Operations & IT leadership

Eric Lemley

Operations & IT Leader · AI-Driven Operations

I determine, design and build the operational structures that make businesses more profitable, more scalable, and more valuable to investors and buyers. I’ve done it in managed IT services, public transit, retail, and three companies of my own. Today that increasingly means putting AI to work inside the operation.

“I decide what a business needs, and I can build it. My teams trust the call because I’ve done the work.”

Cleveland, OH · Remote or hybrid · 20+ years

Download CV (PDF)LinkedIn profile

Portrait of Eric Lemley in a navy suit
Senior Director of Business Operations, DEXTEK
Client retention95%Sustained across the Managed IT portfolio
First-call resolution70%+From under 50% at first measurement, after restructuring help desk staffing
Tech utilization75%+From just over 40% at first measurement, through a weekly operating rhythm
Ventures founded / exited3 / 3Education, film production, ed-tech

Service metrics from my tenure as Director of Managed IT, DEXTEK, 2023–2025. Baselines are first readings from KPIs I introduced.

About

Most businesses don’t struggle because of their technology. They struggle because nobody built the operating system underneath it. That’s the work I do, in whatever industry the business happens to be.

At DEX Imaging, a $700M private-equity-backed national technology provider, I run business operations for DEXTEK, the managed IT line of business. I own business intelligence, financial systems, contracts and billing, pricing and the service catalog, security and compliance, and sales enablement, and I lead the integration of acquired companies. I joined as Service Manager in 2023 and was running the Managed IT unit six months later.

Before that I was Director of IT for a 500-employee public transit authority, where I cleared a five-year project backlog and rebuilt the IT function. Since 2011 I’ve also run technology and operations for Lisa’s Threads, a family-held apparel design and retail business.

I originated and drive the AI program for our internal operations. AI writes our documentation and knowledge-base content, runs as a step inside operational workflows when defined triggers fire, and helps build client communications and Strategic Business Reviews; AI ticket triage and routing is in pilot. On the build side, I use AI-assisted development, hands-on and with my team, to create internal apps that connect separate tools into one workflow, give a single view across platforms, and add features our core platforms lack. The goal: automate every workflow that can be automated.

I’m at my best where a business has outgrown its systems: after an acquisition, when growth has outpaced process, or when leadership can’t trust the numbers yet. I make the call, design the operating model, and build or direct the build myself. Then I train the team to run it.

Eric Lemley standing in an office lobby, in a charcoal blazer and khakis
Cleveland, Ohio

What I build

  • AI-enabled workflowsAI steps that run inside operational workflows on defined triggers and criteria
  • Custom internal appsAI-assisted builds that bridge tools, give one view, and fill platform gaps
  • Operating rhythmKPI definition, baselining, monthly operational reviews
  • M&A integrationSystems, contracts, processes and data consolidated into one operating unit
  • Systems integrationService, contract and invoicing platforms connected to the ERP and FP&A
  • Business intelligenceKPI, profitability and operational-review reporting
  • Pricing and packagingPackaged tiers in place of time-and-materials; paid onboarding
  • IT modernizationBacklogs cleared, IT rebuilt on ITIL practice, service management and monitoring in place

Calls I’ve made

  1. DEX
    Packaged service tiers over time-and-materials

    Made the call from my own market research and designed the tiers, contents and pricing. I defended the model through a 2026 leadership review, and an industry peer group of executives confirmed it was the right move.

  2. DEX
    One business line, not three

    Set the integration strategy for acquired companies: run them as a single business line, built on one shared service platform.

  3. 2020
    Apparel to PPE

    Read the early COVID-19 signals from China and pivoted our family apparel business to PPE in January 2020. Revenue that year was more than six times 2019.

  4. 2006–2009
    Television as the growth engine

    Used my TV production company and on-air role to feature our early-education centers, taking Brite Babies from unknown to regionally recognized, then sold it at a profit.

Career

  1. 2023–present
    DEX Imaging / DEXTEK
    Senior Director of Business Operations · Director of Managed IT

    Business operations, M&A integration and BI for the managed IT line of business. Previously led Managed IT end to end, including service delivery.

  2. 2022
    Akron Metro RTA
    Director of Information Technology

    Cleared a five-year project backlog and rebuilt IT for a 500-employee transit authority on ITIL practice.

  3. 2017–2022
    Dalian Tech Solutions
    Solutions Architect & IT Consultant

    Designed and ran the delivery platform for a 35-person IT services firm serving foreign-owned companies in China.

  4. 2011–present
    Lisa’s Threads
    Partner · COO / CIO

    Technology, operations, automation and logistics for a family-held apparel design and retail business.

  5. 2006–2017
    Founder and operator
    Brite Babies · Reel 2 Life · eWhy Learnology

    Founded three ventures and exited all three. Lived and ran businesses in China from 2004 to 2010; business-fluent in Mandarin.

Open to

I’m open to operations leadership roles, remote or hybrid in Cleveland:

  • VP of IT or CIO
  • Business, revenue or IT operations leadership at mid-market companies
  • VP or Director of Operations at MSPs and PE-backed platforms
  • Operations leadership at technology and software companies

Contact

Download CV (PDF)Message on LinkedIn