Carl Barlow was born in Dallas, Texas, graduated from Plano Senior High School in 1981, and from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1985, earning an Engineering B.S. in Computer Science. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy aboard the U.S.S. Robison (DDG-12), stationed in San Diego, California.
In 1990, Carl left the Navy and became a computer programmer at Symitar, writing financial software for credit unions. Carl was later promoted to Manager of Product Development (2001) and Director of Software Architecture (2006). In January 2010 Carl left Jack Henry & Associates to join startup company Corelation, Inc. as their Director of System Architecture, working on the new KeyStone core system for credit unions.
His hobbies include piano, singing, ballroom dance, acting, and history. He lives in San Diego, California with his wife Mary and his Welsh Terrier Corky.