Research and Development Experience

I began my professional career in the Artificial Intelligence group of Accenture in the early 1980's when Expert Systems were first beginning to be used for commercial applications. I built AI systems in several different industries including Manufacturing, Logistics, Finance, and Government. ​I left Accenture to pursue a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Southern California (USC). At USC I also worked at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI). At ISI I became especially interested in the Knowledge-Based Software Assistant (KBSA) program. I didn't complete my PhD, opting instead to return to Accenture and work at their Center for Strategic Technology and Research (CSTaR). At CSTaR I became the principal investigator for Accenture's KBSA project funded by the USAF Rome Laboratory. I left Accenture to lead an applied R&D lab in San Francisco for Deloitte Consulting. While at Deloitte I realized the productivity benefits of Agile methods. I'll never forget the first time I read Kent Beck's Extreme Programming Explained and realized "this is what I've always believed in but never had the words for".   I left Deloitte to manage the San Francisco office of Thoughtworks, the leading consulting firm in Agile methods. While at Thoughtworks I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis which made it impossible to have the kind of jobs I had in the past. It took a while to get used to having MS but once I did I began a new career as an independent consultant and also as an independent scientific researcher in cognitive science and evolutionary psychology. 

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