He was also involved in launching a business-critical B2B service built on Salesforce, and he led a team of full-time staff, contractors, and implementation partners.

Keith Brautigam’s Approach to IT Leadership

Keith sees IT and cybersecurity as distinct disciplines, but as two sides of the same coin. Since his first role under HIPAA, he has treated security and compliance as part of delivering good IT service rather than a separate concern.

He also keeps the organization’s mission in view. In the research lab, that meant enabling scientists working on lung disease. In larger roles, it meant aligning IT services with the people who rely on them and building support from executives and IT leaders before major changes.

Organizational leadership within IT and cybersecurity is a long-standing interest. He has taken part in several leadership programs run by MOR Associates and completed graduate study in strategic leadership while working in demanding leadership positions.

Education and Credentials

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), earned through self-study, since 2019
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Graduate Certificate in Strategic Leadership
• Leadership programs with MOR Associates
• Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media Studies, University of Iowa, including study abroad in Mérida, Venezuela

Outside the Office

Keith lives in the Denver Metro Area, where he cycles the region’s concrete trail system, especially the Cherry Creek Trail. He also enjoys indoor climbing and works out regularly.

He is an avid reader. His favorites include epic fantasy by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, and Joe Abercrombie, and espionage fiction from Len Deighton to David McCloskey and the Slough House series. He counts the science fiction of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson as an influence throughout his 20-plus years in IT.