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Media veteran with nearly two decades of experience across network broadcasting and systems architecture to lead CHESA’s solutions consulting practice
BALTIMORE, MD: June 8, 2026 — CHESA (Chesapeake Systems, Inc.), a leading media-technology systems integrator, today announced the promotion of Ryan Lakey to Vice President, Solutions Consulting, effective June 8, 2026. Lakey brings over 18 years of professional media experience to the role, including 15 years in network broadcasting at ABC News and CNN, where he helped pioneer early content-delivery and media-operations systems on some of the most demanding live stories in the business. Over his career he has been recognized with seven Peabody Awards, an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, a duPont Award, and an IBC Innovation Award.
Since joining CHESA, Lakey has served as a principal architect on many of the company’s most complex engagements, most recently as Principal Lead, Solutions. His work spans the full media supply chain, from acquisition and editorial through storage, asset management, archive, and cloud migration for clients across media and entertainment, sports, enterprise, and the federal government. He is also a regular voice in the broader industry, including at forums such as the Sports Video Group Summit, where he has shared CHESA’s real-world experience moving live production from legacy tape archives to modern cloud workflows.
“Ryan has spent his entire career in the rooms where media actually gets made. Newsrooms, control rooms, edit bays, and the architecture behind all of them,” said Jason Paquin, Chief Executive Officer of CHESA. “That perspective is rare, and it is exactly what our clients have come to rely on. This promotion recognizes the discipline and the leadership Ryan already brings to every project, and it puts him in a position to shape how we deliver for the teams who trust us. I could not be more confident handing him this practice.”
In his expanded role, Lakey will lead CHESA’s solutions consulting organization, with responsibility for how the company scopes, designs, and stands behind the media-workflow systems it delivers. The appointment reflects CHESA’s continued investment in the consultative, “diagnosis before prescription” approach that has defined the company for more than three decades. Listening first, understanding the business problem, and then recommending the right solution.
That approach has earned CHESA a reputation its clients value and return to, and Lakey’s elevation is designed to extend it. As media organizations navigate cloud adoption, IP-based production, and AI-driven workflows at an accelerating pace, the company is deepening the senior architecture and consulting muscle that has long differentiated it, ensuring clients continue to receive the same caliber of guidance and execution as their needs grow more sophisticated.
“I have been fortunate to work on some of the most demanding stories and productions in this industry, and the one thing I have learned is that great technology only matters if it serves the people using it,” said Ryan Lakey, Vice President, Solutions Consulting at CHESA. “CHESA has built something our clients genuinely value, a culture of excellence and a level of trust that is rare in this business. I am honored to step into this role, and my focus is on building on that foundation: making sure our solutions consulting team keeps delivering the standard of work that has earned us those relationships, on every engagement and at every scale.”
The promotion is effective immediately.
