Jim Chilton

Jim Chilton currently serves as Cengage Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In this role, Jim is focused on driving innovation throughout the company and creating alignment across leadership to understand, shape and deliver what is needed from the Group Technology organization. Additionally, Jim is responsible for overseeing all internal business systems, as well as system infrastructure, cybersecurity and technology risk, architecture and portfolio management. Prior to his current role, Jim previously served Cengage Group CIO since 2017 where he led a comprehensive assessment and transformation of the Global Technology Solutions team – its culture, people, processes and technology – to develop best practices, improve operations and foster innovation that drive business growth.

Jim is a seasoned technology and business executive with an extensive background and deep expertise in technology optimization from technical product engineering to business systems management, process management, cybersecurity and customer support. Prior to joining Cengage Group, Jim held executive leadership positions at a broad range of companies in the enterprise software, high tech and education industries including Dassault Systèmes and SolidWorks.   

Jim enthusiastically embraces the importance of giving back and leverages his experience and network to influence the industry and community. He is an active Advisor and Board Member to numerous Boston area efforts and startup companies including Apprenti, MassHire, 1EdTech, among others. Jim also serves a board member for Dreamscape Learn, a VR technology company focused on developing immersive experiences for the classroom. He holds an MBA from New Hampshire College (now part of Southern New Hampshire University) and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Franklin Pierce University. Jim received the 2020 Inspire CIO of the Year/Boston ORBIE award and was a finalist for the prestigious National InspireCIO of the Year ORBIE Award for 2021. Jim is based out of Boston, Massachusetts and lives in Hollis, New Hampshire.