I lead AI transformation, software delivery, and data-driven decision-making at Perry Homes, one of Texas’s largest homebuilders. Over 20 years across IT operations, consulting, and technology leadership in homebuilding, SaaS, and manufacturing, I’ve built high-performing teams and platforms that deliver measurable business impact.
- 1997I founded JMDN.net, an independent firm that started in OEM hardware and later moved into technology consulting. It reached $17.5 million in revenue.
- 2000I joined Mensa.
- 2002I joined Rotary.
- 2003I filed a patent application for an internet-based education support system.
- 2004I became chairman of The Nabu Foundation, which directed about $9.7 million in licensing fees to education nonprofits over eight years.
- 2005I joined Riverside Consulting Group and expanded ERP work to Microsoft Dynamics and hosted infrastructure. I also sponsored ChicWIT that year.
- 2006I joined the National Restaurant Association.
- 2007I was a founding sponsor of the Chicago Women Network.
- 2010I joined Compushare as a service delivery manager and finished folding a Midwest services firm into the brand. I also joined the board of the Chicago Center for Music Education.
- 2011We adopted Risu, my first cat, in May.
- 2012I joined HBR Consulting and helped combine the technology and document-management practices for law-firm clients.
- 2014I joined Deft (then ServerCentral) as director of IT and built the first in-house IT department, including SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS programs. I also joined the Association of Information Technology Professionals.
- 2014I got married in August.
- 2017Risu died in March.
- 2017I started at Columbia College Chicago, earned a GIAC Critical Controls Certification in December, and joined the Biggs Mansion cigar club.
- 2018We adopted Tom and Jerry, our other cats, in April.
- 2018I joined Call One as director of IT and led the shift from wireline resale toward UCaaS, SD-WAN, and SDN.
- 2019I graduated from Columbia College Chicago summa cum laude, produced a Manifest festival event, and joined the board at 235 W. Van Buren.
- 2021I joined Revalize as VP of technology operations, based in Jacksonville, and integrated IT across 19 acquisitions.
- 2024Cloud Currents published an episode I had recorded that August.
- 2025Tom died in April.
- 2026I joined Perry Homes in Houston, first in data, analytics, and software development, and then in AI and customer experience technology.
- 2026I joined the Brighter Children advisory board.
- Driving across this beautiful country, seeing as much as I can, top down on the car, wind in my hair.
- Cigars, particularly those I’ve sourced myself from manufacturers or small farms (hand-rolls) through my network.
- Reading high fantasy, sci-fi, business, and self-improvement or empowerment books. My all-time favorites are the works of Robert Jordan and Patrick Lencioni.
- Giving back to the community, be it through my work on non-profit boards and software, or our days of giving at work with the help of the Perry Homes Foundation.
- I was born in Park Ridge, Illinois.
- 2004I moved to Riverside, Illinois.
- 2008I moved to Chicago.
- 2013I relocated to the Chicago Loop.
- 2021We moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in July. I also visited 12 countries and 11 states.
- 2022We bought more companies at Revalize, so I visited 8 countries and 13 states.
- 2023Revalize continued our integration of our global acquisitions, so I visited 8 countries and 10 states.
- 2024Revalize finished up most of our integration, so I only visited 5 countries and 6 states.
- 2025I needed to make more trips to work hand-in-hand with our global teams, so I visited 8 countries and 9 states.
- 2026We moved to Houston, Texas, in February; so far this year, I’ve visited 1 country and 6 states.
- I filed a patent in 2003 for an internet-based education support system.
- My best friend and I make a cigar and bourbon podcast called Stogies and Mash. It was the number one new lifestyle podcast on Amazon for three weeks, which still surprises us.
- The closet at home is a small server room: a Proxmox cluster, a three-node Kubernetes cluster, and a Mac Studio with 192 GB of memory that serves local models. Immich runs with a GPU passed through to it. A Raspberry Pi is both the photo frame and the home automation hub.
- I am building Multiplier, a little AI coach for nonprofit board members. It looks through a LinkedIn network for employers that match gifts.
- English is my native language, and I have elementary Mandarin.
- The last two companies I worked for settled on a regular AI set: ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Cursor, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and GitHub Copilot. Gemini Enterprise is still in testing.
- Most of my LinkedIn posts come from a small n8n pipeline. It posts daily, rotating through eight topics, in a voice profile I wrote down once.
- Side projects live on a Linux box with their own dev and product loops. When one is waiting on me, Obsidian gets a review link I can click.
- I drew a 12-rung ladder for my staff: seven for individual contributors, three for managers, and two for leadership, with interview scorecards in the WHO style.
- I would rather build than buy, including for PR. Instead of paying for the marketing tools, I am turning what they do into a set of AI skills.
- Education that stays available to the people who need it, lifting the next generation out of poverty.
- Teams that ship AI into the work people already do, freeing time and mental bandwidth for more meaningful tasks.
- Acquired companies that end up as one system, not a pile of leftovers that never fully integrate.
- And...a world where everyone has the chance to live to their full potential.
Volunteer work has included the board of the Chicago Center for Music Education, chairing The Nabu Foundation, and the board of Brighter Children.