Current work#
I am a Principal Research Engineer at Microsoft in the Office of the CTO. My current work is building AI systems by augmenting generative models with systems and cognitive architectures. We explore what we can do with LLMs to unlock their utility to a larger range of applications and spend our time building functional prototypes and sharing our learnings across Microsoft, academia, and the wider industry.
Our work has been making its way into products like Semantic Kernel, Microsoft Teams, and Bing, and is used by research teams around the world.
Civil Society#
A new and growing interest of mine is in the well-being of civil society as civil liberties and human dignity are being challenged by the collusion among states and corporations to the advantage of an elite few. Most of my current articles and side projects are related to reorienting a nearly 35-year technology career towards the empowerment of civil society through open technologies and the Internet.
Artificial Intelligence#
I have had a life-long interest in autonomous agents and multi-agent systems, first in specializations in college (an emphasis on robotics and control with my BSME, and an emphasis on AI with my MSCS) and later through numerous startups.
I strongly believe AI will effect nearly every aspect of society in the upcoming decades and it is important now to be engaged in ensuring that the benefits of AI are positive and broadly distributed.
I founded the Seattle AI Society in 2023 where, in addition to professional networking and creative project collaborations, we held weekly discussions on AI’s impact on society from various perspectives.
In late 2023, I published a series of articles investigating topics of machine thinking in a newsletter named “Investigations in Mind”.
Innovation#
I have a long history of working in innovation labs, including Microsoft Research, Microsoft Area51, Xinova, Ivy Softworks, and the Nordstrom Innovation Lab.
Through these engagement, I developed expertise in numerous innovation methodologies including Microsoft’s Central Incubation Framework (heavily influenced by Wiley’s excellent series of books including Value Proposition Design and The Corporate Startup), Jobs to be Done (a la Outcome Driven Innovation from Tony Ulwick), Design Thinking (a la Stanford d.school and IDEO), Lean Software Development (a la the Toyota Production System and Agile), and all the way back to the classics: Blank’s Customer Development and Christensen’s Disruptive Innovation.
I have learned there is no single one-size-fits-all approach to innovation or product development. Each product grows in its own context, with unique macro-economics, new emerging technologies, and ever evolving people.
In the end, all successful innovation processes focus on fundamentals… who is the product for? What job does your product do for them? Does it work? Do the economics make sense? Does the new business make sense for your organization? Use all the tools as appropriate, but really, just do something fascinating that people will love.
Startups#
I’ve been an early or founding member of multiple startups including Atlas Informatics (Director of Platform and Infrastructure), Fiero, and Navigating Cancer (Lead UX).
In 2002, I founded MinistryHome, a website builder (like Wix or Squarespace) integrated with donation, newsletter, and other tools for small non-profits. In 2006 I began turning MinistryHome into a social network as Facebook was quickly making small websites irrelevant (at least that’s what I thought at the time). This all was enough to attract multiple buyers, one of whom I sold to in 2007.
Personal#
I’m a deeply proud father of two incredible people and rely on their ongoing experiences of the world to motivate much of my ongoing desire to make it a better place for the next generation.
In my spare time I have pursued passions in oil painting, gardening, and home renovation, but I haven’t touched in on those in far too many years.
I’m always looking for new connections, growing community, and interesting collaborations, so if you share any of these interests, don’t hesitate to reach out.