M. Shad Collins

Transformation Executive

Processes, People, Technology & AI

With 30+ years of leadership experience, Shad Collins has worked at the intersection of strategy, technology, and operations, from small businesses to Fortune 50 environments, helping organizations move beyond fragmented execution to build integrated systems that deliver sustainable growth. His approach is consistent: improve the processes first, line up the people around them, then bring in technology, including AI, as it makes sense.

His career began early. At thirteen, he volunteered at a science museum, writing its educational software. By fifteen, he had started his own company building computers and technology solutions for small businesses. That early obsession with how systems, people, and results connect became the foundation of a lifelong focus on integration and outcomes.

Shad built his technical foundation at Digital Equipment Corporation, Midstate Mills, and BellSouth (AT&T), where he learned enterprise-scale design and led large, cross-functional deployments. His work for companies including Procter & Gamble, Fidelity, Whirlpool, and Florida Power & Light established him as a leader who could translate technical complexity into business clarity at Fortune 50 scale.

As VP, Information Management and a corporate officer at Bojangles' Restaurants, he helped guide the growth of a billion-dollar brand with 650+ locations and 19,000+ annual employees, anchored in the Southeast with restaurants across the country and around the world. He led enterprise-wide POS modernization, proprietary ERP development, data warehousing, and business intelligence initiatives. His teams consistently exceeded Big Four IT integration audits and PCI-DSS Tier 1 audits covering 5,000+ systems. He and his teams built the processes and technology behind the operating infrastructure that supported the company's successful $710M IPO in 2015.

He founded Digital Alchemy Solutions, providing integration and modernization services for mid-market organizations across insurance, restaurants, manufacturing, and municipal government. He subsequently served as SVP and CIO, and corporate officer, at Frederick Mutual Insurance Company, where he led the company's expansion from 2 to 5 states, launched two new product lines, including commercial auto, and grew revenue 70% while reducing technology expenses 60%, all within two years.

Recently, Shad served as VP of Information Management at Meridian, a nationwide services organization operating across all 50 states and serving Fortune 100 clients. As a member of the executive leadership team, his scope extended well beyond technology, encompassing Enterprise Capabilities, Transformation, Quality Assurance, and Custom Equipment Manufacturing and Logistics. He helped grow a regional service company into a national organization. Brought in to assess, re-architect, and rebuild the company's enterprise foundation, he established the process discipline, operating systems, and scalable infrastructure that made the organization acquirable, culminating in its acquisition by a multinational Fortune 500 company.

He works directly with CEOs, senior leadership teams, and private equity as a Transformation Executive, helping organizations integrate processes, people, and technology into coherent, scalable systems that perform reliably and deliver outcomes that last.

Shad leads with integrity, clarity, and a bias toward execution. He believes every organization works better when people understand the purpose, processes align across departments, and technology amplifies, not hinders, the outcomes the business needs.