Things I’ve built
Three companies’ technology, each built from scratch and led as CTO, with the teams that ran it. Then the side projects I build to keep my hands in. The CV is one page.
Built and led as CTO
2021to now
Public Sector Network platform
The community, events, learning and marketplace platform behind Public Sector Network, a free government-only network across Australia, New Zealand and North America. Built from scratch in 2022, and led as CTO ever since.
Read the case study- One platform PSN owns outright It replaced a WordPress site and third-party tools that did not talk to each other.
- Reporting built in, not bought A reporting suite and data explorer replaced an off-the-shelf BI product.
- Built for the scrutiny of government buyers I designed and run the architecture, the AWS estate and the delivery pipeline: behind Cloudflare's firewall, across two availability zones, with daily backups. In 2025 I moved the whole estate between AWS regions.
- Led the developers, then brought AI into the engineering Since April 2025 AI writes the code inside the platform's own guidelines, frameworks and skills, and I review every change and test it by hand, on top of the automated checks.
2014to 2021
Wizenoze
The ed-tech scale-up whose technology I built from scratch and led as CTO: a search and content platform that crawled the open web, classified it by reading level with machine learning, and delivered it to students through APIs, SDKs and classroom apps.
More on Wizenoze- Customers built it into their own products One platform of APIs carried every Wizenoze product and every customer integration, delivered through APIs, SDKs and web apps.
- Safer search for students Web for Classrooms searched only human-curated websites, ranked to bring back the most relevant educational content.
- Content pitched at each student’s reading level Machine learning classified content by reading level, in search and in the WizeNote editor that helped writers adapt their text.
- A team built and led for seven years I recruited, led and mentored the development team, set technology strategy with the business, and ran product development from the users down to the hardware.
2003to 2011
Stem Software
The web-based ERP for running retailers, supermarkets and restaurants that Stem Software is built around. I built it from an empty repository as CTO, then scaled out and trained the development team.
More on Stem Software- Still the product the company sells Ten modules that run the business, from cash-out and inventory to recipes, menus, labour and bank reconciliation.
- A team trained to support and extend it I scaled out the development team and taught the technicians and developers to support the product and work on it.
Side projects
Twenty-six years of commercial work
- Vaughn Dickson ConsultingFractional CTO, 2014–present
- CognicianStaff Engineer, 2012–2014Coaching platform
- Fundamo, a Visa companySenior Developer, 2011–2012Mobile money
- Pick n PaySenior Developer, 2002–2003Retail
- Obsidian SystemsProgrammer, 2001–2002
Need a CTO in the room?
Tell me what is going on. The first conversation is free, and I will say honestly whether I can help. If I can’t, I’ll introduce you to someone who can.
How an engagement works- A free call Thirty minutes on what is going on and whether I can help.
- A diagnostic A fixed-scope look at the code, team, roadmap and costs: a written assessment and a 90-day plan.
- The engagement Fractional, interim or full-time, with my exit planned from the start.
Cape Town, working remotely. My mornings overlap with Australian afternoons, and my afternoons with the UK, Europe and the US east coast. Or message me on LinkedIn.