Bio
Preetham Sunilkumar is a results-driven technology leader currently serving as Vice President of Software Development, Quality Engineering, and Enterprise Reporting at LPL Financial in Austin, Texas. With over 14 years of experience in the financial services and insurance industries, he specializes in leading quality engineering transformations, software development, platform modernization, and Center of Excellence (COE) practices. As a strategic visionary, Preetham has architected and implemented automation platforms that scale from integrated automation to intelligent and autonomous testing across the software development lifecycle, resulting in remarkable business outcomes, including over $40M in cost avoidance and efficiency gains while significantly enhancing software quality and client trust. Preetham’s transformational leadership has delivered measurable results across multiple dimensions of technology excellence. His automation innovation initiatives have reduced Bug Incident Rate (BIR) to 5% and changed failure rates from 30% to 5% through intelligent automation platforms. As an emerging AI/ML technology leader, he has implemented agentic platforms using AWS Bedrock and Copilot, boosting productivity by 40%. His focus on operational excellence has achieved 30% faster time-to-market through cross-functional engineering practices and DevSecOps implementation. Through strategic cost optimization efforts, he has generated $15M in annual savings through AI/ML initiatives and process optimization, while spearheading quality engineering COE practices that foster innovation and elevate product excellence. Throughout his career progression, Preetham has demonstrated exceptional technical expertise across modern technology stacks, including legacy platform modernization, web/mobile development, system architecture, AI/ML integration, and cloud-based solutions. His deep proficiency spans quality engineering tools, CI/CD pipelines, AWS technologies, and hybrid cloud architectures, with a strong focus on API-first development and data foundations. Known for his hands-on technical management style, he champions data-driven decision-making and automation-first strategies while excelling at building collaborative teams, driving organizational maturity assessments, and delivering compliant, scalable solutions that align with business objectives. Preetham holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Information Science Engineering from East Point College of Engineering and Technology, Bangalore, affiliated with Visvesvaraya Technological University. Throughout his career, he has received numerous accolades, including the Adaptability & Resilience Badge from McKinsey & Company in 2025, multiple business case presentation awards, and client appreciation recognitions. He actively contributes to the testing community as a member and panelist for “Testing Leaders” Brain Trust by CenterCode and serves as a speaker for testing conferences, demonstrating his commitment to advancing industry practices and knowledge sharing.