After graduating, he faced a difficult technology job market following the collapse of the 1990s eCommerce bubble. Rather than moving directly into his planned IT career, Keith Brautigam relocated to North Carolina’s Research Triangle and took a supervisor position at a Borders bookstore.
That job became a meaningful part of his professional background. Keith credits the customer service and supervisory training he received at Borders as valuable throughout his career. His later work in IT provides a concrete setting for that connection, especially his efforts to align technology services with the people who depended on them.
An Unexpected Start After Graduation
Keith completed a degree in Communication and Media Studies at a large public research university. However, a difficult hiring environment shaped what came next. Moving to North Carolina and working at Borders placed him in a retail role rather than the technology position he had envisioned.
The bookstore experience deserves attention as part of his career, not just as a pause before it. He says the training stayed useful after he entered IT. That makes Borders relevant to his leadership story even though the company no longer exists. The lasting element was the professional preparation he carried forward.
What Keith Brautigam Took From Borders
Keith specifically credits two parts of his Borders experience: customer service training and supervisory training. Both relate to responsibilities he later held in technology organizations. Later, he managed staff, coordinated services, and led departments that supported large groups of users.
The connection does not require a story about a particular customer or a difficult shift. The documented value lies in the training itself and his recognition of its usefulness. His retail background belongs alongside his technical experience because both contributed to his professional development. It also gives a personal foundation to a discussion of service that might otherwise remain abstract.
Returning to IT Through Medical Research
Keith’s move into IT came during a return visit to Iowa City. Unexpectedly, he received an offer from the medical research center where he had worked as a student. He accepted an IT Systems Administrator role, beginning a career stage focused on secure systems used in clinical and research environments.
His work specifically involved lung imaging and supported researchers seeking cures for diseases such as emphysema. This setting gave technology service a clear purpose: supporting researchers. The connection with his earlier training is straightforward at that level. His responsibilities now involved technical systems, but those systems served people pursuing work beyond IT itself.
Supporting the People Behind Online Processes
Keith later moved into research administration in higher education. There, he joined a team that modernized internal processes and moved them online. The role also introduced him to Agile SCRUM software development practices and newer web technologies, expanding his experience beyond systems administration.
This part of his career connects service with changes in how people work. Moving an internal process online involves more than introducing software; it changes how users reach and complete that process. Keith’s participation provides a specific example of technology work tied to organizational activity. His earlier service training offers relevant background without implying that retail experience dictated the team’s development methods.
Aligning a Large IT Department With Its Users
As his career progressed, Keith moved through management and leadership roles, including Director, Chief Information Security Officer, and Deputy CIO. In 2023, he became Interim Chief Information Officer at a large public research university. Those positions expanded the range of services and the number of people under his responsibility.
One particularly relevant example was his leadership in reorganizing a 600-person central IT department. The work aligned services with key stakeholders and improved the span of control. This is where the service theme becomes especially concrete. The focus included how an IT organization arranged its work around the groups it supported and how it managed its own staff.
Access Services With a Practical Purpose
Keith’s work in identity and access management offers another view of service in practice. He led the modernization of a Web Single Sign-On platform using Microsoft Entra ID, moving more than 500 applications from a legacy platform within 12 months. That project addressed a shared access service used across a large application environment.
He also led the implementation of an enterprise Identity Governance system that improved role-based access control and streamlined provisioning and management for 1.2 million user accounts. These achievements should not be credited to bookstore training alone. Instead, they illustrate the technical setting in which his broader service background remained relevant: systems that connected people with the resources their roles required.
A Retail Experience With Lasting Relevance
Technical qualifications and leadership education include CISSP certification, an MBA, and a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Leadership. Alongside that formal preparation, he also credits his Borders training. His professional background therefore includes both specialized IT development and earlier retail supervisory experience.
A job he had not originally planned gave him customer service and supervisory training he later valued. His subsequent work supporting research, modernizing processes, and aligning IT services with stakeholders gives that early experience a meaningful place in his leadership story.