One person. 35+ years of doing the work.

Writing software professionally since 1989. First job out of high school at CRI Advantage on the HP campus in Boise. Three and a half decades since.

The last seven years on backend at Smartsheet. Before that, work for the USDA Forest Service, NBCUniversal (NBCNews.com, Today.com), the Gates Foundation, and the Chicago Field Museum.

Security+ certified. Founder of PillarShield, a live AI content governance product running on Google Cloud, with airgapped on-prem deployment available for customers who need it.

"There is SO much to AI, I want to help you figure out exactly what you need, and how to use it."

Why I started PillarPoint

I built an enterprise tool with AI that uses AI. While I was doing it, I started talking to other tech people around town about their projects. A lot of folks here are dipping their toes in, curious, experimenting, trying to figure out what's worth their time.

What I noticed was that nobody is actually helping people in the Tri-Cities figure out what they can do with AI, or helping them go do it. I can help. I want to help. That's why this exists.

How I work

• I show up in person. Coffee meetings, not Zoom calls, unless you really like Zoom.
• I write things down. Every engagement ends with something on paper you can read again next month.
• I tell you if a tool is the wrong answer. That's the most valuable thing I can do.
• I don't take vendor commissions. The tools I recommend are the tools I'd use myself.
• I build, not just advise. I have working code, working products, and early users.

Outside of work

Family time, photography, woodworking, video games with my kids, and exploring this side of the state. The Tri-Cities gets dismissed as a stop on the way to somewhere else. There's waterfalls, rolling hills, real rivers, dark skies, and weekends worth of trails most people on the wet side will never see. I run an AI home lab too, because knowing what AI can actually do means running it yourself, not just reading about it.