Michael Smith in

Michael Smith

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Chief Technology Officer at Imagemakers
📍 Kansas City, Missouri, United States

Michael is the Chief Technology Officer at Imagemakers and the founder of RefactorOps, a consultancy focused on improving engineering delivery. With over 13 years of experience leading technology teams, including as Managing Director at VML, he specializes in turning chaos into clarity. He is also the author of "The Technical Leaders Field Guide".

Michael has a long history with Scouting, having previously worked as an Aquatics Director for the Boy Scouts of America. In this role, he managed a team of instructors and was responsible for teaching swimming and lifesaving skills, showcasing an early passion for leadership and mentorship outside of a corporate environment.

Unique fact: He created and shares free, "battle-tested" frameworks for technical teams, such as his Definition of Done and Scope Starter templates, to help them solve real-world delivery problems.

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Experience
10 Years
Current Role
Chief Technology Officer
Job Level
Leadership
Location
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Personality Overview

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Priorities

Topics Michael cares about

Technical Leadership
Authored "The Technical Leader's Field Guide" and founded RefactorOps to provide workshops and training for engineering leaders on practical, predictable delivery.
AI in Development
He frequently posts about AI being a tool to commoditize coding, arguing that developers who effectively use AI will replace those who don't.
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Career

Work history

10-2025
Chief Technology Officer
Imagemakers
5-2023 - 9-2025
Managing Director Technology
VML
10-2018 - 5-2023
Group Director, Technology | Solutions Architect
VML
11-2015 - 10-2018
Director Technology
VML
Aquatics Director
Boy Scouts of America
In the press

Media appearances

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Education

Michael has no verified education history

Social presence
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Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

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