My AI Journey

I was laid officially laid off from my job in early March this year. I chose to view this loss as an opportunity to make a switch; potentially landing in something that was a stronger fit for me. Five months later, I actually believe it.

I have been fortunate. I have faced relatively less pressure to find "the next thing" than many of my colleagues. I have given myself the space necessary to explore freely. I've been able to dive deep into personal interests. A big part of this has been in using AI for application development and automation.

In my last role, I was fortunate to be working with some of the leaders in data analytics in the international development sector. Integrity designed AI tools to organize and peruse a subset of the infamous "DEC," USAID's repository for artifacts related to the workings and learnings of their projects around the world. I was able to later work with the data analytics team and explore possibilities of using the emerging technology to amplify our business development efforts.

I've more recently set my sights on building my knowledge and skillset. I soon found it necessary to access paid tiers of several tools. I've experimented with "one shot" app development, including with v0 and Replit. I am now using other, more "hands-on" methods, like AI-enabled IDEs and CLI tools. Through using these tools, I was also able to learn key concepts related to web application architecture, software development, and agentic AI. It helped that I was always technically inclined and have done some hobby programming.

I am now comfortable with the practical uses of this technology (as well as the limits). I have developed web apps, stood up this personal website, automated common workflows using AI agents, and learned a ton about utilizing APIs, MCPs, and open source libraries. One thing that I'm continually impressed by is the generosity of current and previous generations of software developers and the power of the tools they've left behind for our benefit (often at no cost). We are in a position to harness these technologies because of the efforts of these giants.

I'm ready to connect and discuss partnership or to help problem-solve around your sticky issues and broader goals. Feel free to drop me a line.