PATCA BOARD NEWS
In this PATCA Newsletter we highlight several noteworthy and exciting activities which are and have been occurring in PATCA.
First, a shout out to PATCA’s long-serving former board President Chris Hanson, who retired from the board after multiple years of generous and dedicated stewardship.
Also our thanks go out to David Bakhtnia for graciously taking on the role of PATCA board President throughout most of this year. Due to ongoing success and growth in his consulting activities, David recently handed over the interim board President role to long-time PATCA Emeritus member Carl Angotti.
NEW PATCA GROWTH STRATEGY INITIATIVE AND COMMITTEE
Earlier this year several PATCA regular and board members started collaborating on an initiative focussed on growing PATCA’s membership, reviewing and improving PATCA’s member services, and expanding visibility with businesses and enterprises that may benefit from PATCA’s Post-A-Project consultant referral system. This effort is called the Growth Strategy Committee. It offers opportunity for members to help shape the organization’s future, and it’s a fun and lively means to expand your peer network while collaborating with fellow PATCA colleagues.
Currently the planning committee’s active members are Carl Angotti, David Bakhtnia, James Bertonis, John Gale, Larry Polyak, Jerry Rice, Theresa Shafer, and Perry West.
At this time the growth committee still has slots available for additional PATCA member volunteers who wish to participate and contribute.
One important initiative under consideration is to engage with a motivated and social media minded individual, potentially a student at a local higher educational institute.
The intern will be tasked with assisting PATCA in its goals to grow the membership by using social media channels and tools to highlight PATCA to consulting professionals who can benefit from PATCA membership. This initiative first requires enlisting a current PATCA member volunteer who advances the initiative. This PATCA member will participate in selecting and on-boarding the social media intern, then mentoring and supporting them to best fulfill the initiative’s specified goals and objectives.
Please reach out to a growth committee member if you have interest or suggestions regarding this initiative.
Active Growth Strategy Committee volunteers at time of publication include:
Carl Angotti has been a past board President and is the current PATCA board Treasurer. Carl assists with most growth committee activities and tasks. Carl’s consulting skills involve analog circuit design, test and prototype production.
David Bakhtnia has recently been the PATCA board president, and with respect to his activities with the growth committee has produced an excellent and compelling AI-generated information video on how to use PATCA’s on-line Post-a-Project service. David’s new video is targeted to client companies that might engage PATCA’s members as consultants. David has extensive expertise in training/education, organizational management, and numerous other consulting and management skills.
James Bertonis has assisted the growth committee with the outreach effort to past clients concerning the Post-A-Project initiative. James is also the new PATCA AI Special Interest Group’s founding chairperson.
John Gale is driving the expansion of PATCA’s presence in Europe, specifically Portugal where he is based, but in the European continent as a whole. John is quite keen regarding PATCA’s new AI Special Interest Group, while eagerly engaged in using and promoting AI tools to benefit his consulting clients. John also advocates growing PATCA’s membership to include highly qualified AI experts who specialize in LLMs, Chatbots, and other powerful AI tools.
Larry Polyak is a long-time senior PATCA member and past President, and is the current PATCA web-site engineer. Larry participates in the committee meetings as needed, with his primarily focus being topics related to the web-site.
Jerry Rice is a long-time senior PATCA member and past President. Jerry is currently assuming responsibility for PATCA’s newsletter publication task, and as possible assists Theresa with other miscellaneous tasks related to the programs committee. Jerry also assists with producing meeting notes for the growth committee weekly meetings. Jerry is a retired systems software development consultant.
Theresa Shafer is the PATCA programs committee wizard extraordinaire, newsletter editor, and handles other key PATCA roles. Her consulting repertoire spans software development, business applications, web-site development and support, marketing and early startup revenue and lead generation. Theresa has assisted in many aspects of this committee’s work.
Perry West is a long-time senior PATCA member, and advises the committee on various topics, pitching in on specific tasks when possible. Perry’s consulting background focuses on machine vision, cameras and lenses, and industrial and machine automation.
HIGHLIGHTING OUR LATEST FEATURED CONSULTANT – DAVID BAKHTNIA
Meet David Bakhtnia, a seasoned technical program and portfolio leader, Agile transformation expert, and Board President of the Professional and Technical Consultants Association (PATCA).
With over 25 years of experience, David helps organizations align technology, people, and business strategy to accelerate innovation, improve collaboration, and deliver measurable results.
David’s expertise includes:
- Strategic Program Leadership – Managing multi-million-dollar technology portfolios while aligning executive priorities, technical teams, and business objectives.
- Lean-Agile Transformation – Helping organizations transition from traditional Waterfall methodologies to scalable Agile, Lean, and hybrid frameworks.
- Complex Systems & Product Development – Leading the development of more than 20 software products and supporting over 200 businesses.
- Coaching & Mentorship – Building high-performing teams and mentoring more than 200 professionals in Agile and technical leadership.
- Digital Transformation – Connecting technical architecture, organizational change, and business strategy to achieve sustainable growth.
Beyond consulting, David is passionate about developing the next generation of technical leaders. As co-founder of Agile & Scaled-Value Project Management (ASVPM), an adjunct instructor at Northeastern University and UCSC Extension, and a program host for PMI Silicon Valley, he bridges the gap between education, professional development, and real-world experience.
As PATCA Board President, David brings this same commitment to strengthening the independent consulting community, fostering collaboration, and helping technical professionals succeed.
MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW AI ARTICLE BY THORE GRAEPEL
The following article is referenced in hopes our readers might find it interesting and insightful.