Let’s get something out of the way:

I didn’t start Pathopt because I wanted to be a consultant. I started it because I was tired of watching good IT leaders get steamrolled.

I was running an MSP at the time - working with IT teams who gave a damn. Sharp people. People who were doing their best with limited budget, limited time, and too many demands.

And they were getting crushed.

Not because they didn’t know what they were doing but because the system around them was broken.

Too many tools. Too many vendors. Too many fire drills. No clear priorities. No air cover.
They were stuck in this loop where they were expected to be visionary and reactive, strategic and tactical — but rarely given the clarity or support to do either well.

I’d lived it. And I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

Here’s the truth:

Mid-market IT leaders aren’t startups with scrappy flexibility. You’re not enterprises with seven-figure budgets either. You’re in the middle - asked to scale fast, stay secure, be strategic… with a small team and an inbox full of “urgent” fires.

And when you look around for help?

You get sales pitches. Buzzwords. Shiny PDFs with no implementation.
Or worse - vendors trying to sell you something without understanding your environment.

That’s not leadership support. That’s noise.

These IT leaders needed someone who could step into the mess with them — help sort the signal from the noise, translate risk into business terms, and build a path that made sense in the real world.

They needed clarity - not complexity.

That’s what I built Pathopt to provide.

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Pathopt exists to help IT leaders:

• See the full picture of their environment
  
  
• Prioritize what actually matters
  
  
• Align security with business goals
  
  
• Lead with confidence, not chaos
  
  

We don’t just assess and walk away. We build strategy into the way you work. We sit next to you at the table. We don’t throw binders over the wall.

And we do it through a lens that’s been pressure-tested in the field.  

Our philosophy is pretty simple:

• Trust but verify.
• Inspect what you expected.

Pathopt isn’t just a business model. It’s a bet on the kind of IT leadership I want to see more of:

• Leaders who think clearly.
• Leaders who can defend a decision in the boardroom and the server room.
• Leaders who care about building something that works and lasts.

I want to build a community of IT leaders who don’t feel alone in the fight.

If you’ve ever looked around and thought,

“Am I the only one asking if there’s a better way?”
— you’re not.

There is a better way. And we’re building it.

I’m not here to preach or sell fluff. But if any of this hits a nerve and you’re in a place where clarity would go a long way, let’s talk.

I’ll tell you what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what we’ve learned the hard way.

— Justin Dews
Founder, PathoptEmpowering IT Leaders to Simplify, Secure & Succeed