SolutionsMET’s Human-Centered Approach to Bridging the Digital Divide

Michael J. Charles was only 13 when a seismologist named Inés Cifuentes handed him a disassembled Mac computer and asked him to help build her classroom tech program at the Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE). He didn’t know it then, but that moment would set the foundation for a lifetime in technology – one that would ultimately lead him to start a company that sits at the intersection of innovation and inclusion.

Today, Michael is the founder and CEO of SolutionsMET, a fast-growing IT firm headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. With more than 20 employees and contracts across five states, SolutionsMET offers high-level consulting and technical services to federal and state agencies. But despite everything accomplished, Michael has never lost sight of the kid he was – or the people and communities that technology too often leaves behind.

Michael left corporate to start SolutionsMET because “I realized I was in love with technology, but passionate about people,” he says. “That’s who I am, and that’s what our company is about – bridging the gap between people and technology.”

From Carnegie to Capital One

Michael’s path to business ownership is deeply rooted in public service and personal mentorship. He was raised in Trinidad and Tobago by a single mother of 4 before moving to D.C. He got his first job through special work permit programs for underage youth. By age 14, he was doing network engineering and debugging software for top-tier scientific institutions, often interacting with high-level figures like Ralph Nader and nationally recognized leading scientists during science foundation meetings.

That early exposure to high-performance environments taught him how to deliver under pressure. He co-founded his first company, Visual Elements, in college and later held senior software leadership roles at major firms like SRA, GDIT, and Capital One.

But by the time he was a director at Capital One, he was beginning to feel a growing disconnect.

“I kept seeing that the people who got pushed out weren’t less capable. They just weren’t seen. Especially Black men. Especially women of color,” he says. “I realized it wasn’t a merit issue. It was systemic, subtle, cultural.”

Building SolutionsMET and Building Culture

Founded in 2017, SolutionsMET began as a side venture while Michael was still working full-time. By 2018, he was ready to go all in. A self-described conservative entrepreneur, Michael didn’t leap until his revenue equaled his salary. But the company has since grown into a multi-million dollar enterprise, doubling its size year over year.

SolutionsMET specializes in:

• Legacy system modernization
• Cloud-native software development
• IT business management and scalability
• Financial operations (FinOps) and cloud cost optimization

The firm’s client base is mostly federal and state agencies, but the company culture is anything but bureaucratic. SolutionsMET hosts weekly “Welcome to Friday” team calls, virtual happy hours, and fosters a remote-first environment designed around trust and transparency.

“We believe success begins with culture. Culture inspires passion, passion leads to discovery, discovery drives innovation, and innovation produces solutions that matter.,” says Michael.

What’s Next? BeDecisiveTM

Now, SolutionsMET is taking its internal innovation to the next level—with the launch of a new AI-powered managed service called BeDecisiveTM.

Funded in part by Montgomery County’s Innovation Tech Fund, BeDecisive is a platform built to support small businesses with enterprise-grade decision making tools.

“Large companies have financial forecasting tools, pricing models, RFP analysis engines. We built our own, because QuickBooks and Excel weren’t cutting it,” Michael explains. “Now we want to make the tool’s functionality accessible to others.”

BeDecisive includes features like:

• AI-driven salary and project cost calculators
• RFP/RFI fit analysis
• Digital twin modeling to capture institutional knowledge as companies grow

While designed to be a revenue-generating managed service, there’s a mission behind the BeDecisive platform.

“There’s a real risk that AI will widen the wealth gap,” Michael says. “We’re trying to make sure that small business owners—especially Black and Brown entrepreneurs—don’t get left behind. This is our way of giving back.”

Montgomery County Roots, Multi-State Reach

Michael has called Montgomery County home since 1994. He attended Colonel E. Brooke Lee Middle School (now Odessa Shannon Middle School) and John F. Kennedy High School, both in Silver Spring, before graduating from Churchill High School in Potomac. Today, his children are growing up in the same county school system that helped shape his own path.

SolutionsMET is headquartered in Bethesda, but the company operates remotely across five states. And while Michael is frank about Maryland’s business climate–citing a new 3% tax on IT services as a challenge–for now, he’s committed to staying rooted locally.

Michael’s commitment to Montgomery County is active and ongoing. Recently, he joined the board of the Montgomery County Black Collective, a county initiative focused on empowering local Black businesses and communities. He and his team contribute time and expertise to support local organizations, including the IgniteHub, A Wider Circle, and the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless. Through mentoring, educational sessions, public speaking, and community engagement, they help strengthen digital confidence and expand access, especially for aspiring entrepreneurs and communities of color..

“We’re digital natives at SolutionsMET,” Michael says. “But we understand that many business owners weren’t raised in homes where digital literacy was a given. We want to help them catch up and thrive.”

SolutionsMET – Bethesda, Maryland

• Serving Federal, State, and now small businesses across five states
• Focus areas: IT modernization, cloud-native development, FinOps
• New launch: BeDecisive, an AI-powered decision-support platform for small business owners
• Montgomery County Innovation Tech Fund recipient