Michael KaplanSenior Principal Program Manager | MAK CON
Michael Kaplan leads complex projects, programs, and portfolios across enterprise technology, cybersecurity, business transformation, and capital projects. He builds the delivery organizations, integrated plans, financial controls, and operating systems that turn major commitments into executable work.
He hires and develops staff, manages performance, and directs Project Managers, workstream leads, and site superintendents. His responsibilities span PMO buildout, portfolio visibility, integrated scheduling, labor and vendor cost controls, forecasting, change management, operational readiness, and delivery recovery.
Based in Houston, Michael is a U.S. Marine veteran. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida and PMP, Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), and ITIL certifications.
Selected delivery experience
Independent project and program management practice. Selected career experience below includes consulting engagements, contract assignments, and employee roles.
500 projects / $1B annual project spend
Led the design, build, and deployment of a $4.5M enterprise project portfolio management system for 400 users. Hired engineering talent and managed delivery specialists within a global team, giving Finance and Controllers visibility across the represented project portfolio.
$25M utility cybersecurity portfolio
Led cybersecurity, identity and access management, privileged access management, and governance, risk, and compliance delivery and recovery. Ran Oracle funding and baseline reconciliation, monthly forecasts, labor and vendor cost controls, purchase-order and invoice reconciliation, accrual tracking, and variance reporting. Managed annual project initiation and closeout and $5M in cumulative scope and funding adjustments.
275 stores / estimated $30M program
Built the program PMO and delivery organization linking design approval, manufacturer and procurement coordination, scheduling, and field execution. Hired and managed planning and site leadership, including site superintendents, and contracted and organized 125 contingent field staff.
$5.3B program context
Created the master integrated schedule connecting construction, telecommunications, procurement, swing space, occupant moves, testing, and turnover. Hired and managed the scheduling team and integrated workstream dependencies in an occupied, mission-critical facility.
Nine-country IT program / approximately $140M IT budget
Built the international IT project management office, work breakdown structure, master schedule, and financial and procurement reporting supporting the $11.8B Travelers acquisition. Consolidated country-level planning and financial information with country CIOs and managed PMO planning and procurement staff.
27 total infrastructure projects
Managed professional-services delivery across virtualization, network modernization, and cloud automation. Matched specialist capacity to customer commitments, controlled scope changes, and tracked financial forecasts and delivery progression throughout the engagement.
Customer delivery across 13 enterprises
Led strategic customer delivery, coordinated application-owner approvals and production change controls, and brought customer blockers to Product and Engineering for resolution. His JPMorgan Chase delivery work supported a Zero Trust implementation that reached 400,000 agents.
$10M federal construction and remediation contract
Managed project delivery, Primavera controls, field coordination, and quality under U.S. Army Corps of Engineers protocol. Hired and managed project-controls and site leadership. Connected changed field conditions to documented change-order recovery, coordinated landfill closure and treatment-facility construction and commissioning, and created the operations and maintenance control system for turnover.
53,000-square-foot facility expansion / $3.2M technology budget
Led an 18-person cross-functional recovery team to complete the integrated technology design package for trading-floor, on-site data-center, network, and broadcast infrastructure. Scoped engineering support and helped develop subcontractor contracts covering low voltage, racks, furniture and equipment, and data-center network buildout.
$750M design-program context
Estimated engineering hours with discipline leads and tracked design work products, labor consumption, remaining effort, costs, forecasts, and variance. Connected engineering progress with the effort and financial resources required to complete the design work.
Leadership focus
Building portfolio visibility, PMOs, governance standards, financial reporting, and the delivery organization needed to act on executive priorities.
Leading enterprise infrastructure, cybersecurity, IAM, PAM, GRC, integration, and vendor-led delivery through implementation and operational handoff.
Connecting construction, facilities, technology, procurement, schedules, cost, risk, and readiness through capable planning and field teams.
Books and applied research
Michael developed the Sentient PMO and Forensic Capital Governance operating model and ontology and authored The Sentient PMO and the two-volume Forensic Capital Governance series. He has designed and delivered executive workshops and forensic simulations that connect evidence, assumptions, dependencies, and financial exposure to accountable decisions.
His current Project Mesquite work applies integrated scheduling, quantitative risk analysis and decision records to a synthetic data-center case. It connects the books to practical questions about contingency, delivery commitments and risk acceptance, building on his experience in planning, controls, recovery and transformation.
Professional focus
Houston-based and open to full-time senior project, program, portfolio, and PMO leadership roles across enterprise technology and capital projects, with relocation considered.
His work connects portfolio priorities to delivery teams, financial forecasts, technical dependencies, and accountable decisions.
Contact Michael →One continuing body of work
Each stage changes the governing question while preserving the concern underneath it: what evidence should people trust before authorizing what happens next?
Execution methodology, governed records, reusable work products, and a working PMIS.
Open record →AI-assisted context and evidence without transferring human authority.
Open record →The RRI’25 Executive War Room, paid Black Box Edition, and later teaching simulator.
Open record →What leadership must see before the next commitment of capital.
Open record →How the governed record carries evidence into accountable decisions.
Open record →Applying schedule risk analysis, contingency and traceable evidence to a capital-delivery decision.
Open record →