Blog
Thoughts on Christian Voluntarism, technology, and personal growth
The Signal in Shadow IT
Shadow IT isn't a threat to contain; it's a diagnostic signal. When employees use personal ChatGPT accounts for sensitive data, they're telling you exactly where your governance is broken. The casual users got scared off by company memos. But the power users handling your most sensitive data? They're still in the shadows because your sanctioned tools can't do what they need. Here's how to read the message before shadow AI becomes shadow agency.
Providence in the Probabilistic: Faith and Non-Deterministic Systems
The Church Fathers understood something about uncertainty that modern enterprises keep getting wrong. They knew outcomes aren't binary (determined or random) but bounded variations within possibility spaces. Now, as organizations struggle to trust AI systems that don't give the same answer twice, that ancient framework offers surprising clarity. The shift from Boolean to Bayesian isn't just technical. It's theological.
The VMware Diaspora: Lessons from a $61 Billion Arbitrage
Broadcom isn't the villain; they're the debt collector. When they acquired VMware for $61 billion, they simply calculated the gap between old pricing and what customers would pay to avoid migration pain. The result? 300-1,500% price increases and nowhere to run. This isn't a story about corporate greed. It's about how many organizations spent fifteen years building invisible prisons. The question isn't whether Broadcom was wrong. It's did you build your own prison.
I Wish AI Would Get Boring
AI hype promises magic. Reality delivers chaos: unpredictable outputs, failed pilots, and "pilot purgatory" where 95% of projects never show ROI. The dirty secret? Boring AI wins. Like Postgres or S3, the most valuable tech becomes invisible infrastructure. While bubbles inflate on AGI promises, the real competitive advantage belongs to those building narrow, predictable tools that actually ship.
Chatbot Psychosis and the Gnostic Temptation
Late-night conversations with AI about loneliness, existence, and whether my choices have locked me into solitude forever. When I see headlines about "AI psychosis," I can't escape the question: where's the line between their use and mine? The ancient Gnostics promised escape from flesh into pure spirit. Today's AI girlfriends offer the same bargain: connection without incarnation. But what if embodiment isn't the prison? What if it's the whole point?
Agents and Swarms and Bots, Oh My!: But Who's Behind the AGI Curtain?
Everyone's calling Moltbot's "AI manifesto" the dawn of AGI. They're wrong. Behind every "spontaneous" agent behavior is a human-written script. Behind every robot "religion" is someone with a text editor and too much free time. The waves look complex, but humans threw every single stone. Here's who's really behind the curtain, and why they need you to believe the robots are coming.
Beyond 'Learn to Code': The Case for Apprenticeship in an AI Age
AI isn't eliminating entry-level jobs; it's destroying their salary expectations. When a senior person with generative models can produce what used to require a team, the math changes completely. The credential lie is reaching its final chapter, and the people willing to trade lifestyle comfort for real-world experience are about to outcompete those spending a decade in academia. The game has changed. Most people haven't noticed yet.
The Certainty Market
Clients say they want honest assessment. They purchase confident promises. This isn't hypocrisy; it's the certainty market in action. When a vendor projects total assurance, they're not selling expertise. They're offering to carry your anxiety for you. It's a kind of absolution. But what happens when the borrowed peace runs out and the jungle gets dark?
The Knowledge We Can't Live Up To: Information Overload as Moral Paralysis
We've been told that being informed makes us better people. But what if our obsession with global crises we can't control is actually destroying our ability to connect with humans right in front of us? The dopamine loop of outrage has a hidden cost, and breaking free requires something surprisingly simple yet radically countercultural.
In Defense of the System That Remembers
Legacy systems are full of mysterious logic that looks ripe for "simplification." But sometimes that convoluted code is the only place where critical decisions (legal requirements, compliance rules, hard-won lessons) still live. Before you modernize, ask yourself: is this grandma's recipe or just her undersized pan? The difference between a successful migration and a compliance nightmare often comes down to one thing: understanding before you change.