Brian Manning

Background

I have been investing and building in technology throughout the modern digital era. I use frontier AI models and coding agents daily to scale my investment process, advise clients and operate businesses, and advance my personal interests such as guitar theory and technique. I’ve appeared on Fox Business, Fox News, Yahoo! Finance, Bloomberg to commentate on tech trends and co-authored a book on digital transformation published by Pearson FT Press.

Previously, I co-founded and grew a digital intelligence firm, Centric Digital, which served dozens of S&P 500 clients. By its 5th year, it surpassed $40M in annual revenue and 300+ people, ranked #34 on the Inc. 500 and #1 in New York City. Prior to entrepreneurial pursuits, I was a public company digital executive, including at Citigroup where I defined digital strategy for consumer and credit cards and managed online marketing. As VP of e-commerce at Scholastic, I led $400M+ in online sales platforms, launched their first digital subscription and spun off TeachersPayTeachers. At Barnes & Noble.com, I led product management and early e-commerce innovations including partner marketing, shopping apps for early wireless phones Palm devices and omnichannel gift cards. I started my career at Accenture and hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lafayette College.

Capabilities

Where I help, from finding the opportunity to a team that owns the result.

01AI I find the two or three places AI clearly pays off, build the agents and systems that do the work, and stay until your team runs them. Contracts reviewed and risks flagged; scattered product feedback turned into a clear build view. You own what we build. Strategy · Agents · Private data (RAG) · Adoption

02Digital Marketing Brand, content, SEO/SEM and social. Campaigns drafted and personalized in hours, not weeks, with every dollar tied back to what it returned. Lead scoring and deal intelligence for whom to call and which opportunities are real. Brand · Content · SEO/SEM · Social

03Ecommerce Platforms, mobile apps, UX and conversion, from startup builds to large-scale online businesses. Platforms · Mobile · UX · Conversion

04Finance Forecasting, reconciliation and the monthly close with AI in the loop — so finance answers questions as they arise, not only at month-end. Plus P&L management, capital raising, investor materials and diligence. FP&A · Capital · Investor collateral · Diligence

05Operations I start with the highest-cost workflows: back-office, order routing, supply chain. Redesigned and automated so each cycle costs less than the last. Customer service: routine tickets resolved end to end; complex ones handed to a person with full context. Process redesign · Automation · Org design

06Technology Model-agnostic, cloud-based systems wired into the tools you already use. Developer-facing agents for code assistance, incident triage, and automated help-desk resolution. Your data stays yours, with no vendor lock-in. Cloud · Integration · Data & analytics

Engagements

Examples of my direct, hands-on experience from engagements from large enterprises to growing startups.

Bank of AmericaBanking

CitigroupBanking

HumanaHealthcare

Kaiser PermanenteHealthcare

AIGInsurance

Victoria's SecretRetail

J.D. PowerIntelligence

WileyPublishing

GuidehouseConsulting

West MonroeConsulting

American SecuritiesPrivate Equity

Larga VistaReal Estate

TempraMedMedical Devices

Various KeytagsEcommerce

Experience

2023 – now Stratum SixManaging Partner AI strategy and implementation for investors, founders and executives.

2009 – 2022 Centric DigitalPresident & Co-Founder Scaled a digital transformation firm onto the Inc. 500 (debuted #1 New York, #34 USA; ranked four years), serving enterprises in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

2007 – 2009 ScholasticVice President, Ecommerce Led ecommerce and social platforms with $400M+ in online sales. Launched the first digital content subscription, profitable by year two.

2004 – 2007 CitigroupVice President, Innovation Group; Vice President, eBusiness Group FinTech and internet strategy across banking, cards, mortgage and loans. Digital marketing and strategy for citicards.com.

1999 – 2004 Barnes & Noble.comDirector, Digital Product Management; Manager, Digital and Mobile Strategy Ecommerce platform redesign, early mobile commerce apps and the first omnichannel gift card. Reported to the COO.

1996 – 1999 AccentureBusiness Process Consultant; Business Analyst Retail supply chain reengineering and direct marketing applications for a media publisher.

Education Lafayette CollegeBS, Mechanical Engineering KPMG QuantumShift Entrepreneur Leadership Program, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan (2017).