Focus areas: Agentic AI AI Adoption Technology Strategy Procurement Governance
Helping organizations move from AI curiosity to practical, governed, useful adoption.
I help organizations understand, evaluate and adopt artificial intelligence in ways that are practical, responsible and aligned with how they actually work. I spent more than 25 years leading technology across the University of California, most recently as Associate CIO for Instruction and Executive Director, Letters and Science IT at UC Santa Barbara.
Agentic AI is the leading edge of this work, not the entirety of it.
Why now
Most organizations don’t yet have a coherent strategy for it. I help leadership decide what to do next.
Together we identify where AI can genuinely improve the work, determine what technology is appropriate, establish the necessary governance and safeguards, and build a realistic path from experimentation to adoption.
How I work
I don’t start with an AI product. I start with how your organization works.
How your people, processes, data and systems actually operate today.
Where AI can meaningfully improve the work, and where it can’t.
Buy or build, based on the problem rather than the vendor’s pitch.
Safeguards, then a realistic path from experimentation to adoption.
A practical first engagement
A clear, prioritized view of where AI can help your organization, grounded in how your organization actually works.
Workshops Proofs of concept Procurement support Agentic workflow design Governance Ongoing advisory
Schedule an initial conversationWays I can help
Each can stand on its own or follow from the assessment. All of them start with how your organization works.
Strategy
AI creates opportunities across nearly every organization, but adopting it successfully requires more than selecting a product. I work with leadership teams to identify useful AI opportunities, evaluate organizational readiness, prioritize investments, establish governance and develop practical adoption roadmaps.
Leading edge
The next stage of AI will increasingly involve systems that perform multi-step work across information, applications and organizational processes. I help organizations identify where agentic AI makes sense, redesign workflows around human and AI collaboration, evaluate platforms and architectures, and establish controls around data, access, security and accountability.
The objective is not automation for its own sake. It is better work.
Education
Leaders do not need to become AI engineers, but they increasingly need to understand what AI can do, what it cannot do and what questions they should be asking. I provide executive briefings, workshops and advisory sessions.
Procurement
Before you buy AI, understand what problem you are buying it to solve.
The AI marketplace is moving extraordinarily quickly. I help organizations define requirements, evaluate vendors, structure proofs of concept, develop RFPs, assess technology and integration approaches, and make informed build-versus-buy decisions.
Technology procurement should begin with the problem an organization needs to solve, not the product a vendor wants to sell.
Beyond AI
AI does not exist separately from the rest of an organization’s technology environment. I also advise on broader technology strategy, enterprise applications, cloud, cybersecurity, digital transformation, IT governance, service delivery, vendor management and organizational design. For organizations without a full-time senior technology executive, I offer ongoing fractional CIO and strategic advisory.
Who I work with
My experience comes from public higher education, where privacy, accessibility, FERPA, security standards, formal governance, procurement rules and many stakeholders are part of every decision.
Universities, colleges, school districts, county offices of education and education nonprofits.
Cities, counties, transportation agencies, special districts and public authorities.
Foundations and mission-driven nonprofits adopting AI responsibly.
Especially professional services firms.
Experience that goes beyond AI
My perspective on AI comes from that work. I’ve seen technology waves come and go, and I’ve operated systems long after the consultants left.
Start with the organization. Understand the work. Identify where AI creates genuine value. Then choose the technology.
Next step
Tell me where your organization is with AI and what you’re trying to decide. The form on my main page goes straight to my inbox.