Engineering Leader · Identity AI & Zero Trust · Springfield, MO

Kolby
Kallweit

"I build organizations, grow leaders, and ship AI products that scale — because great people, great culture, and great technology only work when they're built together."

Senior Engineering Manager at Cisco Duo owning strategy, architecture, and execution for Identity AI and Zero Trust. I operate at the intersection of people, product, and platform — building organizations and AI systems designed to grow, scale, and endure.

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Kolby Kallweit
Led the team behind Cisco's most-adopted AI Assistant product — building the discipline, architecture, and culture from the ground up inside one of the world's largest tech companies.
Trusted with board-level governance for 30,000 members across a $250M+ asset cooperative with a $100M operating budget — bringing the same financial accountability and strategic discipline to every engineering organization I lead.
28 years building — from a middle school startup to Fortune 50 AI leadership. The through-line has always been the same: people first, then scale.
About

Building cultures where everyone leads.

I've spent my career operating above my title — building teams from nothing, owning multi-year roadmaps, and shipping AI products used by tens of thousands of enterprises. My goal is always the same: build organizations where leadership is so embedded in the culture that the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.

My career spans mission-critical energy infrastructure, healthcare IT, AI-driven security, and entrepreneurship since middle school. That cross-industry range lets me spot where the status quo is holding an org back — and build a coalition to change it.

At Cisco Duo, I own the strategy and execution behind the Duo AI Assistant — Cisco's most-adopted AI product — and the Core Policy Platform that underpins zero-trust security for over 40,000 enterprise customers globally.

01 · Leadership

"Beyond You" Leadership

I fearlessly empower leaders around me. It's not about me — it's about them growing beyond what they thought possible.

02 · Change

Change Catalyst

Driving transformation through curiosity, clarity, and courage. I ask "why" until the answer is worth acting on.

03 · People

Talent Multiplier

Mentorship is the engine that turns potential into performance. My proudest achievement: seeing those I've led become leaders.

04 · Results

Results Architect

Data, vision, and people — aligned to measurable outcomes. You can't shape a future you haven't honestly mapped.

Experience
Apr 2022 — Present
Cisco · Duo Security
Remote / Springfield, MO
Current
Senior Manager, Software Engineering
Identity AI & Zero Trust
  • Set strategy and own end-to-end execution for the Duo AI Assistant — Cisco's most-adopted AI product — directing cross-functional engineering, product, design, and data science teams across organizational boundaries.
  • Define and drive Duo's multi-year Identity AI roadmap, translating Cisco's platform strategy into architectural decisions, team structure, and shipped product for 40,000+ enterprise customers.
  • Architect the organizational model for a net-new AI discipline at Duo — building the team, culture, process, and technical foundations from the ground up.
  • Own modernization of Duo's Core Policy Platform, ensuring the foundational security engine scales reliably as Duo expands into full IAM.
  • Partner with VP and C-suite stakeholders across Cisco to align Identity AI investments to enterprise-wide strategy — operating as a senior voice on product direction and org design.
Identity AIZero Trust GenAIMFA Policy PlatformLeader of Leaders
Jul 2019 — Apr 2022
Associated Electric Cooperative
Springfield, MO
Manager, Software Engineering
Grid Operations Technology
  • Directed three engineering teams operating mission-critical real-time systems for 4 million people across multiple states.
  • Built a hybrid-cloud observability platform that reduced downtime by 30% through real-time insights.
  • Led AECI's first SaaS offering, cutting operational costs by $5M annually.
  • Integrated DevSecOps into CI/CD pipelines — 40% improvement in deployment frequency and a stronger mission-critical security posture. Managed a $10M budget.
Grid OperationsDevSecOps Cloud Architecture$10M BudgetHigh Availability
Aug 2014 — Jul 2019
Associated Electric Cooperative
Springfield, MO
Manager, Software Engineering
Energy Management Systems
  • Transformed an EMS team from a multi-year backlog with no process into a technical powerhouse — zero backlog, first utility with no regulatory audit findings, doubled project capacity, 99% customer satisfaction.
  • Improved team productivity by 50%. Reduced feature lead time by 25% through continuous delivery pipelines.
EMSNERC CIP Team TransformationContinuous Delivery
Jul 2024 — Present
Ozark Electric Cooperative
Mount Vernon, MO
Board of Directors
  • Help govern a member-owned cooperative serving nearly 30,000 members across southwest Missouri — carrying fiduciary, strategic, and operational oversight responsibilities.
  • Championed digital modernization of the voting process, expanding member access through online voting and increasing democratic participation across the cooperative.
  • Contributed to initiatives that reduced short-term and capital borrowing debt, strengthening the cooperative's long-term financial position.
  • Operate at the intersection of community trust, infrastructure governance, and strategic leadership — applying the same principles that drive high-performing engineering teams.
Board GovernanceFiduciary Oversight Digital ModernizationDebt ReductionCommunity Leadership
Various · 1998–Present
Entrepreneurial & Early Career
Missouri
Founder, CIO & Director Roles
  • KolbyK Enterprises (1998–present): Founded a technology consulting firm in middle school. Clients in oil, racing, real estate, banking, and livestock sales.
  • We Lift Fitness (2015–2019): Co-founded a global coaching org — grew from 2 to 50+ coaches in 2 years while profitable. Led all technology strategy as CIO.
  • Lucas Oil Products (2005–2012): Director of Media Technology at America's most technologically advanced dirt track. Grew online following to 50k+ in 3 months.
  • Cerner Corporation (2009–2010): Systems Engineer supporting top-5 executives. Reduced infrastructure costs by 25% and saved teams 9+ hrs/week via automation.
EntrepreneurshipHealthcare IT E-CommerceDigital MarketingC# / Full-Stack
How I Think

Leadership philosophy,
in plain terms.

01

Culture isn't a perk — it's your architecture

The best engineering organizations I've been part of weren't the ones with the best perks or the biggest budgets. They were the ones where trust was structural, conflict was productive, and every person felt like their work mattered. That doesn't happen by accident. It gets designed, maintained, and protected — just like your systems do.

02

Healthy organizations outperform smart ones

I've watched brilliant teams fail because no one would say the hard thing out loud — and average teams outperform expectations because they had clarity, alignment, and genuine trust. Organizational health isn't soft. It's the highest-leverage investment a director can make.

03

The best AI makes people more human, not less

I've spent years building AI products for the people who use them every day. The ones that win aren't the most automated — they're the ones that give people back their confidence, their time, and their judgment. AI that removes the human from the equation isn't innovation. It's a warning sign.

04

The goal was never the product. It was always the people.

I don't measure my success by what I ship — I measure it by what the people around me become. When engineers I've led are making better decisions, taking bigger bets, and growing into leaders themselves, that's the compounding return no product metric can capture. That's the work I show up for.

Expertise

What I bring
to the table.

AI & Product

Identity AI Generative AI AI Assistant Design Zero Trust MFA & IAM Product Strategy Roadmap Ownership

Leadership & Org

Director-level Leadership Org Design Leader of Leaders Cross-functional Teams Hiring & Talent Executive Communication Board Governance

Engineering & Platform

DevSecOps Cloud Architecture CI/CD High Availability Systems SCADA / Grid Ops Platform Modernization $100M+ Budget Management
Education
Missouri State University
Master of Business Administration
2020 — 2022
Drury University
BA · Computer Information Systems
E-Commerce & Global Studies
2005 — 2009
Let's connect

Open for
conversation.

Whether it's a leadership conversation, a collaboration, or an exchange of ideas on AI and engineering culture — I'm always open to a good discussion.

hello@kolbyk.com LinkedIn kolbyk.com