Cesia Partners translates business intent into technology execution. The firm provides program management and technology transformation support for banks, regulated financial institutions, and government programs, with depth in anti-money laundering (AML), financial crimes, and legal and compliance technology.
Start a conversationFounded by a Marine Corps veteran with over 25 years in technology, 12+ in regulated financial services. SBA-certified Veteran-Owned Small Business. SAM.gov active. CAGE 1AQ46.
Technology programs in regulated financial services rarely fail because of the technology. They fail because the business hands IT a solution instead of a problem, and IT builds exactly what was asked for. Nobody translated the requirement into the problem it was meant to solve.
Cesia Partners works as the translation layer between the people who own a requirement and the teams who build against it. Accountable business leaders define the problem before work enters the backlog. Technical leads propose solutions, and those proposals become resource and cost estimates the business approves before work starts.
The founder began his career as a Java developer and solutions architect, so technical root causes surface early. As Head of AML Technology at T. Rowe Price, he returned a platform migration that was two years behind schedule to predictable delivery within about six months.
Program leadership for regulated technology programs, from planning through recovery.
Program management for regulated technology programs, including recovery of programs that are behind schedule: finding the cause of the breakdown, resetting commitments, and restoring predictable delivery.
A structured intake step between business requestors and delivery teams, so that each request arrives with a defined problem, an accountable owner, and a cost estimate before work begins.
Transaction monitoring platforms such as NICE Actimize and Fiserv FCRM, including platform migration, scenario testing, and alert tuning support.
Contract lifecycle management, eDiscovery, legal workflow automation, and compliance surveillance platforms. Includes review of AI features for explainability, human oversight, and defensibility before production use.
Executive portfolio governance in which business and technology leaders set funding and priority together, capability-aligned Lean Agile teams, and supplier risk classification.
Build-versus-buy analysis, requirements definition, and evaluation and selection of commercial platforms.
Guillermo Barquero is Founder and Principal of Cesia Partners. A Marine Corps veteran with over 25 years in technology, including 12+ in regulated financial services, he has led AML, compliance, legal, and audit technology organizations as a VP at T. Rowe Price and a Senior IT Manager at USAA. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the Virginia Military Institute.
The results below come from the principal's prior employment. They are not Cesia Partners contract past performance.
As Head of AML Technology at T. Rowe Price, he recovered an Actimize to Fiserv FCRM migration that was two years behind schedule. The program returned to predictable delivery within about 6 months and reached Actimize parity about 9 months after he joined, clearing the path to retire the legacy platform and end dual vendor cost.
He also partnered with the FIU and Model Risk on threshold tuning that reduced false positive alerts 70% year over year, freeing about $4M a year in investigator capacity.
As Head of Legal, Compliance and Audit Technology at T. Rowe Price, he raised delivery against commitments from about 70% to about 90% in two quarters and improved delivery cycle time about 40%.
He built an executive portfolio team that jointly set funding and priority, extending the roadmap from 3 months to multi-year and ending shadow IT procurement.
At USAA, he led a Bank Deposits engineering organization as it grew from 9 to 50+ engineers in 12 months, including building an IBM nearshore partnership.
At USAA, he also formed and led the program layer of the Enterprise AML Agile Release Train on a program that was behind schedule.
Commercial engagements follow three phases. The founder leads every engagement directly. Fees are scoped to each engagement and agreed before work begins.
A diagnostic of the technology organization, delivery performance, and alignment with the business. The result is a clear account of where delivery is breaking down and a prioritized plan to fix it.
Embedded program leadership: aligning the business and technology on priorities, restoring delivery against commitments, and building the team's ability to sustain the results.
Periodic advisory support after the transformation: governance reviews, leadership coaching, and early review of programs that start to slip.
Cesia Partners supports prime contractors on unclassified work for civilian agencies and financial regulators, in program management and regulated technology roles.
As an SBA-certified Veteran-Owned Small Business, Cesia Partners counts toward the veteran-owned small business goals in prime subcontracting plans.
Download capability statement (PDF)| Legal name | Cesia Partners LLC |
|---|---|
| Business type | SBA-certified Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), certified May 11, 2026 |
| SAM.gov | Active registration |
| UEI | LTQ1ZMDVCE45 |
| CAGE | 1AQ46 |
| Primary NAICS | 541611 Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services |
| Other NAICS | 541512 Computer Systems Design Services 541519 Other Computer Related Services 541690 Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services |
| PSC | R408 Program Management and Support R499 Other Professional Services |
| Point of contact | Guillermo Barquero, Founder and Principal guillermo@cesiapartners.com 703.868.3289 |
If your organization has a technology program under pressure, a strained relationship between the business and IT, or a team that has lost momentum, contact Cesia Partners. Prime contractors looking for a veteran-owned teaming partner on regulated technology programs are also welcome to reach out.