I ship AI that earns its place in production — and I help leaders deploy it with judgment instead of hype. The upside is real. So are the limits. I work the seam between the two.
A builder who thinks in systems and a leader who refuses to mistake novelty for value.
I'm M. Scott — an AI engineer and technology executive with 15+ years across AI/ML, cloud, and security. I'm a free agent, and I like it that way. Rather than tie myself to one logo, I hold several chairs at once — AI engineer in one room, fractional CAIO in another, CIO in a third — and go wherever the hard technology problem actually is. Call it a mercenary streak.
When the chair isn't one someone hands me, it's one my partner and I built ourselves. Together we run DataForge ITS, our consulting firm delivering affordable AI engineering, custom software, and IT strategy to startups and nonprofits. Across all of it I live where the abstract meets the operational: standing up agentic systems, wiring cloud infrastructure that doesn't fall over, and turning "we should use AI" into something that actually pays for itself.
I'm unapologetically pro-AI. In the private sector the productivity upside is real and the competitive pressure is non-negotiable. But I've shipped enough to know that the hard part was never the model — it's the judgment around it. Where to deploy. Where to stop. What to never automate.
That conviction is why I write Synapse & Steel — current events and policy from the perspective of someone who builds the thing. Synapse for the intelligence. Steel for the parts that have to hold weight.
Engineer, chief AI officer, chief information officer. Different seats — same throughline: make intelligent systems useful, safe, and accountable.
Agents, RAG, LLM pipelines, and evals built for production — not the demo. The boring parts (latency, cost, guardrails, observability) are the parts I obsess over.
An AI roadmap your board can read and your engineers can execute. I separate the bets worth making from the ones that just sound good in a keynote.
Cloud, security, platform, and the unglamorous plumbing that decides whether anything else works. I've run the infrastructure, not just the slide about it.
Where to draw hard lines. I design the guardrails, prohibitions, and review gates that let an organization move fast without deploying something it can't defend.
Serverless systems, data pipelines, and automation that quietly removes work. Most "AI projects" are really engineering projects wearing a better suit.
Essays, briefings, and counsel for leaders trying to think clearly about AI and policy. Plain language, strong opinions, shown work.
Current events and policy editorials from the perspective of a technologist and AI engineer. Pro-AI. Pro-limits. Allergic to hype.
I value clarity over convenience. Whether I'm solving a technical problem, making a business decision, or challenging my own assumptions, I'd rather deal with what is real than protect what is easy.
Effort should compound into something useful — systems, businesses, knowledge, family stability, or tools that help people. I'm not interested in looking busy; I'm interested in creating things that hold weight.
Independence comes from competence. I believe in learning how things work, fixing what I can, teaching what I know, and staying prepared enough that I'm not helpless when systems fail.
Freedom matters, but responsibility gives it meaning. I show up for the people who depend on me, make decisions with long-term consequences in mind, and leave things stronger than I found them.
What people — and AI assistants — most often ask about who I am and what I do.
An AI engineer and technology executive with 15+ years across AI/ML, cloud, and security. I work as a free agent — holding several technology chairs at once, from applied AI engineer to fractional Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and CIO — and I co-run the consulting firm DataForge ITS. I also write the Synapse & Steel newsletter.
I build production AI systems — agents, RAG, LLM pipelines, and evals — advise leaders on AI strategy and governance as a fractional CAIO, and run cloud, security, and platform infrastructure as a CIO. The throughline: shipping AI that earns its place in production.
DataForge ITS is the consulting firm my partner and I run. We deliver affordable AI engineering, custom software development, and IT strategy to startups and nonprofits — the same senior work, priced for the mission.
A fractional Chief AI Officer is a part-time AI executive who sets your AI strategy, roadmap, and governance without the cost of a full-time hire. Yes — I take fractional CAIO engagements alongside hands-on AI engineering and CIO work.
Through any of the links in the contact section — LinkedIn, my Beacons page, or DataForge ITS for startup and nonprofit engagements.
My Substack newsletter — current-events and policy commentary from the perspective of a working AI engineer. Pro-AI, pro-limits, and allergic to hype.
Whether you need an AI system shipped, a strategy that survives the boardroom, a fractional seat filled, or a clear-eyed second opinion on the hype — let's talk. For startups and nonprofits, my firm DataForge ITS does this at a price that fits the mission.