I explain hard things without the fog.
Conference stages, podcasts, and internal all-hands. If I can't explain the architecture to someone who doesn't write code, I go back and understand it better.
barefoot on the astroturf at Madison Ruby, telling a room full of Rubyists that RAG belongs in Ruby.
RailsConf 2023 · the room filled up and people were turned away at the doorWhat I speak about
pick one, or ask for something elseWhy the next model won't save a system whose success was never defined — and what to write down instead.
Best for engineering orgs shipping AI featuresThe whole retrieval architecture, live, in plain Ruby. No vector database, no Python detour, no hand-waving.
Best for Ruby and Rails conferencesHow to grade agent runs when "good" is a judgement call, and how to make that judgement executable.
Best for platform and AI teamsHow a non-traditional path into AI engineering became an advantage — and how to build one deliberately.
Best for career tracks, internal all-hands, students- A talk built for your audience, not a stock deck with your logo on it.
- Live architecture walkthroughs — real code, real failure modes.
- Q&A and hallway time; the hallway track is where the good questions live.
- Workshop add-on if you want the room building, not just listening.
Where I've been
Bring me to your stage.
Conferences, internal engineering days, podcasts, and workshops. Send the audience, the date, and what you want them walking out believing.
- Formats
- Keynote, 30–40 minute talk, half-day workshop, podcast, or an internal engineering session.
- Remote
- Happy to do it remote. Also happy to get on a plane for the right room.
- Fees
- Paid for corporate and commercial events. Community conferences — let's talk, I came up through them.
- Lead time
- Four weeks is comfortable. Less than that, ask anyway — sometimes it works.