Dr. Thomas Waite

Dr. Thomas Waite is the founder and architect behind K16 Solutions, the global software company that redefined how institutions manage, migrate, archive, and integrate data at scale. As the company’s founding visionary and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Waite built K16 from concept to enterprise by assembling a high-performing founding team, securing tens of millions in capital, establishing a disciplined board of directors, and earning the trust of angel investors, family offices, and venture firms.

Under his leadership, K16 created unprecedented, fully automated software capable of migrating and archiving data at a scale and speed previously considered impossible. This innovation led to the company’s awarded U.S. patent and the creation of entirely new verticals in higher education and beyond, including automated data migration, rapid archival solutions, and AI-driven data integration.

Dr. Waite’s strategic clarity and low-ego, servant leadership model allowed K16 to grow into a global organization serving some of the world’s largest and most complex educational systems. He built a culture centered on innovation, trust, accountability, and excellence enabling K16 to execute transformations inside institutions that had not changed in decades.

Before founding K16 Solutions, Dr. Waite spent over a decade shaping the evolution of online education with a team of pioneering experts. He is a nationally recognized expert in building scalable infrastructures, transforming complex operations, and designing the solutions that helped grow an early online education pioneer from $1.5 million to $900 million in annual revenue.

A forward-thinking technologist and scholar, he was the first to apply transactional distance theory as a practical differentiator in online learning. His creation of the Integrated Model for Student Retention became a breakthrough framework used to close the distance between students and learning, resulting in measurable performance gains at scale.

Dr. Waite holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration, with published research on student retention and transactional distance theory. His expertise was built through 14 years of applied academic leadership, including service as chief academic officer, provost, dean, director of faculty and programs, and faculty member at multiple institutions nationwide. These experiences shaped a leadership philosophy grounded in servant leadership, innovation, and operational clarity.

Across his career, he has led major transformations in online education and learning technology, including:
Beyond his professional work, Dr. Waite is a proud husband of twenty-eight years, father of three wonderful children, and grandfather of one. He is an avid reader of literature, history, technology, and biographies. He enjoys gardening and fitness, is a former tennis professional, and currently studies Russian, Arabic, and Chinese.