# Chris Dillie

> Chris Dillie is the co-founder, former CEO and executive board chair of ESO. His career spans volunteer service, emergency operations and software leadership, including ESO’s international engineering expansion and a planned CEO succession in 2023.

- **Role:** Executive Board Chair at ESO
- **Organizations:** ESO, Austin/Travis County EMS, Sweetwater Volunteer Fire Department, YPO
- **Known for:** Co-founded ESO in 2004 and became president and CEO in 2009., Selected as a 2018 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Central Texas finalist., Led ESO during its first engineering expansion outside the United States, announced in 2019.

## Career timeline

- **1989-1991** — Volunteer firefighter and first responder at Sweetwater Volunteer Fire Department, as listed on LinkedIn.
- **Before ESO** — Worked in emergency-service operations, including as a commander at Austin/Travis County EMS; also worked in real estate.
- **2004** — Co-founded ESO in Austin; initially worked in marketing and sales.
- **2009** — Became ESO president and CEO.
- **2017** — Led ESO when it acquired FIREHOUSE Software and hired the FIREHOUSE team.
- **2018** — Selected as an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Central Texas finalist.
- **2019** — Announced a Belfast engineering centre with plans for 120 jobs over three years.
- **2021** — ESO announced a strategic investment agreement with Vista Equity Partners and the acquisition of Emergency Reporting.
- **2022** — ESO acquired Toronto-based Interdev Technologies; Eric Beck joined as president.
- **2023** — Moved from CEO to executive board chair in July; the planned succession was announced publicly in August.

## Achievements

- Co-founded ESO in 2004 and became president and CEO in 2009.
- Selected as a 2018 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Central Texas finalist.
- Led ESO during its first engineering expansion outside the United States, announced in 2019.
- Previously led quality initiatives involving 1,300 providers at Austin/Travis County EMS.

## Latest updates

- **2023-07** — Dillie announced his transition from CEO to executive board chair, effective at the start of July.
- **2023-08** — ESO publicly announced Eric Beck’s succession as CEO and Dillie’s executive chair role.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdillie

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/chris-dillie
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23