A Blog by the Chief Nerd

I believe that we are, first and foremost, tool-makers and tool-users. This goes beyond the physical; we craft mental models and scientific frameworks to solve abstract problems with greater precision. My work is driven by a core philosophy: technology must serve the human experience, not complicate it. In an era of overly engineered interfaces—the 40-button remote for a simple task—I advocate for a return to intuitive, useful design. Technology should not be a barrier, but a bridge back to human-centric interaction.

The paradigm shift we face today is often labeled "AI," but this term is too broad to be meaningful. The real transformation is the emergence of the "thinking tool"—not a machine that thinks for us, but a tool that enhances our own thinking. This is as revolutionary as mathematics was for scientific rigor. My focus is on harnessing these new capabilities to build better systems.

Throughout my career, I have championed paradigm shifts that prioritize elegant design over brute force. I was an early adopter of Erlang/OTP, embracing its philosophy of micro-processes and message passing long before it became mainstream. These same principles of distributed thinking found a natural home in the cloud-native and serverless architectures I champion today. A simple "lift and shift" is rarely transformative; true progress comes from designing solutions from first principles, whether in the cloud or with the new wave of agentic AI. My approach is to engage deeply with new tools, discern their true strengths and weaknesses, and build accordingly.

The most dangerous misconception today is that AI will make deep thinking obsolete. History has shown us that no-code or low-code platforms did not inherently raise the quality of software; they were simply tools. AI is no different. It is a powerful amplifier for those who are already dedicated to solving complex problems. This is not a time for complacency, but for curiosity. We are at the dawn of a new renaissance of thought, one that will be led not by those who build bigger hammers, but by those who think in new ways.

My worldview is shaped by thinkers who value clarity and human-centered design. I follow the simple, profound advice of Erlang designer Joe Armstrong: "Make it work, make it pretty, make it fast," in that order. I also draw inspiration from the insights of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, whose work informs my understanding of the deep connection between human cognition and the tools we create.