I’ve been documenting my journey building Personal AI Infrastructure (PAI) on this blog, sharing what I’m building and how I’m doing it. But I haven’t really explained why I’m doing any of this.

The Practical Reality

Standing at the crossroads of AI disruption and opportunity

I’m not building PAI because it’s fun (though it absolutely is). I’m building it because I’m doing everything I can to prepare myself to support my family in a world where AI might make what I do now obsolete.

That’s the blunt truth.

I work in customer experience analytics and data science. I teach analytics and Python at the university level. These are knowledge work roles, exactly the kind of jobs that AI is already beginning to disrupt. I’ve spent nearly two decades building expertise in these areas, earning three master’s degrees along the way. But I’m not naive enough to think my credentials will protect me from what’s coming.

AI isn’t going to wait for us to be ready. So I’m getting ready now.

The Technology Fascination

A lifelong journey through technology evolution

But here’s the thing: I’m not just doing this out of fear. I’ve been fascinated by technology since 1985 or 1986, when my dad brought home our first computer running MS-DOS. I remember typing commands at the command prompt to load games like Q*bert and Wheel of Fortune. Later, on our Tandy 1000, I played Oregon Trail. By middle and high school in the late 90s, I was on a Gateway 2000, playing Doom and Duke Nukem, exploring the early internet on dial-up AOL, always hoping nobody would pick up the phone and kill my connection.

This fascination never went away. It’s why I ended up in IT, then analytics, then teaching. And now, AI represents the most profound technological shift I’ve seen in my lifetime. It’s not just interesting. It’s transformative.

Learner and Achiever

The unstoppable drive to learn and achieve

During my MBA program around 2013, I took a Leadership & Personal Development class with Ginny Wilson-Peters (who sadly passed recently). We did personality assessments using the Enneagram framework, and I learned that my top two types were Learner and Achiever.

That explained everything. Three master’s degrees. Working full-time while teaching multiple courses. Now helping friends and family implement AI solutions on top of it all (without disrupting my full-time job at Agilent, which I love: the work, the people, the mission).

I can’t not learn. I can’t not build. It’s who I am.

The Human 3.0 Vision

From narrow corporate roles to full-spectrum humans

Daniel Miessler’s work on the Human 3.0 project resonates deeply with me. He talks about the transition from Human 2.0 (us currently, trained to be economically useful to corporations) to Human 3.0 (AI-augmented humans who create and offer value as full-spectrum people).

His vision isn’t about replacing humans. It’s about humans becoming more human. Full-spectrum humans who bring their creativity, caring, humor, ideas, and skills to the world, not just the narrow slice that fits into a corporate job description.

He’s also been clear about the disruption ahead. In his AI predictions, he talks about AI not just automating jobs within companies, but replacing entire companies. Small teams of 2-3 people using AI will outcompete large organizations by shipping faster, pivoting instantly, and pricing 90% cheaper.

That future is already starting to happen. And it’s exactly why I’m building PAI.

Preparing to Help Others

Here’s what drives me: I don’t want to just survive the AI transition. I want to help others navigate it.

I’ve been through transformation before. I failed out of college with a 1.08 GPA, then came back to earn three master’s degrees. I know what it takes to turn things around. I know what it’s like to feel behind and have to fight your way forward.

AI is going to displace a lot of people. Jobs will disappear. Industries will transform. And many people will feel lost.

But AI can also empower people if they learn to work with it rather than resist it. That’s what PAI is about. It’s not about replacing humans; it’s about augmenting them. It’s about building systems that magnify our strengths and compensate for our gaps.

I want to build expertise in AI so I can help companies and individuals make this transition. Not by eliminating jobs, but by empowering people to do things they never could before.

The Path Forward

An intentional journey to shape the future

So that’s why I’m doing this. I’m building PAI to:

  1. Future-proof myself and my family against AI job displacement
  2. Feed my lifelong fascination with technology and how it changes the world
  3. Leverage my Learner/Achiever nature to continuously level up
  4. Prepare to help others navigate the AI transformation
  5. Become a full-spectrum human who creates value in ways that can’t be automated away

This blog is part of that journey. By documenting what I’m learning and building, I’m creating a track record of expertise. I’m sharing what works (and what doesn’t). I’m building in public.

Because the best way to prepare for an uncertain future is to actively shape it.

And that’s exactly what I intend to do.

This post is part of my ongoing documentation of building Personal AI Infrastructure. If you’re interested in similar topics, check out my other posts on PAI, automation, and AI.

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