Before his illustrious career in content and technology, Michael Iantosca’s journey began in his family's construction business in New Jersey, followed by studies in Communications, Journalism, and Computer Science at Marist College, and early roles at
ABC Broadcasting Companies in television production prior to joining
IBM.
Michael has had a distinguished 43-year career in the content industry, with 38 of those years at IBM and the remainder at Avalara Inc., where he currently serves as the Senior Director of Knowledge Platforms and Engineering. His career began In Information Development as a technical writer and multimedia production and subsequently evolved into leading roles in enterprise content strategy and management, where he played a pivotal role in adopting SGML at IBM and later spearheaded the development of XML-based content management systems. Michael's advocacy for XML significantly contributed to the creation of DITA, an open standard for structured content.
Throughout his career, Michael has led numerous content supply chain projects, resulting in substantial savings, and introducing innovative solutions. He has also been at the forefront of integrating AI and deep learning into content creation. Beyond his technical achievements, Michael has been a vocal advocate for the advancement of the content industry, sharing his insights through newsletters, conferences, webinars, and blogs. His work is characterized by a commitment to innovation, resilience, and excellence, making significant contributions to the evolution of content management systems and technology.