Writing
New essays publish on Substack, where the frontier operations work is documented as it happens. The archive below is the earlier writing that still holds up.
substack://latest
The archive
- The HUMAN Protocol: A Framework for Deploying AI Without Losing Your Soul2026-02-11Five questions. That's it. If you can answer yes to all five for an AI system, you're probably okay. If you hesitate on any of them, keep reading.
- Intent Engineering in Higher Education2026-02-11Klarna's AI agent resolved customer tickets in 2 minutes instead of 11. Then customers started leaving. Universities are walking into this exact trap.
- Half of Edtech Exists to Fix the Other Half2026-01-30The average US school district now accesses 2,982 distinct edtech tools annually. This isn't an ecosystem. It's a Rube Goldberg machine where everyone's selling duct tape. And AI agents are about to make most of it obsolete.
- From Gatekeeper to Enabler: Transforming Enterprise Governance for the AI Era2026-01-15Most enterprise governance frameworks were designed for a world that no longer exists. They take 14-30 weeks before development even begins. The cost of being slow now exceeds the cost of being wrong. Here's how AI-augmented governance moves at the speed of opportunity.
- The HUMAN Protocol: What China's AI Law Can Teach Your Organisation About Responsible AI Deployment2026-01-14China's proposed AI anthropomorphism law is the most practical AI safety framework I've seen from any government. Not abstract principles—actual, concrete requirements you can implement today. Here's the HUMAN Protocol: five categories of safeguards to protect your people whilst enabling AI innovation.
- Judgment, Accountability, and Taste: What Actually Makes an Organisation Capable2026-01-12AI can now produce almost anything you ask for. But it cannot decide which draft is right, take accountability when wrong, or develop the taste that distinguishes excellent from acceptable. These three capabilities are what separate capable organisations from those with capable tools.
- The Grace Period Is Over: What Higher Education Must Actually Do About AI in 20262026-01-09Nick McIntosh's diagnosis is clear: higher education's AI gap is undeniable. But diagnosis isn't treatment. After 20+ years in education technology, here's what institutions must do this quarter, not this decade.
- What Aviation Learnt (That Your AI Strategy Hasn't)2026-01-08In 1935, a plane crash killed two pilots because the aircraft was 'too complicated for one person to fly.' The solution wasn't to make planes simpler. It was to build systems that made complexity manageable. AI is at the same inflection point.
- When Did "We Can Build That" Become a Radical Idea?2026-01-07Ten years ago, someone would propose building something and the room would discuss how. Now the room laughs.
- The Consultant Has Been Here Three Years2026-01-07At what point do we admit this isn't a project—it's a dependency?
- The $2 Million Platform Nobody Uses2026-01-07Every enterprise has one. Usually more than one. How did this happen?
- The End of 'Technical' vs 'Non-Technical'2026-01-05Why every knowledge worker needs a new skill tree for the AI era.
- Stop Renting Software You Could Own2026-01-05Why your Capex/Opex framework is costing you a fortune in the AI era.
- Your Innovation Lab Is Theatre. Here's What Actually Works.2024-12-21The beanbags, the whiteboards, the 'fail fast' posters. None of it matters if nothing ships.
- The Vendor Is Not Your Friend2024-12-18They're not evil. They're just not aligned with your success. Understanding the difference could save your organisation.
- The Consultant Industrial Complex2024-12-17They need you to stay broken. That's the business model. Why the consulting industry optimises for dependency instead of solutions.
- Capability Over Dependency: A Manifesto2024-12-10The organisations that thrive will be the ones that can solve their own problems. Everyone else will be at the mercy of those who can.
- Universities Won't Be Replaced by AI. They'll Become Its Foundation. (Or They'll Disappear.)2024-12-08The choice isn't whether to change. It's whether to lead or be bypassed entirely.
- Your SaaS Strategy Is a Slow-Motion Surrender2024-12-07If you're outsourcing capability to save risk, you're buying a ticket to irrelevance. A provocation for leaders who think 'buy, don't build' is the safe choice.
- Why Would Anyone Pay $50K for a Lecture When Claude Is Free?2024-12-04The question every university should be terrified to answer. A reckoning is coming for higher education.