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Vice President of Engineering, Blueprint
Major company achievements during tenure: Chicago-based Blueprint provides digital tools that enable mental-health providers to deliver more effective treatment. And since Roger Deetz joined, the company has experienced two years of 20% quarter-over-quarter growth. As Blueprint’s first dedicated engineer leader, he has grown the team from four engineers to seven and prepared its process and technology for scale. Deetz also led the design and implementation of Blueprint’s integration framework, which allows the company’s platform to exchange data with customer electronic health records/electronic medical records systems. While the company is based in Chicago, Deetz is based in Indianapolis, where he’s an active participant in Indy’s tech scene and founded IN Tech for Progress, a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization that seeks to improve civic engagement among Indiana’s tech community. IN Tech for Progress is the organization behind Indy Votes Times, which provided real-time wait-time information for Marion County vote centers during the 2020 and 2022 general elections.
Challenge faced: “It’s reasonable for non-tech stakeholders (sales, customer support, etc.) to need to know how long something is going to take so they can set proper expectations with a prospect or customer. But getting an estimate with a level of certainty requires making a real plan, and that requires real work by the team members doing the work.”
First computer: Packard Bell PC with an i486 chip. “I used it to teach myself programming in the BASIC language and to play Chessmaster 3000.”
The road: Deetz attended the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, where he majored in computer information systems, but for the most part, he’s a self-taught programmer. His first job at a tech company was at InstallShield, where he started in tech support and became a developer. His first engineering management role was at Double-Take (now Carbonite). He joined Angie’s List in 2012, eventually becoming vice president of engineering at Angi, before moving to Blueprint in 2021.
Favorite gadgets: Google Home, Marshall portable Bluetooth speaker, Xbox
Preferred work atmosphere: “If we’re brainstorming and planning, nothing beats being in the same room with everyone involved, gathered around a whiteboard, having a lively conversation. If I’m doing deep work: no meetings, Slack notifications paused, full-screen app, lo-fi beats or classical music playing through a speaker.”
Free time: traveling, cooking, running, photography, working to increase civic engagement among Indiana tech community via IN Tech for Progress, which he founded in 2020•
Check out more Tech Exec of the Year honorees.
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