I was the mid-market client before I advised them.
I advise the CEOs, COOs, and CFOs of established, operations-heavy companies on where AI will actually improve the business, before they buy tools, hire vendors, or launch something their team will not use. Most of them run companies of $10M to $500M in manufacturing, distribution, logistics, and industrial and professional services.
My background is engineering and operations. I trained as an electrical engineer and tested avionics on military helicopters. Then I co-founded a manufacturer and ran it day to day while it grew from $45K to $4.5M a year: payroll, customs, supply contracts, lawsuits, and all.
I think in flowcharts. I see the picture of a business as it is being laid out, and that matters most at the front of an engagement, where the real problem gets named.
I don't sell software, chatbots, or technology stacks. I sell diagnosis, strategy, and the discipline to make the change land. The deliverable is a business operating differently, not a piece of software installed.
- Base
- Lagos, Portugal
- Works with
- Companies in the US and Europe
- Education
- B.S. Electrical Engineering, UT Arlington
- Method
- Shift in 5
Engineer, manufacturer, operator, advisor.
- 1999 – 2001
Electrical engineering
B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, plus master's coursework. Taught undergraduate engineering as a research associate and instructor, and interned on airborne systems at NASA Langley.
- 2001 – 2005
Avionics flight test, Bell Helicopter
Four years as an avionics flight test engineer at Bell Helicopter Textron on the U.S. Marine Corps H-1 Upgrade Program (UH-1Y and AH-1Z), working with NAVAIR, Marine test pilots, and acquisition staff, and serving on the helmet-mounted display evaluation team.
- From 2003
Co-founder, Social Smoke
Co-founded Social Smoke, Inc. and ran it day to day. Built the sales system, marketing engine, and team that took it from $45K to $4.5M a year, onto the Inc. 500 in 2008, and into distribution across more than 30 countries. Carried the operating load that comes with it: supply and distribution negotiation, IP portfolio management and litigation, and federal, state, and international trade compliance.
- 2019 – 2021
Chief of Staff, Linear Labs
Chief of Staff and Director of Marketing at Linear Labs, a venture-backed electric-motor technology company. Worked alongside the CEO, CFO, and engineering team, and led the company's SBIR/STTR federal grant proposals.
- Now
Advisor to mid-market operational leaders
Consulting on strategy and AI transformation for mid-market companies, including leading an organizational transformation across more than 80 employees, from the CEO to the field. Every engagement runs on the MindShift AI Transformation Framework and its two diagnostic instruments. I still build production software myself.
Why does an operator's record matter for AI advice?
AI adoption in an established company is an operating problem before it is a technology problem. The leaders I work with have an operating model that worked. It is how the company reached its size. The hard part is deciding what to let go of, and that decision sits with leadership, not with a vendor.
I have run that kind of company, with the same payroll, supply, and compliance pressure. So the advice starts from how the business actually runs, and it starts with diagnosis: name the constraint, check whether the data exists, and only then decide what AI should do.
The industries I can speak to from direct experience include manufacturing, distribution and logistics, industrial and professional services, consumer products sold direct and wholesale across borders, retail energy, technology and SaaS, and early-stage hardware and cleantech.
Engagements run in phases, with a decision at the end of each, so neither side is locked into something that isn't working. How Shift in 5 works.
Start with a conversation.
We talk about where you are, what you've tried, and whether this approach fits what you need. If it doesn't, I'll tell you.