Chris Buxton
I am a commercially astute and globally experienced digital executive with a proven track record leading transformation across government, intelligence, and private sectors. As a former CIO of New Zealand’s foreign intelligence agency and Chief Digital Officer of its national data agency, I bring a rare blend of strategic vision, cyber expertise, and hands-on leadership. I specialise in helping organisations unlock the value of their data, modernise digital capabilities, and build cyber-resilient operating models. Through Hemlock Consulting and strategic partnerships, I provide vCxO services that turn complexity into clarity, enabling clients to act with speed, confidence, and measurable impact.
Strategic ICT and Digital planning: Assessing current business strategies and direction, current technologies, and opportunities to establish a compelling vision. Providing strategic planning for now and for the future with roadmaps, tracking and more
Transformation of the Digital Operating Model: Develop, design, and implement organisational transformation to improve performance and generate lasting growth. Understanding possible modes of operation aligned to business strategy to determine the optimal delivery of digital capability.
Cloud optimisation: Assessment of your existing infrastructure and services to develop policies, processes, and management frameworks, as well as plan for and manage service migration to the cloud. Assessing the organisation's readiness for utilising cloud services and developing roadmaps defining the journey to the cloud efficiently and in such a way that cloud services align with the organisation's business objectives.
Portfolio, program and project delivery: Execution and delivery capability to improve the management and delivery of projects, programs and overall portfolios in both traditional and 'agile' ways, including project risk management and structured identification, quantification and management of work to support the realisation of your business benefits and value.
Cyber security and resilience: provide organisations with a clear picture of their current cyber risk posture and capabilities, giving them an informed view of how, where, and why to invest in managing their cyber risks. Provide planning and execution to deliver an overarching cyber resiliency program to strengthen the organisational capability to respond during crises and improve readiness.
Focus
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Executive Digital Strategy & Transformation: Shape and implement digital strategies aligned to business goals, driving organisational change, cloud adoption, and digital operating model reform.
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Cybersecurity Maturity & Resilience Building: Assess cyber risk posture, design maturity models, and lead initiatives to strengthen cyber capabilities across sectors, including defence and government.
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Data Governance & Intelligence Enablement: Develop frameworks and roadmaps to improve data quality, access, and use—helping clients extract actionable insights and maximise data value.
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Advisory & vCxO Services: Act as a fractional CIO/CDO/CISO, providing strategic leadership and hands-on support across digital operations, risk, and information systems.
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Thought Leadership & Sector Influence: Chair conferences, publish insights, and advise senior stakeholders to influence public discourse on digital skills, cyber risk, and tech innovation.
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Cross-Sector Collaboration & Partnerships: Build ecosystems of technology and service partners to deliver integrated solutions that align with business outcomes and client priorities.
Services
vCDO
A strategic leadership service that is executive-level and flexible, and that is designed to assist organisations in modernising, innovating, and optimising their operations through digital transformation. As your virtual chief digital officer (vCDO), I assist in the development and implementation of digital strategy, the alignment of technology investments with business objectives, and the cultivation of an innovation-oriented culture. I offer hands-on expertise and independent insight from cloud enablement to digital operating models and data-driven decision-making, all without the overhead of a full-time executive.
$180ph
vCIO
A strategic advisory service that provides executive-level IT leadership that is experienced and available on a flexible basis. I serve as your virtual chief information officer (vCIO), offering guidance on IT strategy, governance, and operations to guarantee that your technology investments are secure, future-ready, and in accordance with business objectives. I serve as a trusted partner to assist you in the pursuit of performance, innovation, and resilience throughout your organisation, from the optimisation of IT portfolios and the modernisation of infrastructure to the management of risk and vendor relationships.
$180ph
cvCISO
An on-demand cybersecurity leadership service that assists organisations in comprehending, managing, and mitigating their cyber risk. I am responsible for the strategic supervision of your security posture, the development and implementation of maturity models, and the guidance of investment in controls that enhance resilience in my capacity as your vCISO. I provide practical solutions and profound expertise to safeguard your critical assets, from incident readiness and compliance to policy and governance, all without the necessity of a full-time executive.
$180ph