I began as an industrial computer programmer, writing control systems where software met physical processes and small design choices carried irreversible consequences.
I later earned a PhD in Philosophy from Emory University, studying how systems and institutions shape what people can perceive, decide, and become.
Over the next two decades, I worked inside organizations where those ideas stopped being theoretical: consulting with Fortune 500 companies, founding a business, building systems that changed how institutions operate, and leading large initiatives at Emory University. There, I founded the university's first center for innovation and entrepreneurship, created the first faculty data system, and co-founded the Center for AI Learning. I also led continuing education and advised leaders navigating technological and organizational change.
Today I design and build AI systems for organizations—and I write about what it takes to do this well. Not just the technology, but the processes and the people.
AI is inevitable and useful. The question is how to get it right—in the tech, the workflow, and the humans involved. That's what I work on.
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Why customer tools are organized wrong
This article reveals a fundamental flaw in how customer support tools are designed—organizing by interaction type instead of by customer—and explains why this fragmentation wastes time and obscures the full picture you need to help users effectively.
Busy is not a state
We've built work cultures that reward activity, even when nothing actually changes. In technical systems, activity doesn't count—only state change does. This essay explores why "busy" has become the most misleading signal we have, and how focusing on state instead of motion makes work more honest, less draining, and actually productive.
Infrastructure shapes thought
The tools you build determine what kinds of thinking become possible. On infrastructure, friction, and building deliberately for thought rather than just throughput.