Michele Chambliss
Head of Operations, Shift AI
In her 20+ years based in Silicon Valley, Michele has split her time between operating roles at Fortune 100 companies and strategic advisory roles at companies of all sizes. At Mach49, she teaches clients how to marry startup ingenuity with Mothership capabilities, building environments to best support new businesses. She also oversees operations for Shift AI—Mach49's new digital platform for venture building and investing.
Michele’s career started in engineering and sales roles at IBM. She quickly transitioned into the strategic consulting space, where she spent 15 years working for Strategic Decisions Group and Capgemini. As Principal of the global High Tech and Telecoms practice, she launched Capgemini’s TeleMedia Lab — the firm’s first Silicon Valley presence, seeking software alliances for the Telecoms practice. Michele also served as an independent Consultant to businesses through Greylock Venture Partners and other firms. She brought the first customers to Data Domain, a startup that was acquired post-IPO by EMC Corporation for $2.1B.
Later, Michele became VP of Quality and Programs at Yipes Communications (Stage B funded at $300M+), where she served as a senior advisor on growth strategy as the company scaled. At the time of its acquisition by Reliance Communications, Yipes had over 1,000 enterprise customers and was the leading communications provider to the New York Stock Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and NASDAQ. She spent the next decade in VP and Director roles at industry-leading enterprise software companies — including Oracle, Symantec, and Commvault — in cross-functional roles across strategic sales, R&D, product, and technical alliances. Michele holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Michele’s career started in engineering and sales roles at IBM. She quickly transitioned into the strategic consulting space, where she spent 15 years working for Strategic Decisions Group and Capgemini. As Principal of the global High Tech and Telecoms practice, she launched Capgemini’s TeleMedia Lab — the firm’s first Silicon Valley presence, seeking software alliances for the Telecoms practice. Michele also served as an independent Consultant to businesses through Greylock Venture Partners and other firms. She brought the first customers to Data Domain, a startup that was acquired post-IPO by EMC Corporation for $2.1B.
Later, Michele became VP of Quality and Programs at Yipes Communications (Stage B funded at $300M+), where she served as a senior advisor on growth strategy as the company scaled. At the time of its acquisition by Reliance Communications, Yipes had over 1,000 enterprise customers and was the leading communications provider to the New York Stock Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and NASDAQ. She spent the next decade in VP and Director roles at industry-leading enterprise software companies — including Oracle, Symantec, and Commvault — in cross-functional roles across strategic sales, R&D, product, and technical alliances. Michele holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Michele Chambliss
Head of Operations, Shift AI
In her 20+ years based in Silicon Valley, Michele has split her time between operating roles at Fortune 100 companies and strategic advisory roles at companies of all sizes. At Mach49, she teaches clients how to marry startup ingenuity with Mothership capabilities, building environments to best support new businesses. She also oversees operations for Shift AI—Mach49's new digital platform for venture building and investing.
Michele’s career started in engineering and sales roles at IBM. She quickly transitioned into the strategic consulting space, where she spent 15 years working for Strategic Decisions Group and Capgemini. As Principal of the global High Tech and Telecoms practice, she launched Capgemini’s TeleMedia Lab — the firm’s first Silicon Valley presence, seeking software alliances for the Telecoms practice. Michele also served as an independent Consultant to businesses through Greylock Venture Partners and other firms. She brought the first customers to Data Domain, a startup that was acquired post-IPO by EMC Corporation for $2.1B.
Later, Michele became VP of Quality and Programs at Yipes Communications (Stage B funded at $300M+), where she served as a senior advisor on growth strategy as the company scaled. At the time of its acquisition by Reliance Communications, Yipes had over 1,000 enterprise customers and was the leading communications provider to the New York Stock Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and NASDAQ. She spent the next decade in VP and Director roles at industry-leading enterprise software companies — including Oracle, Symantec, and Commvault — in cross-functional roles across strategic sales, R&D, product, and technical alliances. Michele holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Michele’s career started in engineering and sales roles at IBM. She quickly transitioned into the strategic consulting space, where she spent 15 years working for Strategic Decisions Group and Capgemini. As Principal of the global High Tech and Telecoms practice, she launched Capgemini’s TeleMedia Lab — the firm’s first Silicon Valley presence, seeking software alliances for the Telecoms practice. Michele also served as an independent Consultant to businesses through Greylock Venture Partners and other firms. She brought the first customers to Data Domain, a startup that was acquired post-IPO by EMC Corporation for $2.1B.
Later, Michele became VP of Quality and Programs at Yipes Communications (Stage B funded at $300M+), where she served as a senior advisor on growth strategy as the company scaled. At the time of its acquisition by Reliance Communications, Yipes had over 1,000 enterprise customers and was the leading communications provider to the New York Stock Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and NASDAQ. She spent the next decade in VP and Director roles at industry-leading enterprise software companies — including Oracle, Symantec, and Commvault — in cross-functional roles across strategic sales, R&D, product, and technical alliances. Michele holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
