Build to production
Ship systems agents and operators can trust.
Software development and AI automation taken past the demo — agents, private retrieval, cloud architecture, and the failure modes that show up in real load.
Systems, private AI, and the companies that run them.
AI Engineering · Cloud Infrastructure · Secure Enterprise AI. Founder of Cipher Projects and SumoSign.
© 2026
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PracticeThree modes
Build, advise, invest.
One standard across all three: software that ships and compounds.
Advise with signal
Senior technical partnership without theatre.
Fractional CTO and advisory for founders and leadership teams — architecture, delivery, and enough operator presence to keep decisions honest.
Invest as operator
Selective stakes in software and AI.
Backing early-stage companies where build capacity and systems judgment matter — investor and operator, not a spectator seat.
Read the operating layer.
Vision in writing. Durable facts in the machine file.
LatestWriting
From the archive
All writing
Essay · 26 Jun 2026
The Layoff Memo and the Betting Pool
The same week Microsoft cut 4,800 jobs, the solo economy posted its best numbers ever. Both are the same event.
Essay · 3 Jul 2026Your Next User Doesn't Have Eyes
Agents are where the web was in 1996: obviously the future, mostly unused. The builders who ship for them now get the empty channel.
Essay · 10 Jul 2026Is There Routing Yet?
Hölke says distribution moves to the routing table. This is the honest audit of whether that table exists yet.