AUSTIN, TX | FRIENDLY, SAY HOWDY
Hi, I’m Zach.
I kick problems in the tuckus with technology.
I’m a product and operations leader who turns ambiguous ideas, messy workflows, and emerging technology into practical systems and applications that really work. From 0→1 products and enterprise operating systems to accountable AI-assisted workflows, I help businesses simplify how they work, connect the right information, and make better use of their data.
I turn ambiguous ideas, messy workflows, and emerging technology into practical systems that really work.
AT A GLANCE
- ROLE
- Product · Ops · AI
- SCALE
- 3,000+ daily users
- SHIPS
- Base, ReUp, FieldWatch
- M-B
- INTJ
IMPORTANT NUMBERS
● YOU’RE ALIVE!DAILY EMPLOYEE & VENDOR USERS ON APPLICATIONS I HELPED DELIVER
REVENUE GROWTH FOR A PRODUCT I TOOK FROM CONCEPT TO CATEGORY LEADERSHIP
PROGRAMS DELIVERED ACROSS 20+ COUNTRIES
01 · MISSION STATEMENT · CORE COMPETENCIES
Some of My Favorite Problems
A common thread in my work is taking systems and business logic that are complicated, unclear, or harder than they need to be and turning them into useful systems that create organizational value - and that people actually use.
I work well when the destination is clear but the path isn’t. I help define the system, break it into achievable pieces, establish what “done” means, and keep product, engineering, design, operations, and leadership pointed at the same outcome.
vision production V1
I direct AI-assisted work that is specified, tested, challenged, and governed - especially when the person accountable for the result can’t personally inspect every artifact the AI produces.
The goal isn’t maximum automation. It’s useful automation with evidence, guardrails, and clear human authority.
audit architecture
Sometimes the problem isn’t a missing product. It’s the accumulation of spreadsheets, manual handoffs, disconnected systems, duplicate work, buried information, and processes that made sense five years ago. I help turn those operational problems into clearer workflows and durable systems.
3,000+ daily users
02 · EVIDENCE · TAKE A LOOK
Selected Work
A few things I’ve done well.
From ambitious product vision to shipped system.Founder-scale ambition, no product system underneath it.
BASE - an interactive 3D platform for homebuilders and buyers, spanning web software, Three.js, data, customization, pricing, quoting, analytics, and a production pipeline for 3D models.
As the company’s first product leader, I turned that interconnected chaos into a phased product system, shared definitions of done, and an operating rhythm across product, engineering, 3D, design, delivery, sales, and external partners.
First product leader on a founder-led build: interconnected chaos across Three.js scenes, data, and delivery. I turned it into a phased product system - scoped, sequenced, and shipped.
- Vision
- Ambition without a route
- System
- Phased product system
- Outcome
- Production V1 shipped
Modernizing critical logistics systems at a major airline.Enterprise operations running on spreadsheets and goodwill.
Our client had critical maintenance, compliance, surveying, scheduling, reporting, and vendor-management processes constrained by legacy databases, spreadsheets, and manual handoffs.
At RightPlace Consulting, I helped translate that operating environment into a scalable web/mobile system that moved from MVP to beta markets to company-wide deployment.
Manual handoffs and disconnected systems across an operation that never stops. We modernized the workflow end to end and kept shipping against it for a decade.
Delivered with the RightPlace Consulting team; outcomes are engagement-level, not solo work.
I directed AI agents to build the MTG Oracle. Then I tried to break it.
I built the MTG Oracle as a real-world test of the workflow that would eventually become Shangri-La, seeking to answer the question: Can AI agents be managed like real Product + Engineering teams? It was developed via bounded work, precise acceptance criteria and safety case-style evidential requirements, with human authority over all release decisions. It worked well enough to ship—and well enough that its green tests made the next question unavoidable.
Then I commissioned an adversarial audit of the system.
The audit found 40 source-anchored issues across seven cross-cutting defect classes - including failures that individual component tests had completely missed. I turned those findings into a 10-phase remediation roadmap, then drove fixes through implementation, independent review, correction, and re-verification.
Each could look healthy in isolation. The composed system did not.
7 CROSS-CUTTING DEFECT CLASSES
CLASSES ARE LINKED PATTERNS — ONE FINDING CAN FEED SEVERAL, SO COUNTS DO NOT SUM TO 40.
Later phases are not yet closed.
Green tests weren’t evidence. The composed system was.
One Loop to rule them all
Shangri-La is my proprietary AI development system that separates execution from judgment. A human ratifies the problem and the roadmap, then the system turns that direction into bounded work with explicit acceptance criteria.
An architect agent frames each ticket, routes it to an executor, then passes the diff, criteria, and test results to a blind reviewer from a different model vendor - without the executor’s self-justification. Real defects loop back through correction and review until the evidence converges. Human authority returns at reserved surfaces, model disagreement, and the ship gates.
CHALLENGE
↺CORRECT RE-REVIEW UNTIL THE EVIDENCE CONVERGES.
↺ARCHITECT ROUTES · CORRECT · ACCEPT · ESCALATE TO HUMAN.
2 review cycles 2 distinct real guardrail bugs caught.
When managing AI Agents, you need accountability that scales.
03 · BIO · THE SHORT VERSION
About
I started my career in financial services, where more than a decade as an analyst and operations leader gave me first-hand exposure to regulated environments, operational risk, manual workflows, reporting needs, and the real cost of poorly designed systems. I later moved into technology leadership, working across product strategy, software delivery, technical architecture, and development teams.
The throughline has stayed the same: understand how businesses actually work, translate messy problems into clear systems, and keep execution tied to measurable value. Today I work across product, operations, and AI - helping teams move from “something isn’t working” to a diagnosis, a practical scope, and something people can actually use.
04 · SERVICES · A LA CARTE
How I can help
If you’re hearing complaints from your team about a process or system causing drag, that’s a good place to start.
- 01
Manual & repetitive workflows
Duplicate entry, status chasing, recurring handoffs, and workarounds that have become normal.
- 02
Data & reporting
Useful information trapped in databases, spreadsheets, CRMs, inboxes, or other systems instead of reaching the people who need it.
- 03
Systems & integrations
Tools that do not talk to each other, fragmented workflows, and information that has to be manually moved between systems.
- 04
Internal tools & websites
Custom tools, portals, forms, or websites that create friction or no longer match how the business actually operates.
- 05
AI-assisted workflows
Research, summarization, routing, analysis, alerts, drafting, and other repeatable work where AI creates real leverage.
AI isn’t always the answer
But sometimes it is. AI is one tool among many. Sometimes a simpler, traditional fix is better. We’ll work together to determine the best solution during our initial scoping audit.
Start small: one problem. One clearly defined piece of work. One measurable result.
I can execute many engagements solo. When deeper expertise is needed, I can draw on the roster of experienced engineers, designers and data scientists at RightPlace Consulting.
05 · CONTACT · OPEN INBOX
Have a workflow, system, or AI problem worth untangling?
Let’s rap about it.
No form. No funnel. Just Zach.