Chris Bates, Chief Executive Officer

Chris Bates is CEO of Pinnacle IT, the Little Rock-based firm he has led from a small shop called The Computer Hut, founded in Arkansas in 1992, to a statewide team of more than 45 IT professionals.

The company's first real break came in 2002, when Metropolitan National Bank handed over its IT to what was then a very small operation. The bank remained Pinnacle IT's largest client until its acquisition by Simmons, and the work set the pattern for everything since: earn the trust, then keep it. Today Chris leads a team focused on the cyber and data security problems every business now faces.

Thirty-plus years in, his conviction is unchanged in a field where the technology and the threats both move every year, the firms worth hiring are the ones still learning.

Chris holds a BBA in Computer Information Systems from the University of Central Arkansas. He and his family live in Little Rock, where he is the proud father of two boys and two dogs.

Teri Westbrook, Director of Technology & Cybersecurity

Teri Westbrook is Director of Technology and Cybersecurity at Pinnacle IT, where she leads the firm's dedicated technology and service teams. Her work sits at the point where technical decisions become business decisions... what to move to the cloud and when, where the real security exposure is, and how emerging technologies like AI can be adopted safely and responsibly.

She has spent her career helping organizations navigate technology, cybersecurity, data privacy, and risk. A Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE), Teri brings a practical approach to complex technology decisions: understand the business first, identify the real risks, and then recommend the technology. She is particularly passionate about making cybersecurity understandable, helping organizations move beyond simply checking compliance boxes to building security practices that actually protect their people and data.

Teri is a frequent speaker and panelist on cybersecurity, privacy, AI, and emerging technology and regularly provides cybersecurity education and training to organizations across Arkansas.

A proud North Little Rock resident, Teri is a mom to two humans and two very spoiled dogs. Away from technology, she is an enthusiastic Cubs, Steelers, and Arkansas Razorbacks fan and can usually find a reason to say, “Go Hogs!”

Austin Bates, Director of Sales & Marketing

Austin Bates is the second generation at Pinnacle IT. He grew up around the business and started working here part-time at 13, which means he has seen the company from the server closet up.

Today, as Director of Sales & Marketing, he leads the team that helps Arkansas businesses turn security and compliance requirements into working practices. Frameworks like HIPAA, CMMC, and CJIS land on the desks of owners, office managers, and compliance officers who never asked to become security experts. Austin's job is to help make the path forward clear and the outcome real. He sharpens that work through a Vistage Key Group and Trust X Alliance, an IT-leader peer group.

Austin and his wife, Kayla, live in Bryant with their four children. Their Christian faith is the center of their life, and most of the rest of it is spent at a ballfield, a gym, or a practice somewhere. Austin is also a member of the Rotary 99 Club of Little Rock.