Coy Wright
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Energy & Utilities Technology Executive · Former CIO · Trusted Advisor to Boards, CEOs, and Private Equity
For 25 years, Coy Wright has built and run technology organizations for energy companies moving fast: startups with no infrastructure, private equity-backed developers under board pressure, global operators scaling through acquisition.
Both of his degrees are in business, not computer science, and that shapes how he leads. The conversation starts with what the business needs to accomplish, not what IT wants to build.
“The problem comes first. The solution comes second. Every time.”
Today, as Co-Founder of Lumerai Advisors, Coy provides independent executive guidance to boards, CEOs, CIOs, and private equity operating partners navigating technology strategy, cybersecurity, cloud modernization, M&A integration, and IT governance across energy, utilities, and industrial sectors.
At a Glance
Twenty-five years leading enterprise technology through growth, governance, and public market readiness.
25+
Years
$14B
PE-Backed Enterprise from Zero
$50M
Annual Tech Budget
150+
Technology Professionals Led
20+
M&A Transactions Led
2
NYSE Listing Events
$1B+
Revenue Growth Delivered
2,500+
Global Workforce Scaled
$5M+
Operational Savings Delivered
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP AT SCALE
Former CIO across energy, LNG, offshore drilling, and utilities
Responsible for global technology organizations from private equity-backed startups to NYSE-listed enterprises.
EXECUTIVE ADVISORY EXPERTISE
Operator-led experience across the challenges that matter most.
PE Governance & IPO Readiness
Building the IT governance, controls, and reporting structures that satisfy private equity boards and prepare a company for public market scrutiny.
Cybersecurity & OT/ICS Risk
Securing corporate and industrial environments where a network failure has operational consequences, not just business ones.
Enterprise Technology Strategy
Helping energy and industrial organizations decide where technology actually creates competitive advantage, and where it’s just maintenance.
M&A Technology Integration
Unifying systems and teams across acquisitions without slowing the business down or losing the people who matter.
Cloud Modernization
Making cloud decisions based on the business case in front of you, not the vendor roadmap or the industry trend.
Executive Leadership & Board Advisory
Reporting to boards and executive teams on technology risk and performance in terms they can act on.
Industries Served
NEED • Retail • Private Equity • Manufacturing • Retail & eCommerce • Technology Services
SELECTED CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Career Highlights
A career defined by leading technology through transformation, regulatory change, mergers and acquisitions, and moments when execution mattered most.
LUMERAI ADVISORS
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Coy co-founded Lumerai Advisors to bring independent, operator-led technology guidance to boards, CEOs, and private equity firms in energy, utilities, and industrial sectors. Drawing on 25 years running technology for PE-backed startups, public companies, and global operators, he advises on cybersecurity governance, M&A technology integration, cloud strategy, and IT organizational design.
Highlights
- Advises executive teams on complex technology and business transformation initiatives.
- Guides organizations in the responsible adoption and governance of artificial intelligence.
- Provides independent technology due diligence and post-merger advisory services.
- Helps technology leaders strengthen operating models, execution discipline, and long-term enterprise value.
RIMINI STREET
VP, Energy & Utilities Industry Solutions
Led global strategy and business development for energy, utilities, and resources industry solutions, working directly with CIOs, CTOs, and application engineering leaders on SAP and Oracle platform performance across the energy value chain.
MEXICO PACIFIC LIMITED
Vice President, IT / Chief Information Officer
Joined as the first IT hire for a $14 billion PE-backed LNG and pipeline developer with no systems, no team, and no infrastructure. Built enterprise platforms, the cybersecurity program, and IT governance structure across Houston and Mexico City to satisfy PE board expectations and support the company’s path to public listing.
ENGIE North America
Vice President, IT & Digital / Chief Information Officer, North America
Ran IT across Renewables, Energy Solutions, Networks, and Thermal/Supply for the U.S. and Canada, with a $50 million budget and 150+ professionals. Directed 10 acquisitions and multiple $1B+ integrations, delivering a 25% reduction in total IT cost. Co-led a $12.8 million DOE grant with Ohio State University and NREL applying AI and model predictive control to distributed energy optimization across 20+ campus buildings.
Pacific Drilling
Vice President & Chief Information Officer
Came in as employee #6 at a $2 billion offshore drilling startup with no revenue and no infrastructure. Built the global IT organization from zero, reaching $1B+ in revenue by year five and scaling to 2,500+ employees and a 2011 NYSE listing by year ten. Delivered the world’s first production SAP Business Suite on HANA implementation, running on AWS, along with $5M in annual operational savings through supply chain optimization and contract renegotiation.
GulfMark Offshore (now Tidewater)
Senior Director, Information Technology
Ran IT for a $450 million global marine energy services company across the US, UK, Norway, Asia, and South America. Led a global SAP rollout and a cybersecurity program overhaul, and supported the company’s 2007 move from NASDAQ to the NYSE.
Amegy Bank
Vice President, Applications Support
Managed 180 applications across back office, front office, online banking, and imaging in a heavy compliance environment spanning SOX, OCC, FDIC, FFIEC, HIPAA, and COBIT.
Leading Through Defining Moments
The most consequential decisions rarely feel safe in the moment.
Two decisions from early in Coy’s career still shape how he advises today.
Betting on the Cloud Before the Cloud Was Trusted
Pacific Drilling’s growth plan called for 2,500 employees, a billion dollars in revenue, and an NYSE listing within five years. Building the IT infrastructure to support that in-house, on that timeline, with that capital outlay, wasn’t realistic.
In 2009, Coy made the call to build the company’s core IT infrastructure on Microsoft’s early cloud platform, then called BPOS, years before it became Office 365. Public cloud adoption was unproven at that scale, and almost no public company was willing to depend on it for infrastructure this central. The bet held. Pacific Drilling hit its growth targets, went public on the NYSE in 2011, and never had to slow down to build what the cloud already gave it.
Holding the Line Against a Cloud Mandate
When a multinational parent company pushed a global preference for AWS, the North American business was already running almost exclusively on Microsoft Azure, including on-prem systems that were fully depreciated and performing well. The directive was to move everything to AWS in the name of “cloud first.”
Coy declined the blanket migration. Moving workloads for the sake of vendor alignment, without a business case, would have raised costs and broken synergies with other Azure-hosted data across the organization. Instead, he set a different standard: systems would move to AWS when a natural business event made that the right call, not because a mandate said so. Cloud first meant a clear business objective first. Not migration for its own sake.
Both moments point to the same discipline: make the technology decision the business actually needs, whether that means moving before the market is comfortable or holding back when the market is trying to rush you. The problem comes first. The solution comes second. Every time.
Executive Insights
Dion is an active contributor to executive conversations on technology strategy, business transformation, and leadership.
His articles, keynote presentations, podcasts, and executive briefings focus on helping organizations make better technology decisions through practical experience rather than industry hype.
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The True Costs of Conflicted Technology Advice
Aligning Technology Strategy with ESGObjectives
"The problem comes first. The solution comes second. Every time."
Explore Coy's Executive Insights
Explore articles, frameworks, and executive perspectives on AI governance, enterprise transformation, cybersecurity resilience, operating models, and the future of technology leadership.
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