Builder. Strategist. Translator.

I've spent about twenty-five years building production software — most of it solo or in small teams, much of it for owner-led businesses, a lot of it in Ruby on Rails. Not demos: scheduling, inventory, billing, operations — the unglamorous machinery that actually runs companies, built to survive real Tuesdays for years at a stretch.

A few years ago the work changed. AI made building faster, but more importantly it changed what's worth building and who gets to build it. I went deep — not on the hype, on the practice: daily collaboration with AI on real production work, and building the memory and context systems that turn a clever tool into a dependable teammate. These days I work as much like a product manager as an engineer. The AI does more of the typing. I do the judgment.

The name of this practice is in the three things I actually do. Builder: the systems themselves. Strategist: where they fit in a real business, and what to ignore. Translator: the bridge between what's technically possible and the people who have to live with it. That last one is where I spend the most care, because the hardest problems in AI adoption aren't technical. They're human — fear, identity, permission, trust. That's where the work is.

About "selective by design": I work alone, on purpose, with a small number of clients at a time. I can't help everyone, so the first conversation is free and honest — including "you don't need me" when that's the truth. If we're not a fit, you'll still leave with clarity. That's the deal.

I live in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where I do my best thinking on long walks.