Massachusetts-based aircraft management and aviation consultancy firm Elevate Jet has hired senior technology leader Michael Horrisberger as chief information officer (CIO). He will advance strategic technology initiatives to drive innovation, support business growth and enhance customer facing application solutions.

Horrisberger has over twenty years of experience leading teams through large scale technology-based business initiatives. His focus is on developing solutions that support critical business needs in growing the company; aligning technology, process, organisational structure and data governance. He claims to bridge the gap between business and technical teams to create a holistic enterprise.

“As a still young and growing organisation, Elevate Jet has the unique opportunity to build a state-of-the-art application suite from the ground up,” he explains. “A lot of companies want to do something new and different, but they are stuck with their existing, out-of-date systems. Elevate Jet has a very up-to-date technology stack and we are continually adding modern, agile technology solutions that support our innovative business model and sustain continued growth.”

His priority is the company's aircraft management and advisory client portal. The platform provides aircraft owners 24/7 visibility into key data such as flight schedules, flight history, flight requests, aircraft maintenance records, invoices and credit statements, and also contains intuitive financial and operational management data and reporting functionality. Horrisberger and his team are also building a safety management system (SMS) and maintenance tracking solution alongside the director of safety Wayne Lockley, who joined the company earlier this year.

Horrisberger served as a US Navy A6-E Intruder pilot with Attack Squadron VA196 for seven years and held executive leadership roles with Emery Waterhouse and Unum. He has an MBA from Stanford and a BSc from the US Naval Academy. “The aviation industry has evolved so much over the last five years, as have technological innovations,” he says. “We are looking to marry those two things in the development of a robust, proprietary platform with client services, security and privacy at the forefront.”