Mark Rickmeier

Chief Executive Officer

As COO, I am responsible for managing our internal operations as well as our delivery services, from the sales process and project inception through delivery to launch and maintenance. I run the fulfillment side of the business and am responsible for the team of professionals working at Table XI, including engineers, designers, analysts, and testers.

Chief Operating Officer

Kermit Collective

The Kermit Collective is a small high-trust community made up of leaders of boutique software agencies who share a passion for doing great work for their clients while providing fulfilling careers for their employees.  This is a safe space where we connect with respect and openness. We recognize that we are competitors AND collaborators and seek to share best practices that will help all of us grow our businesses and create even better places for people to thrive.

Founder

Walkshop

Walkshop is a multi-day hiking + design thinking experience for leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs.  
It's a dedicated time to go off the grid with peers in your industry, push your limits while staying on your feet, recharge while being offline, develop new leadership skills, and grow deeply human connections.

Co-Founder

Forbes Chicago Business Council

Chair, Forbes Chicago Business Council

Fast Company Executive Board

Mark Rickmeier, Chief Executive Officer at TXI, ​​a digital strategy and product innovation firm, has been accepted into the Fast Company Executive Board, an invitation-only professional organization of leaders who share a commitment to shaping the future of business.

Mark was selected to join the organization based on his expertise and proven track record in technology. As a member, Mark joins industry-leading peers from the worlds of corporate leadership, design, media, entertainment, technology, social responsibility, marketing, advertising, social impact, and nonprofit.

Scott Gerber, founder of Fast Company Executive Board, said, "We are pleased to accept Mark Rickmeier into the Fast Company Executive Board. When leaders gather in curated, private settings, they can collaborate and create new business opportunities across a broad range of industries. Mark brings valuable professional insights and accomplishments to this group.”

Mark Rickmeier, CEO of TXI, said, "I am privileged to be joining the executive board of Fast Company and their community of progressive business leaders. Together, we will continue to lead with purpose, bringing greater change to the future of the business and the better of our communities. Fast Company offers TXI the opportunity to learn and expand the trajectory of our company. We look forward to what we can build together.”

Mark will get access to a dedicated online platform designed to foster connections and information sharing. Through lively discussions, virtual events, and online meetups, members will help one another solve business challenges and celebrate successes.

Executive Board Member, Fast Company

Orion3

Core Member

Ravinia Festival

The Ravinia Associates Board is a premier group of over 70 Chicagoland young professionals who share a passion for Ravinia and the musical arts. Their mission is to support the Ravinia Festival by promoting awareness of Ravinia and its musical programs, encouraging audience development, and contributing to Ravinia’s REACH*TEACH*PLAY education programs.

Associate Board Member

ThoughtWorks

As a client principal, I am responsible for sales and business development for my accounts, for providing consulting and advisory services to senior executives (CIO, CTO, COO), looking after the career growth and development opportunities of those on my accounts, and being the overall backstop for software delivery.

In 2010, I was responsible for launching the new ThoughtWorks offering and services in Germany. I opened a new office in January and started to build the book that would allow us to expand into the continent.

Client Principal

As a Program Manager, I was responsible for running several concurrent  agile projects, for introducing the project governance model for my clients, and for effectively managing their PMO. 

In addition to delivery work, I specialized in organizational transformation consulting, providing consulting services around project governance and the agile PMO.

Program Manager

As a project manager, I was primarily responsible for the delivery of some of ThoughtWorks's largest and most complex software projects (generally managing several 'sub-teams', each with 10-15 people and their own Iteration Managers). This included the management of senior executive and stakeholder expectations. As a PM, I was involved in each Steering Committee meeting to manage scope, budget, timelines, and overall delivery.

During this time, I ran one of ThoughtWorks largest teams (100+ people) distributed between the US and India. Spending time in Bangalore, Chicago, and Minneapolis, I brought proven Agile development methods to a complex, distributed project environment.

In 2006-07, I moved to Australia to lead the software delivery efforts of an industry leading insurance company in Melbourne.

Project Manager

As an iteration manager (a title similar to "Scrum Master"), I lead several teams - mostly on distributed development projects. Each team consisted of 6-8 developers, 2-3 testers, and 2-3 business analysts. As the team lead, I was responsible for delivering my part of the project on time, on budget, and within quality standards. As an Iteration Manager, I was responsible for managing the agile process within the team and communicating out to the client and Project Manager on risks, progress, and spend.

During this time, I lead delivery efforts in London for two years and Chicago, before stepping up to become a Project Manager.

Iteration Manager

As a business analyst, I met with our clients to understand their processes and requirements. I would author our "story narratives" and work with the development team to build the client's functionality.

Business Analyst

As a software tester, I created and designed our manual regression test suite, authored automated tests, and designed the program's key metrics and governance dashboard.

QA Analyst / Tester

Ten years ago, we ended a toxic relationship and made the impossible decision to leave our biggest client. Just like that, I had to replace 55% of our portfolio. It was more important to protect our people and culture than protect our revenue. So we got very intentional about how we wanted to work (and who we would work with).

Replacing this client meant rethinking the way we ran TXI. We saw the power in this: to establish values that really meant something. We took action to protect the culture we wanted to see flourish. TXI (which stands for Technology, Experience, Innovation) has since established strong company values that guide how we act and interact together. We have grown to over 70 strategists, designers, & developers across 3 countries, delivering award winner software because of the incredible dedication & skill of our team. Learn more: https://txidigital.com/

After that BIG decision, I wanted to meet with other leaders who knew a lot about building an organization that cared not just about the money - but heavily focused on their craft, their clients, & their culture. Rather than a general CEO peer group, I wanted a community of “Cooperatitiion”- where I could actively cooperate with our competitors to learn from and challenge each other.

I founded a community of competitors who all shared a passion for doing great work for their clients while providing fulfilling careers for their employees.  This community grew becoming the “Kermit Collective”  - a safe space where we could connect with respect & openness. We recognize that we can be direct competitors AND collaborators seeking to share best practices that will help all of us grow our businesses. Learn more: https://kermitcollective.com/

As I sought to connect with other inspirational leaders, I co-founded “Walkshop” as a multi-day hiking + thinking experience where these leaders go offline for a week to be out in nature, far away from Zoom. Rather than facilitating a "workshop", we get to go offline and build new connections as we hike across Tuscany, the black forest of Germany, highlands of Scotland, etc. Learn more: https://www.walkshop.io

On one of the Walkshops, we discussed ways that companies fail at innovation when a bad culture can crush a creative idea. So I created the Inclusion Meeting Card game, designed to make meetings more inclusive of the diverse opinions and communication styles in a room, so everyone has a voice. Challenge your company culture: https://www.meetingsdoneright.co

Challenge your culture, improve innovation, and get connected: https://markrickmeier.com

Walkshop is a multi-day hiking + design thinking experience for leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs.  
It's a dedicated time to go off the grid with peers in your industry, push your limits while staying on your feet, recharge while being offline, develop new leadership skills, and grow deeply human connections.


It’s hard to reconcile the Chicago I love — vibrant, diverse, welcoming — with what I’ve seen and heard this past week.

As our team gathered here for our all-company event, ICE raids were unfolding across the city. A colleague told me this morning that tear gas was being used - on their block. 

When we hosted everyone in Chicago last week, we made sure everyone had someone to walk with, an escort when needed, and their identification on them at all times — all things I never imagined I’d have to plan for when hosting colleagues in my own hometown.

The fear that some people feel just moving through the city — fear of being stopped, questioned, or targeted — is deeply unsettling. You don’t need to be political to feel disturbed by that. You just need to care about people.

Chicago is a city built on community, resilience, and care for one another. Work is hard enough for people to feel safe enough to show up as themselves — at work, and in the world. My hope is that, in times like these, we each find ways — big or small — to make those around us feel safe, seen, and welcome. It's not easy right now.

CEO @ TXI | Build intelligent systems that unlock your data, reduce risk, and empower your teams

A lot of people looked at me sideways the first time I said I wanted to build a community of my direct competitors. “Wait—you’re going to share YOUR strategies, YOUR client stories, YOUR playbook... with the competition?!?”

Yep. That’s exactly what I wanted to do.

More than a decade later, this group of peers has become one of the most valuable parts of my professional life. Leaders in this community have: 
* Merged competitive companies together to join forces 
* Referred work to each other (including my own TXI who regularly collaborates with other peers in the industry) 
* Given each other tough love when things weren’t working
* Swapped lessons that helped us all sharpen our go-to-market strategies

What started as a casual conversation has become a trusted circle of “cooperatition”—a space where cooperation and competition coexist to make us all better.

When you bring together leaders who sell to similar audiences but come from different experiences, you start to see patterns—and possibilities. We’ve compared how we approach demand generation, debated inbound vs. outbound strategies, and learned that authenticity in sales still matters more than automation. We’ve pushed each other to rethink how we tell our stories, qualify opportunities, and build long-term trust with clients.

In a world that often treats business like a zero-sum game, this community has reminded me that growth is more sustainable—and more human—when we learn with each other, not just compete against each other.

I can’t imagine the future of TXI without this circle of “competitors” in the Kermit Collective who’ve become collaborators, sounding boards, and friends.

Here’s to more years of cooperatition.

Special thanks to Blair Enns for joining us today to talk about selling expertise and to my parnter, Claudia Richman, for helping to organize the community event.

Over the past year, I’ve watched something unsettling happen across industries.
Companies that once proudly celebrated diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) have started to go quiet.

 Some have quietly removed DEIB language from their websites.
 Some have disbanded their inclusion teams.
 Others still believe in the principles—but are choosing not to say much about them anymore.

I understand that instinct. The topic feels politicized. The conversation has become emotionally charged. The pressure to “play it safe” or just go quiet is real.

But watching this retreat unfold, my team reminded me: safety and silence aren’t the same thing. Silence may feel safe in the short term, but it chips away at trust, culture, and purpose over time. My team was asking me about my take on all of this - because I too have been rather quiet of late (and generally off of LinkedIn in general). 

So here is my take. 
Not to lecture or moralize.
Not to make a political statement.
But to remind myself—and hopefully others—that DEIB isn’t just about good intentions. It’s about good business.

As leaders, we talk a lot about trust in business: trust with clients, customers, and teams. But trust doesn’t come from strategy decks or from LinkedIn posts. It comes from consistency.

If we say we care about belonging and equity, and then quietly back away when it becomes inconvenient, people notice.
 Employees notice.
 Customers notice.
 And the damage to credibility is real.

Across industries, companies are quietly backing away from diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Websites are being rewritten. Inclusion

Open article: Now is NOT the time to step back from DEIB by Mark Rickmeier • 6 min read

Now is NOT the time to step back from DEIB

My Chicago is fine.

The manufacturing conference I’m attending is full of energy and ideas. Conference attendees in the manufacturing space are freely moving through airports and conference rooms, surrounded by people sharing ideas and celebrating connection. And just a few miles away, runners were crossing the finish line of the Chicago marathon and the tourists cheered them on. The fall weather is perfect and the city felt alive. 

Only a few miles away, Latino neighborhoods are filled with tear gas and fear. In other parts of this same city, families are being terrorized by ICE raids. Tear gas, detentions, fear. Schools half empty because parents are afraid to let their kids out. Neighbors are volunteering to do the grocery shopping for others, so they don't have to leave their homes. 

It’s hard to reconcile these two Chicagos — one open, one under siege. And it’s a reminder of my social isolation and my own privilege: that I can choose when to notice it. That’s what privilege is — living in the same city, on the same day, and experiencing two completely different worlds. Privilege is being able to move freely through the first Chicago while others live in the second. I’m sitting with that discomfort.

What does responsible leadership look like when your city is so divided by fear?

Open article: Echoing the raids in L.A., parts of Chicago are untouched by ICE, others under siege by latimes.com

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 14: Residents and protesters clash with federal agents in the East Side neighborhood on October 14, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. It was not immediately clear why federal agents were in the area but people on social media reported Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested an individual and caused a car accident. Last week a Federal judge put in place a temporary order preventing the 500 National Guard troops that were sent to the Chicago and surrounding suburbs to help protect ICE and other federal agents and federal property. President Donald Trumps's administration continues to enforce immigration laws in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs during their "Operation Midway Blitz." (Photo by Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Echoing the raids in L.A., parts of Chicago are untouched by ICE, others under siege

Here's why I’m excited about this week's conference at the The Connected Worker Summit Series. It’s not about chasing shiny tools or the latest trends. It’s the one event that puts the worker at the center of transformation. Because progress in manufacturing doesn’t happen when machines get smarter—it happens when people do.

What makes this moment different isn’t just the tech—it’s how we use it. U.S. manufacturing is at an inflection point. Between tariffs, trade wars, and global uncertainty, the pressures are real. And yet—so is the opportunity. Technology is evolving faster than ever, from AI and automation to digital twins and connected worker platforms. 

At TXI, our challenge isn’t simply to modernize systems. It’s to empower the workforce with data, insight, and purpose. And this week is all about learning, sharing ideas, and getting new insights. 

#CWManufacturing

Flashback to the conference in 2017... the one horned moose rides again. Back then, we had over 30 of us visiting Breckenridge to discuss "the hard business of software". The tradition continues, with a group of software leaders meeting in Chicago this week. Fun to see new faces in this year's community - and some alumni who still remember the one-horned moose days of Breckenridge

Every so often, I meet a founder who reminds me what leadership really looks like. At a recent event, I met Albert Lai, whose work reimagines how mobile apps are distributed — not through app stores and gatekeepers, but instantly through the web itself.

What inspired me wasn’t just the technology, but the mindset behind it. Albert isn’t chasing disruption for its own sake. He’s challenging an accepted inefficiency — the idea that friction and control are the cost of innovation — and showing that access can be instant, fair, and open.

I liked his approach - because it took me back to the original promise of the internet: freedom, simplicity, and connection. And his approach reflects what great leadership often requires — conviction to question the default and empathy for the people affected by the system.

As a fellow founder, I left that conversation reminded that real innovation doesn’t always mean adding more complexity. Sometimes, it means stripping things away until what’s left simply works — for everyone. Albert Lai is doing just that. And I think his work is a glimpse into what the next era of the web could be.

Thanks Gabe Dunlop and Ben Baldwin for inviting me to the Upteaming 
#FounderCity event and introducing me to leaders like Albert. It was a great day in Toronto!

taplio

Mark Rickmeier's Linkedin Analytics

Mark Rickmeier

Performance ScoreMark Rickmeier's LinkedIn Performance

Mark Rickmeier's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

.css-6ytdur{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39, 43, 72, 1) 0%, rgba(33, 47, 183, 1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Mark Rickmeier's Linkedin Analytics

Mark Rickmeier

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Mark Rickmeier's LinkedIn Performance

Mark Rickmeier's Best Posts .css-1emoo84{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:400;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);}(last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Mark Rickmeier's Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScoreMark Rickmeier's LinkedIn Performance

Mark Rickmeier's Best Posts (last 30 days)