Advising since 2009.

Lai Long

Founder and principal architect

Lai founded NETVarista in 2009. He brings more than 20 years in enterprise technology across presales leadership, solution architecture and strategic selling, with range across SAP, multi-cloud, networking, Zero Trust security, end-user computing and AI.

He began his career carrying a quota as an enterprise account executive at TDS, Qwest and Windstream, where he was the first in the company to design and sell a personalized data center cloud networking solution. He knows how vendor sales works from the inside. It is exactly why NETVarista doesn't work that way.

At NTT, Lai rose from solutions architect to security solutions director and global presales senior solutions director. He led a 12-person team of security solution architects and drove roughly $48 million in annual contract value across eight major wins, from SAP-to-Azure transformations to Zero Trust, 24/7 SOC and managed cloud programs for financial services, insurance, manufacturing and logistics clients.

On AI, Lai is a pragmatist: the best enterprise AI uses the right model, inside the right process, with the right controls. He builds his own agents and automation workflows and keeps learning in public.

• Pursuit leadershipPursuit strategy, solution and pricing governance, RFPs and executive orals
• Enterprise architectureSAP (RISE, S/4HANA, AMS), multi-cloud, networking, Zero Trust and SOC, end-user computing and AI
• AlliancesJoint solutions with technology leaders including SAP, Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, Dell and Pure Storage
• Client accountabilityExecutive sponsor on every NETVarista engagement, from discovery through quarterly reviews

Education

Michigan State University, BA, Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media

Certifications

Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals; Generative AI in Practice; Python Intermediate

Lai's family left Cambodia when he was a child and, after years in a refugee camp in Thailand, settled near Detroit when he was 11. He became the first in his family to graduate from college. He leads with integrity, mentors anyone who asks, and lives by a simple motto: never stop learning.

Connect with Lai on LinkedIn