William Allen Sorbie
Bradenton, Florida. A geek by day, Freemason by night.
Hello — I’m Allen. Most people online know me as DotBat, and the story of that name is the story of how I’ve approached everything since.
Why “DotBat”?
Early in my career I was a QA tester at Commodore — yes, that Commodore. Testing meant running the same checks on machine after machine, and doing anything twice by hand offends me on a deep level. So I wrote DOS batch files — .bat scripts — that automated the whole test suite and ran it identically across every computer on the bench.
Do it once, do it right, let the machine do it forever. The scripts got a reputation. So did the guy who wrote them, and the file extension became the nickname: dot-bat.
C:\> dotbat.bat
Automating since MS-DOS.Forty years of technology later, I’m still that guy — the tools are just fancier. These days the batch files have become AI models running on my own hardware, but the instinct is identical.
The career, briefly
I spent my working life bringing a technologist’s perspective to business problems — and learning that the technology was never actually the hard part. People, trust, and teamwork are the hard part. Mentoring others toward their full potential became my true passion; information technology just provided the vehicle.
| Years | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| Early career | Commodore | QA tester — birth of the batch files |
| 1995–1999 | Dundas & Wilson | IT Manager — network infrastructure |
| 1999–2002 | Arthur Andersen | Telecom consulting, until the firm’s collapse taught me more about adaptability than any success ever did |
| 2003–2004 | JP Morgan Chase | Senior consultant — app dev, UAT, change management |
| 2004–2025 | Vertex Inc. | Director of Information Security — 21 years building and running the enterprise security program: policy, compliance, incident response, privacy, risk |
Twenty-one years at one company is unfashionable. I’d do it again. Trust compounds, and there is no shortcut to it — you show up, you keep your word, and two decades later you look up and realize the track record is the résumé.
I retired in October 2025. I still take the occasional advisory conversation — if that’s why you’re here, find me on LinkedIn.
The other thirty years
In 1992 I petitioned a Masonic Lodge, and it quietly became the other great thread of my life. I’ve since served as Worshipful Master of Phoenix Lodge No. 346 in Sarasota, worked through the chairs of the York Rite, led the state Grand Council as Most Illustrious Grand Master, and in 2025 had the honor of serving as Potentate of Sahib Shriners — six hundred Nobles, one unforgettable year, and none of it possible without my wife Sherry, whose patience and support have been the bedrock under all of it.
If you want the full journey — or you’re curious what Freemasonry actually is — start here:
[My Masonic Journey →] [Curious about becoming a Mason? →]
Off the clock
Golf on the weekends (enthusiasm exceeds handicap). 3D printing things the house does not strictly need. Building and tinkering with AI on a machine with entirely too many graphics cards. The occasional bit of artwork. And family on both sides of the Atlantic — I’m a dual US/UK citizen, and some of my favorite weeks are spent back in Britain.
Say hello
I like hearing from people — old colleagues, fellow Masons, fellow tinkerers, or anyone who found the batch-file page and has opinions about GOTO.