Chago Santiago, President and CEO, C&R Consulting
Chago founded C&R Consulting after serving five years as Vice President of Information Technology at AutoZone, Inc. headquarters, where he was responsible for all software business applications, software engineering, demand management systems, enterprise architecture, resource management, technical support for a 6000+ stores chain, corporate e-commerce sites, the project management process and the company’s Project Management Office (PMO). Prior to AutoZone, he was Vice President of Information Services’ Solutions Delivery at Sports Authority in Denver, Colorado. Earlier in his career Chago’s engagements included Executive Director for Software Engineering at Quantum Corporation, Executive Director for Open Systems Software Engineering and Business Intelligence at CSG Systems in Denver, Colorado; and Sr. Manager and Director for Software Development, Quality Assurance, Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence at MCI Telecom. Chago’s background includes implementing several big data, data warehousing and business intelligence platforms as well as manufacturing execution systems. He also successfully delivered several global ERP implementations, consumer and commercial e-commerce sites, merchandising systems, supply chain systems, labor and workforce management systems; and other enterprise applications in the manufacturing, retail, media, and telecomm industries. Chago earned the prestigious “Best ERP Implementation” Editor’s Choice Award by Oracle Corporation’s Profit Magazine in 2003.
Chago served with distinction in the U.S. Air Force as a Cyberspace Operations Officer and then as a Space Operations Officer. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from University of Puerto Rico, a Master of Science in Management, majoring in Operations Research from George Washington University, and a Master of Arts in Management Information Systems from Webster Marymount University in St. Louis, MO. He is also a Teaching Fellow on IT leadership, strategic planning, IT value management, project management and IT risk management at the Fogelman College of Business and Economics, University of Memphis. Chago is a member of the Memphis chapter of the Society for Information Management (SIM) and is on the boards of several non-profit organizations.
Chago served with distinction in the US Air Force as an Information Technology Officer and later as a Senior Space Operations Officer where among other leadership roles he served with high honors as the Director of Operations (J3M) for the NORAD and USSPACECOM Missile Warning Center in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado. Chago served for four years as a Missile Warning Center Combat Crew Commander before his promotion to Director of Ops. He was also the Chief of Standards and Evaluations for the Missile Warning Center and a COMSEC officer. Chago also performed as Assistant Mission Director for a national Space-based multi-payload Intel platform. He also served as the senior Missile Warning officer in the Central Command (CENTCOM-Forward) Battle Staff in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm earning the Department of Defense Meritorious Service Medal among several other awards and decorations for operational excellence during the conflict. Chago also served as an exchange officer assigned to the Royal Air Force Strike Command Headquarters in High Wycombe, United Kingdom. He earned the distinction of Distinguished Graduate from the USAF Squadron Officer School. He also graduated from the USAF Space Operations Officer School as a Distinguished Grad. Chago held a TS/SCI security clearance and operated in SCIF’s.
Chago is married to the former Renee Lynn Zadel from Westminster, Colorado, who is an executive at FedEx HQ in Memphis, TN. He is the father of five children and four granddaughters.