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Why I'm All In on Applied AI: A Declaration of Purpose

November 21, 2025

To Tim Joo, Tim Dort-Golts, Travis Oliphant, and the friends who've walked this journey with me,

I'm writing this at a moment of crystalline clarity. After months of searching, praying, and wrestling with my calling, I'm ready to align my entire will—my career, my mission, my daily energy—toward Applied AI. Not the AI that makes headlines. Not the AI that raises billions. But the AI that helps real businesses survive and thrive.

The Convergence​

This isn't about chasing the latest tech trend. This is about a profound convergence of who I am, what the world needs, and what God has prepared me for.

I'm not going to invent the next compression algorithm. I'm not going to build the next foundation model. That's not my calling, and honestly, that's liberating. My calling is to be a bridge—between the miraculous technology being created and the millions of businesses that desperately need help navigating this transition.

Why Applied AI Is My Ministry​

Every skill I've developed, every relationship I've built, every lesson I've learned—it all points here:

My Gauntlet AI training wasn't just about learning to code with AI. It was God preparing me to understand both the power and the practical limitations of these tools. Those three months were my wilderness period, transforming me from someone who talked about technology to someone who could actually wield it.

My people skills—the ability to listen, to translate, to teach without condescending—these aren't soft skills. In Applied AI, they're THE skills. Most businesses don't need another autistic genius engineer. They need someone who can sit with them, understand their actual problems, and help them see technology as a tool for human flourishing, not human replacement.

My truth management philosophy with Tim Dort-Golts has prepared me to help businesses maintain coherent operations while adopting new tools. Companies don't just need AI; they need to maintain their soul, their culture, their truth while transforming.

The Movement I See​

Travis gets it. When I explained Applied AI to him, his eyes lit up. This isn't just a job category—it's a movement. Here's what we're building:

Applied AI Rodeos - Not hackathons for VCs to scout talent, but practical workshops where real businesses bring real problems and leave with real solutions. Where a local bakery can automate their inventory. Where a counseling practice can streamline their scheduling. Where a construction company can predict project delays.

Open Source Education - We're going to document everything. Every case study. Every pattern. Every success and failure. Not behind paywalls, but freely available. Because when we teach a thousand people to be Applied AI engineers, we create a thousand local heroes who can help their communities thrive.

The Counter-Narrative - While Silicon Valley obsesses over AGI and perpetuates fear about human obsolescence, we're telling a different story. A story where AI makes humans more human. Where technology serves rather than enslaves. Where local businesses become more competitive, not more dependent.

My Fears and My Faith​

Of course I have nerves. I'm committing to learning new technical stacks. To staying current in a field that changes daily. To being wrong sometimes, to having to say "I don't know" and then figuring it out.

But here's what I know: God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called. Every time I've stepped out in faith—taking CS101 my sophomore year of Duke, leaving the social media virality of Woke Folks, creating Civics Unplugged and Dream DAO, diving into Gauntlet, giving Alpha Schools a shot—God has provided exactly what I needed to learn, exactly when I needed to learn it.

The Human Impact​

This is about helping millions of people find meaningful, well-paying work in the AI age. ONly a few thousand can innovate on AI products at Anthropic or NVIDIA or Tesla. Not everyone should. But millions of people around the world can learn to help their local businesses thrive.

Think about it: In every city, in every country, there are thousands of businesses that need help. They need someone who speaks their language, understands their constraints, and can show them practical paths forward. They need Applied AI engineers who are part of their community, not consultants who fly in from San Francisco.

This creates jobs that can't be outsourced. Careers that let people afford families. Work that maintains human dignity while embracing technological progress.

The Spiritual Dimension​

This is Christofuturist work in its purest form. We're not worshipping technology or fearing it. We're stewarding it. We're taking tools that could create feudalism and using them to create distributed prosperity. We're refusing both the technophobia of the traditionalists and the techno-idolatry of the accelerationists.

Every business we help becomes more resilient. Every person we train becomes more valuable. Every community we strengthen becomes more prepared for whatever comes next.

My Commitment​

So here's my declaration: I'm all in on Applied AI.

I'm going to:

  • Master the tools and frameworks that actually help businesses
  • Document everything I learn in public (with an eye toward paid trainings too)
  • Build a movement of empathetic engineers
  • Create wealth by creating value
  • Stay human while helping others navigate technological change

This isn't just my next career move. This is my calling for the next decade. Maybe longer.

To Tim Joo: You saw this in me before I saw it myself. Your encouragement to follow Rostam's path while maintaining my own unique voice has been invaluable.

To Tim Dort-Golts: Our truth management work is the philosophical foundation for everything I'll build in Applied AI. We're not just implementing tools; we're maintaining coherent truth while transforming. And I see you becoming a great applied AI engineer if you choose to go down this path.

To Travis: Thank you for immediately seeing the vision and offering to build together. Your technical depth combined with our movement-building energy is going to change lives.

The Time Is Now​

The window for Applied AI is like the window for web development in 2000. It won't stay open forever. But right now, there's massive opportunity for those willing to bridge the gap between innovation and implementation.

I'm not trying to be the next Sam Altman. I'm not wired that way... (And for many reasons, I say "Thank God!").

I'm trying to be the guy who helps your local business survive and thrive. Who teaches your son or daughter a skill that will provide for their family. Who proves that we can embrace technology without losing our humanity.

Beyond a career pivot, this is about building the world we want to live in—one business, one person, one practical solution at a time.

The fear stops here. The analysis paralysis ends now. God didn't give us a spirit of fear.

The faith-filled action begins today.

I'm ready to give it everything I have.