About William Sullivan
Transformational software executive, CEO of Iothic, Former SVP and VP/General Manager at Denodo, Informatica, Oracle, PeopleSoft, and IBM, Author of "It Used To Be Fun."
William is an executive builder with 25 years scaling multi-billion-dollar business units in federal contracting and commercial technology. He transforms underperforming divisions into market leaders by establishing operational discipline, aligning sales and technical teams, and delivering consistent revenue growth exceeding 100% year-over-year. Today, he leads Iothic’s U.S. operations in post-quantum encryption, bringing his expertise in government technology and security infrastructure to an emerging strategic priority.
Building and Scaling Technology Organizations
William Sullivan has built business units from startup revenue to market leadership across multiple technology sectors. At IBM, he scaled the North American State and Local Government Group from four employees and $2 million in revenue to 40 FTE and $65 million in revenue over 30 months. At PeopleSoft, he created and led the organization across North America, managing over 50 FTE and overseeing $160 million in corporate license revenues. At Oracle, following the PeopleSoft acquisition, he drove 60% year-over-year revenue growth in Q4 and closed the company’s first two statewide ERP transactions.
This pattern of building from foundation to scale repeated across his career. At Informatica, he managed total Public Sector Group revenues exceeding $120 million with 90 FTE, delivering a 21% Compound Annual Growth Rate over three years while the company achieved 10%. At AWS, he designed and built a new Federal Systems Integrators group managing relationships with the top 20 federal partners, ranking number one in worldwide public sector YoY growth while exceeding annual quota by 113%. At Denodo, his US Federal business delivered 205% year-over-year revenue growth from 2021 to 2022, with Q1 2023 showing 224% growth and 107% of annual plan attainment as the top region globally.
Navigating Federal Procurement and Government Transformation
William Sullivan has worked at the operational intersection of government contracting and technology innovation for over two decades. His roles managing public sector divisions across multiple companies taught him the unique dynamics of federal procurement, compliance frameworks, and the institutional considerations that shape government buying decisions. He has led teams managing relationships with federal agencies, defense contractors, and state and local governments, understanding both the technical requirements and the political realities that define government technology adoption.
At Denodo, named one of the “Top Ten Artificial Intelligence Executives in 2023” by ExecutiveGov Magazine and “Top Business Development Exec to Watch in 2022” by WashingtonExec Magazine, William positioned data virtualization and data fabric technology as critical to government’s adoption of multi-cloud architecture. His experience spans civilian federal, intelligence, defense, and SLED procurement cycles. He has closed complex deals with agencies managing critical infrastructure, advised executive teams on positioning in regulated markets, and built go-to-market strategies that work within the constraints and timelines of federal buying.
Leading With Integrity: A Career Built on Principles and Results
William Sullivan’s career demonstrates that delivering exceptional business results and maintaining personal integrity are aligned, not in conflict. Throughout his tenure leading divisions at major technology companies, he consistently exceeded revenue targets, built high-performing teams, and executed strategic market initiatives. Yet he has also been willing to make difficult decisions when business incentives and ethical obligations diverged.
His forthcoming memoir, “It Used To Be Fun: A Software Executive’s Experience as a Federal Whistleblower,” details his experience navigating institutional pressure and regulatory challenges within the federal technology contracting space. The book, set for release in Summer 2025, chronicles how he documented concerns, pursued appropriate channels, and persevered through significant personal and professional consequences. Rather than retreating from public life, William has positioned this experience as a point of authority: he understands firsthand what it looks like when business incentives pressure executives toward ethically questionable decisions, and he has chosen instead to share what he learned.