John Wills in

John Wills

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Founder & Principal at Prentice Gate Advisors LLC
📍 Townsend, Tennessee, United States

John is an enterprise data strategy advisor with over 35 years of experience building and scaling data-driven software companies. His career includes leadership roles in nine startups with three IPOs, serving as a Field CTO and VP, and working at the intersection of enterprise customers and product teams. He earned a BBA from Kent State University.

He is the author of two books, "The Goal is Autonomous Governance" and "The Goal is Business Capability Reengineering, " which challenge data leaders to modernize their approach to data management for the AI era. John is also a regular columnist for TDAN. com, where he writes about data architecture and strategy.

As the Founder of Prentice Gate Advisors, he helps enterprise data leaders plan and execute high-impact programs in data governance, quality, AI, and master data management.

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Experience
35 Years
Current Role
Founder & Principal
Job Level
Leadership
Location
Townsend, Tennessee, United States
Personality Overview

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Communication Style
Decision Approach
Work Preference

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Priorities

Topics John cares about

Autonomous Governance
He authored the book "The Goal is Autonomous Governance" and frequently speaks on moving beyond manual, compliance-heavy governance toward scalable, automated models.
AI-Era Architecture
His second book focuses on reengineering enterprise architecture for the AI era, a key theme in his recent articles and advisory work.
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Career

Work history

2-2023
Founder & Principal
Prentice Gate Advisors LLC
9-2020 - 5-2021
VP, Solution Development & Engineering
Alation
10-2018 - 8-2020
Senior Director, Professional Services
Alation
8-2018 - 2-2023
Field CTO
Alation
7-2015 - 5-2018
VP Customer Success
Collibra
In the press

Media appearances

"CIOtv" with John Wills from Prentice Gate Advisors LLC. Featured in Vimeo
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Education
1984 - 1988
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
Kent State University
Social presence
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Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

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