My experience with credit unions is defined by a unique combination of hands-on technical execution, supervisory experience oversight, and high-level strategic governance. With seven years of experience on the Supervisory Committee of Sunmark Credit Union and as a current board member, I view technology not just as an IT function, but as a critical pillar of risk management and fiduciary responsibility. I designed this solution to strictly separate sensitive communications from internal management and IT staff, ensuring confidentiality and maintaining proper checks and balances within the organization.

On the technical front, my software development and consulting work focuses on helping credit unions understand advanced capabilities, including high-risk banking. Additionally, I have bridged the gap between technology and regulation by helping implement the technical compliance frameworks for my current credit union, ensuring that our systems handle the necessary NCUA regulations and security requirements demanded by law.

Want to learn more? Please use the form below to contact me

karl@kappeltech.com

(631) 827-9956

• Leveraged technical expertise to guide strategic planning, ensuring the credit union’s digital transformation initiatives aligned with long-term member growth and operational efficiency.

• Served as a translator between technical teams and the Board, clarifying complex IT infrastructure, cloud migration, and software modernization proposals to facilitate informed decision-making.

• Advised on the technical feasibility of new product roadmaps, including mobile banking enhancements and digital payment integrations, ensuring a competitive edge in the fintech landscape.

• Championed data-driven decision-making, advocating for advanced analytics and reporting structures to better understand member behavior and improved service delivery.

• Oversaw the governance of Information Security policies, reviewing annual cybersecurity audits and penetration testing results to ensure robust defense against evolving digital threats.

• Evaluated technology risk assessments related to third-party vendors and fintech partnerships, ensuring strict adherence to data privacy regulations and security standards.

• Strengthened disaster recovery and business continuity plans by scrutinizing technical contingencies, ensuring the credit union could maintain critical uptime during system outages or cyber incidents.

• Monitored internal controls regarding data access and privilege management, reducing the risk of internal fraud and unauthorized data exfiltration.

• Directed the scope of annual IT audits, ensuring they addressed critical areas such as patch management, cloud security configurations, and legacy system vulnerabilities.

• Collaborated with external auditors and examiners (NCUA/DFS) to address technical findings, ensuring timely remediation of IT-related deficiencies.

• Ensured regulatory compliance with evolving standards (e.g., GLBA, NY DFS cybersecurity regulations) by reviewing technical implementations and policy updates.

• Reviewed automated transaction monitoring systems to verify the integrity of fraud detection algorithms and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) reporting.

• Assessed the reliability of core banking systems, reviewing uptime reports and incident response logs to hold vendors and internal IT teams accountable for performance.

• Provided oversight during major system upgrades and migrations, monitoring project timelines and testing protocols to minimize member disruption.

• Evaluated the ROI of technology investments, ensuring that capital expenditures on hardware and software delivered tangible value to the membership.

• Spearheading the digital transformation of the Bureau of Vital Records by migrating decades of critical historical data from aging on-premise mainframes and SQL servers to a scalable Snowflake cloud environment.

• Architected and implemented secure data pipelines that strictly adhere to HIPAA regulations and state-level privacy mandates, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive citizen records throughout the transition.

• Deprecated obsolete infrastructure in favor of cloud-native solutions, significantly enhancing data accessibility, reporting capabilities, and query performance for vital statistics.

• Developed embedded software for IoT devices utilizing machine learning algorithms, specifically recurrent neural networks (RNNs), for leak detection in toilets.
• Implemented neural networks using large language models (LLMs) such to analyze patterns in leak detection across buildings.
• Designed architecture for real-time IoT data streams using AWS services including AWS IoT Core and Kinesis, ensuring efficient data processing.
• Developed user interfaces with ReactJS and Electron apps, integrating APIs and Raspberry Pi devices to sync with custom machine learning pipelines.
• Managed API development and database interfacing using MySQL, optimizing backend systems for performance and scalability.
• Contributed to successful grant applications, securing $1,250,000 in SBIR funding from the NSF.

• Worked on advanced battery technology, using AI-driven diagnostics and optimization.
• Implemented local LLMs (e.g.,Qwen, Deepseek) for chatbots to enhance issue-solving capabilities in critical applications.
• Expertise in hardware-software integration, including embedded systems and edge computing for real-time processing.
• Assisted companies in confidential projects under strict NDAs, focusing on cutting-edge AI and hardware advancements.

• Worked on advanced battery technology, using AI-driven diagnostics and optimization.
• Implemented local LLMs (e.g.,Qwen, Deepseek) for chatbots to enhance issue-solving capabilities in critical applications.
• Expertise in hardware-software integration, including embedded systems and edge computing for real-time processing.
• Assisted companies in confidential projects under strict NDAs, focusing on cutting-edge AI and hardware advancements.

• Developed custom AI software solutions, including machine learning algorithms for data analytics and decision-making.
• Designed a suite of e-commerce tools utilizing AI-driven recommendations and predictive analytics.
• Provided data analytics consulting, employing techniques like clustering and classification to derive actionable insights.