Get to know me

About Colton.

"Good compensation strategy is equal parts science and storytelling. The insight was never the spreadsheet — it's the decision the spreadsheet makes possible."

I'm a data and analytics leader on Charter Communications' National Incentives team in Stamford, CT, where I design, model, and run the sales compensation plans for Charter's Small Business sales channels. My work sits where compensation design, financial modeling, and sales strategy meet: deciding what to pay for, proving that it works, and making sure thousands of people get paid correctly every month.

I joined the team at its founding in 2022, when incentives were still run region by region. Turning that into one national program meant building the analytics, the governance, and the working relationships with Sales, HR, Payroll, Finance, and IT from the ground up. Today I'm the team's technical lead for incentive design and reporting, and I mentor our junior analysts.

Lately I've led our move to AI tooling — Claude, AWS, and Kiro — to automate reporting that used to eat whole days of analyst time. AI isn't a replacement for analytical rigor; it's a multiplier for it. I build with it outside of work too: this site, a live marathon-training dashboard, and the other projects linked on the homepage.

I came to data by way of finance. Before Charter I was a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch and Oppenheimer, working with high-net-worth clients, and before that I ran finance and loan origination for a Newport Beach real estate lender that financed fix-and-flip investors nationwide. Across all of it, the throughline is the same: turning messy financial data into decisions people can act on.

I hold an MBA from UC Irvine's Paul Merage School of Business and an economics degree from Hamilton College, and I completed Bryant University's CFP education program. Outside work you'll find me running — most recently the Hartford Marathon in 3:28 — and reading about where data, AI, and organizational design are heading next.

Download Resume ↓

Awards & Honors.

🏆
Q3 2024 Excellence Award — Exceptional Executor
Charter Communications · 2024
⭐
Outstanding Achievement Award
Charter Communications · 2024
🌟
Rising Star — Top 40 Under 40
HousingWire Magazine · 2015
Colton Riley

Academic Foundation.

Master of Business Administration
UC Irvine — Paul Merage School of Business
2013 · Dean's Leadership Circle Member
Bachelor of Economics
Hamilton College
2006
CFP Education Program (Certificate)
Bryant University
2019


Professional Credentials.

Credential Issuer Year
Series 7 / Series 66FINRA2017
Life & Health Insurance LicenseFINRA2017
CT Real Estate License #0804976CT Dept. of Consumer Protection2017
CA Real Estate License #1937160California Dept. of Real Estate2013
NMLS #1084799 — Mortgage Loan OriginatorNMLS2013

What I Do Best.

Compensation & Strategy

  • Sales Compensation Design
  • Incentive Plan Modeling
  • Budget Management ($30MM+)
  • Executive Presentations (VP/SVP)

Data & Analytics

  • Excel (Advanced) — XLOOKUP, Pivot Tables
  • SQL
  • Alteryx & Tableau
  • Financial Modeling & Forecasting

Technology & AI

  • Claude AI / LLM Implementation
  • AWS Cloud Services
  • Kiro (AI Dev Tool)
  • GitHub / GitLab

Finance & Compliance

  • GAAP & Financial Reporting
  • Real Estate Finance & Lending
  • HNW Client Management
  • Cross-functional Leadership