I am a lifelong problem solver with a focus on improving the human condition through software. I shipped my first functional application at 12 and have been at it ever since — a path that ran through a computer science degree specializing in distributed and parallel computing, an MBA focused on entrepreneurship and global strategy, executive education at MIT Sloan, and stints at AOL, Microsoft, and a series of growth-stage software companies.
What I'm doing now
I'm currently at Microsoft, working on the side of the industry where AI agents and software engineering are colliding. The premise of my current writing — the Intent-Engineering Field Guide — is that the rules of software development are not being rewritten by AI so much as amplified. Coding agents make codebases worse without disciplined guidance. The teams that win this era are the ones who can specify intent precisely enough that an agent can be trusted with the keyboard.
That practice draws on disciplines I have been arguing for since 2009 — design-by-contract, architectural fidelity, behavior-driven development. The tools and economics have changed. The fundamentals have not.
The arc
Principal SWE Manager · Microsoft Cloud + AI
Back at Microsoft after sixteen years away, leading software engineering in the Cloud + AI organization. Day-to-day work sits squarely on the seam where AI agents and production engineering meet — which is also where the writing in the Intent-Engineering Field Guide lives.
VP of Strategy & Blockchain Practice Lead
Built and led the blockchain practice and drove strategic growth at the Durham, NC product studio. Operationalized the venture-studio business model under founder Nick Jordan. Walked into the deep end of Web3 — protocols, custody, token design — and came out with a healthy respect for the difference between what blockchain enables and what people actually need.
Founder & CEO
Founded Alekto out of personal experience with credit-reporting errors. From 2002 to 2005 I was one in twenty Americans dealing with significant inaccuracies on a credit report. That experience produced a US patent (US8401960) and a startup. Triangle Startup Factory Fall 2012 alumni; Bull City Startup Stampede 3.0 Entrepreneur in Residence. Alekto taught me what it actually costs — emotionally, financially, relationally — to take a thing from nothing to something.
Architect, Strategist, Principal
Enterprise Strategy Consultant at Microsoft for the .NET era — Motorola, NTT Verio, Verizon. Chief Software Architect at SMBLive, running global SaaS for BT, TelMex, Swisscom, and Telus. Principal at Pinson3 Systems, delivering work for Verizon Business and the public sector. The decade where I learned how enterprise software actually gets built and bought.
The foundation
A decade of progressively-deepening engineering work in research, IT, product support, and consulting. Cross-platform client-server systems, proprietary middleware, the kind of work where "polyglot" wasn't a buzzword yet. Top Secret SBI clearance held later in this period.
Outside of work
Family man. Fitness junkie. Long-time fan of twisties, fairways, and fresh powder. The Block Boys YouTube channel is a separate project covering financial sovereignty and the cultural side of blockchain — independent of the day job.