T. Russell Shields has been at the forefront of building new companies that defined new industries by applying computer technology as business services evolved. As Wired magazine wrote, Shields "seems to be perpetually in the right place for change."
Two years after earning his MBA, he formed Shields Enterprises International, an IT consulting firm that quickly earned a reputation for tackling complex issues and producing innovative, high-quality results. In the 1980s, Shields launched the first firm to provide billing services to the emerging cell phone industry and captured 90 percent of the market within nine months.
Cofounding and serving as chairman of Ygomi, the IT incubator company, put Shields at the heart of developments for wireless signaling, vehicle telematics, and distribution call centers, changing the way firms apply information and communications technology to meet essential business needs.