Hello everybody! Despite popular predictions, I’m delighted to report I (mostly) succeeded in taking a few months off from the professional realm. My summer was fantastic: friends, family, travel, golf, more than a little AI tinkering, and remembering that I like to build things people depend on.
With fall here, I’m back in my office above the garage and reconnecting with our professional community. There’s a lot to talk about:
- AI, in all its facets.
- For years I’ve said, “Application security has never been more important than it is today, and that will be true again tomorrow.” I think we’re all grappling with how quickly tomorrow arrived.
- Agentic commerce is here for a few and coming soon for many more (and with it, new flavors of abuse and fraud).
- What does all this mean for bot management?!
- What’s the role of a product manager, a designer, or an engineer in 2026?
- What are AI-native products, and is SaaS really dead? (No.)
- What should everyone be doing with AI? And why are we telling students they aren’t allowed to use it?
Oddly enough, I ended up talking about a lot of these with friends, neighbors, caddies, and family over the last several months too. What jumps out to me is the widening gap between the speed of change (accelerating) and the speed of comprehension. There’s a lot to observe and re-orient around. I’m thankful I got to unplug and watch it from a new perspective, and I’m excited to re-enter the shifting terrain myself.
To start, I’m formalizing my advisory and consulting services. Over the last few months I’ve enjoyed helping people work through their particular challenges in this moment: solo-preneurs taking operations to the next level without becoming full-time AI students and administrators, investors pressure-testing a thesis, and companies trying to accelerate growth.
It’s time to get back to work. If you’d like help deciding faster and moving with confidence, take a look at my advisory services and get in touch.
P.S. Keep an eye on this blog (RSS). I’ve always enjoyed writing, and I plan to share some thoughts here.