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PivotPoint: Cris Kobryn - Founder & CTO

Cris Kobryn founded PivotPoint Technology Corp. (PivotPoint) in 2003, and currently holds the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). As a Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB), PivotPoint is at the forefront of advanced technology, adopting a remote-first strategy and focusing on Model-Based Digital Engineering + AI℠ solutions. The company provides cutting-edge services and products that synergistically blend Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Modeling & Simulation (ModSim), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Digital Twin technologies. For over two decades, PivotPoint has leveraged these integrated technologies to solve wicked problems in science, engineering, and business for its distinguished international clientele.

Short Bio

Cris Kobryn is an American software engineer, systems engineer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for leading large international teams of vendors and users to specify the Unified Modeling Language (UML) v1 and v2 standards for software engineering, and the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) v1 standard for systems engineering. He is an internationally recognized expert in architectural modeling languages (UML, SysML, AgileML, CyberML, ArchiMate), enterprise architecture frameworks (DoDAF, UPDM, UAF, TOGAF), and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) processes and tools. In recognition of Cris's contributions to the UML the Object Management Group (OMG) presented him with its Distinguished Service Award in 2000, and in acknowledgement of his contributions to the SysML the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) presented him with its Outstanding Service Award in 2006.

Kobryn began his software engineering career in the early 1980s specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) programming languages (Prolog, Lisp, CLOS) and applications (knowledge-based expert systems, natural language processing). He led the applications group at Harlequin Limited in the early 1990s that developed two innovative commercial AI application products: 1) KnowledgeWorks, a Knowledge-Based Expert System (KBES) toolkit built on top of Harlequin's flagship LispWorks product, which supported rule-based or logic programming (including support for Prolog) and a SQL database interface; 2) Watson, a version of KnowledgeWorks customized for police investigative analysis applications, which was eventually acquired by Xanalys Limited.

Before founding PivotPoint, Kobryn held senior technical positions at Telelogic, EDS, MCI Systemhouse, Inference, Harlequin, and SAIC. Prior to working as a software and systems engineer, Kobryn served as a commissioned officer in both the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army, and was infantry, armor, airborne and Special Forces qualified.

Kobryn received a BA degree from Colgate University and a BSCS degree from San Diego State University. His multi-disciplinary graduate studies at SDSU and UCLA explored the synergies among linguistics, computer science and artificial intelligence. He is a former computer science instructor at the University of California, San Diego Extension, where he taught AI programming languages.

Talk less, Architect and ModSim more. Cris Kobryn, Founder & CEO
Before founding PivotPoint, Kobryn held senior technical positions at Telelogic, EDS, MCI Systemhouse, Inference, Harlequin, and SAIC. Prior to working as a software and systems engineer, Kobryn served as a commissioned officer in both the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army, and was infantry, armor, airborne and Special Forces qualified.

Kobryn received a BA degree from Colgate University and a BSCS degree from San Diego State University. His multi-disciplinary graduate studies at SDSU and UCLA explored the synergies among linguistics, computer science and artificial intelligence. He is a former computer science instructor at the University of California, San Diego Extension and is a member of the ACM, IEEE, INCOSE, and AAAI.

Model-Based Digital Engineering: Confluence of MBSE + Digital Twins

Cris is an internationally-recognized expert in enterprise architecture modeling languages (UML, SysML), enterprise architecture frameworks (DoDAF, UPDM, TOGAF), Model-Based Systems Engineering (SysML, various SysML tools), and Modeling & Simulation (ModSim). He chaired large international teams of software tool vendors and power users to specify the Unified Modeling Language (UML) 1.x and 2.0 standards for Model-Driven Development (MDD), and the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) 1.0 standard for Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). In recognition of Cris's seminal contributions to the UML, the Object Management Group (OMG) presented him with its Distinguished Service Award in 2000, and in acknowledgement of his seminal contributions to the SysML, the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) presented him with its Outstanding Service Award in 2006. In 2007, Cris accepted the SD Times 100 "Modeling" category award on behalf of the SysML Partners' open source specification project that he chaired.

As the CTO of PivotPoint Cris has extended the UML + SysML language family with two proprietary general-purpose profiles and model libraries: AgileML™ (Agile Modeling Language™) and CyberML™ (Cyber Modeling Language™). AgileML is a UML/SysML profile and model library which supports recursive System Analysis, System Design, and System Architecture patterns for Agile MBSE applications. CyberML further extends AgileML with recursive network design and cybersecurity patterns for fault-tolerant distributed systems that are also cybersecure.

Cris has used his broad expertise in Modeling & Simulation to advance a rigorous Model-Based Digital Engineering™ (MBDE™) approach to solve wicked problems in engineering and business. MBDE is the fusion of two complementary technologies that emphasize MODSIM: Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Digital Engineering (a.k.a., Digital Twins).
Cris has been designing and architecting fault-tolerant, cybersecure distributed systems since the Internet was called the ARPANET (early 1980’s). Recently, he has combined his expertise in enterprise architecture modeling language design and distributed computing environments to develop CyberML™ (Cyber Modeling Language™), a UML/SysML profile and model library with recursive network design and cybersecurity patterns for fault-tolerant distributed systems that are also cybersecure. CyberML supports the specification of network nodes, network communication protocols, network connections, network topologies, cybersecurity devices, and strong encryption techniques.

The CyberML can be customized to support emerging Cybersecurity Framework standards, such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST Special Publication 800-37), DoD Risk Management Framework (RMF), and ISO/IEC 27000. For more information about CyberML see the the CyberML.com web.

Work-in-Progress: CyberML is being extended to support recursive patterns for cryptocurrency and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications for the emerging cryptoeconomics cross-discipline.
Cris began his software engineering career in the early 1980s, and quickly gained recognition as an expert in AI programming languages (Prolog, Lisp, CLOS), and their practical applications (knowledge-based expert systems, natural language processing). He has successfully implemented AI technologies in both commercial and defense applications. He played a pivotal role as the leader of the applications group at Harlequin Limited, where his team developed two groundbreaking commercial AI application products:
  • KnowledgeWorks™: This was a Knowledge-Based Expert System (KBES) toolkit built on top of Harlequin's flagship LispWorks product. KnowledgeWorks supported rule-based and logic programming, including Prolog, and featured a SQL database interface.
  • Watson™: An iteration of KnowledgeWorks that was tailored for police investigative analysis applications. Watson eventually found its home with Xanalys Limited through acquisition.
Before Cris became a software engineer, he served as a commissioned officer in both the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army, and was infantry, armor, airborne, and Special Forces qualified.

Academia & Professional Societies

Cris received a BA degree from Colgate University, a BSCS degree from San Diego State University, and pursued multi-disciplinary graduate studies at SDSU and UCLA, where he was a graduate fellow. Cris's graduate studies explored the synergies among Linguistics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Cris is a frequent invited speaker at industry conferences and workshops that are concerned with Model-Based Engineering, UML and SysML. He is a former computer science instructor at the University of California, San Diego Extension and is a member of the ACM, IEEE, INCOSE, and AAAI.

Selected Publications

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