Skip to content

The Answer to Your Technology Problem Isn’t Better Technology, It’s Better Leadership.

Hartman Executive Advisors provides strategic, experienced CIO and CISO leadership to community banks. Our expert leaders are fully embedded, accountable and built to execute your strategies.

Others advise and leave. Hartman leads and delivers.

You Didn’t Get Into Banking to Manage Technology Crises

But here you are. If any of these sound familiar, then you’ve come to the right place and you’re not alone:

Leadership Voids

Your IT leader left, or is leaving, and you're not sure who to trust to fill the gap. The right leader doesn’t just fix today’s problem. They know how to prevent the next five. 

No Roadmap Confidence

You know you need to move forward with technology, but you don’t have a plan you feel truly confident in. And even if you did, you’re not sure who would execute it. 

Compliance Pressure

Regulators are asking questions your team can’t answer quickly or confidently. You need a strong CIO that knows how to make every exam less stressful. 

Core Questions

Your core system needs updating, but you’re not sure where to start, what to prioritize or who to believe. You need a leader you can trust who understands technology and processes. 

Running to Catch Up

Bigger banks are pulling ahead on technology. You want to modernize, but you’re too busy keeping things running to build what comes next 

Recruiting Struggles

Finding a qualified CIO or CISO for a community bank is genuinely hard. The talent pool is thin, the cost is high, and the wrong hire is expensive in ways that go beyond salary. 

Do You Have a Technology Plan You Feel Confident In?

When Hartman speaks with community bank CEOs, we ask the same question in every conversation: “Do you have a technology plan you feel confident in?” The answer is almost always the same:

“No, not really.”

Building and executing a full IT strategy requires a dedicated, strategic technology leader. Without that person in the room, the plan either doesn’t exist or never gets executed.

Here’s what happens when a Hartman leader joins your team:

IT Assessment and Roadmap

Every Hartman engagement begins the same way: our CIO conducts a comprehensive assessment of your technology environment, your team, your vendor relationships and your business goals. The result is a clear, business-aligned IT strategy and roadmap your board and leadership team can get behind.  

AI and Data Strategy

We’ll help turn the data your bank already holds into competitive insights on loan performance, customer behavior, operational efficiency and more. 

Cybersecurity and Compliance

Our CIO will help you stay ahead of examiners and threat actors with governance structures that protect your institution and your customers.

Governance and Risk Management

Hartman’s CIOs are well-versed in providing board-level clarity on technology risk. Our leaders will help your leaders make strategic, confident and proactive technology decisions. 

Change Management & Adoption

Not only will our CIOs draw up the roadmaps for core conversions, system modernizations and digital rollouts, we’ll also execute these crucial functions without disrupting your bank’s operations while ensuring your team is ready for change.

ChatGPT Image Jun 2, 2026, 10_15_29 AM-1

IT Assessment and Roadmap

Every Hartman engagement begins the same way: our CIO conducts a comprehensive assessment of your technology environment, your team, your vendor relationships and your business goals. The result is a clear, business-aligned IT strategy and roadmap your board and leadership team can get behind.  

ChatGPT Image Jun 2, 2026, 10_21_39 AM

AI and Data Strategy

 We’ll help turn the data your bank already holds into competitive insights on loan performance, customer behavior, operational efficiency and more.

ChatGPT Image Jun 2, 2026, 10_23_29 AM

Cybersecurity and Compliance

Our CIO will help you stay ahead of examiners and threat actors with governance structures that protect your institution and your customers.

ChatGPT Image Jun 9, 2026, 11_39_33 AM-1

Governance and Risk Management

Hartman’s CIOs are well-versed in providing board-level clarity on technology risk. Our leaders will help your leaders make strategic, confident and proactive technology decisions.  

ChatGPT Image Jun 2, 2026, 10_26_08 AM

Change Management & Adoption

Not only will our CIOs draw up the roadmaps for core conversions, system modernizations and digital rollouts, we’ll also execute these crucial functions without disrupting your bank’s operations while ensuring your team is ready for change.

A Full Team of Leaders at Your Service

Working with Hartman gives you a dedicated CIO embedded in your institution, present in your meetings and accountable to your outcomes. And behind that CIO is the full Hartman team: specialists in bank strategy, banking applications, compliance, cybersecurity, core systems, M&A integration, AI and data analytics and more.
Every expert your bank needs, available exactly when you need them, without the overhead of adding more IT staff.

“They Bring Expertise and Experience to the Table”

When Mary Ann Scully, President and CEO of Howard Bank, needed a trusted leader and advisor to help her ask the right questions and implement solutions, she turned to Hartman.

Watch this to learn why➡️

What Our Clients Say

 Our clients don't hire Hartman for recommendations alone. They rely on experienced technology leaders who become part of their organization, align IT with business goals, and help drive meaningful results. 

"Hartman has been indispensable in connecting us with the right people at the right time, bringing seasoned perspective to key decisions, and helping us execute with confidence. They’re part of our team. Their empathy, collaboration, and problem-solving mindset have made our lives, and our members’ experience, better.” 

Freedom Federal Credit Union
Michele Young, EVP/COO

"Hartman didn’t just advise us on technology. They stepped into the CIO role and took ownership, which changed how our leadership team experienced IT. Having Hartman accountable gave us confidence. Technology stopped being a constant source of stress and became something we could plan around." 

Farmers Bank of Willards
Matt Davis, President

"Hartman has done a lot more than just advise us on cybersecurity. They stepped into the CISO role and took ownership of the program, which has made a real difference for our team. It’s given us peace of mind in a way we hadn’t experienced before." 

Community First Bank of Indiana
Robb Blume, President/CEO

"The Hartman team’s extensive experience and industry expertise is an invaluable asset for our bank. I look forward to our future success together." 

Fidelity Bank 
Eugene J. Walsh, EVP/COO