The story behind the island
Nearly three decades of production operating discipline. Now pointed at AI.
The through-line is the habit of making consequential work observable, governed, and recoverable.
The operating discipline came first.
Production automation under constraint
I ran data center operations for two 24x7 DRAM fabrication plants, 200mm and 300mm, on one site built by Siemens and Motorola. The facility later became Infineon, then Qimonda. I was there from start-up to the shutdown after Chapter 11. Automation was not a demo. It had to run a production environment through the full lifecycle.
- Built and operated the fully automated, fully virtualized production data center with a 14-person team.
- Founded and ran the site IT program management office.
- Led a Lean Six Sigma project that centralized fab fault-detection data.
- Build, operate, dismantle: stayed through the Chapter 11 wind-down to direct technical dismantlement and IT asset disposition.
Enterprise technology through five operating lenses
The chronology is a progression, not a single title: infrastructure integration, enterprise transformation, cybersecurity, identity product leadership, and portfolio execution. It took me from operating one production estate to coordinating decisions across a regulated enterprise matrix.
- Program manager for IT infrastructure on a bank integration.
- Directed a data-center consolidation program management office.
- Delivered monthly cybersecurity portfolio insight to senior executives.
- Led identity and access management product work and agile portfolio delivery.
A deliberate break to rebuild the toolkit
Full-time, self-directed immersion building agent systems, governed knowledge bases, and automated workflows. It was an intentional build period, not a pause in the arc.
- The immersion is the direct foundation of the operating practice I use today.
- Held primary-caregiver responsibility for my young children.
- Earned the Project Management Professional certification.
AI-native portfolio leadership
I apply the same operating discipline to bounded AI workflows, portfolio visibility, executive decision support, and responsible adoption in a regulated enterprise.
- Lead a consultant portfolio that peaked at 150.
- Standardize roles and delivery expectations, improve visibility, and set a quality floor that does not depend on heroics.
- Built a personal operating environment, then worked with a principal-level engineer to build a governed counterpart for a regulated enterprise.
How I work
Getting value from AI is an operating problem. These are production-operations habits carried into AI work.
Persistent context.
Sessions inherit context instead of starting cold.
Curated capability.
Capabilities are added deliberately, then removed when they do not earn their place.
Sourced knowledge.
Agents work from curated, sourced knowledge.
Executable proof.
Prove it before trusting it.
Builder
In my twenties I built a 36x60 two-story pole barn, cleared 25 acres, and built a paddock and a sawdust bin with a retractable roof. I designed the barn with a hay loft; a contractor set the poles and roof and I finished the siding, doors and concrete.
Family
I make storybooks, games and other projects for my kids. So far: a game-maker workbook, a cooperative game kit, and a 44-page illustrated storybook. The sabbatical was also caregiving time, and that is part of the arc.