About
Hi, I'm the founder. I build things that have to work.
AI5 Labs is my independent AI studio. I'm an engineer by training, spent my early career on Wall Street, and have spent the last fifteen years building an education nonprofit in South Africa, where, for the past four, I've built the software and AI it runs on.
Engineering
Computer engineering and operations research
Degrees from Fairfield University and Columbia University.
Wall Street
Morgan Stanley, New York
Top analyst in my class and lead analyst on over $35 billion of structured product deals. Then I walked away.
15 years
Building Masinyusane in South Africa
A community-based education nonprofit that has employed 2,000+ young people and supported 100,000+ children across hundreds of schools. I still lead it.
Since 2022
Building with AI
Four years building the software, data systems and AI that run Masinyusane, and now, through AI5 Labs, for others.
Why AI5 Labs
The same tools, for more people
Running a nonprofit taught me that technology only matters when it survives contact with real life: patchy signal, cheap phones, busy people and no budget for mistakes. That's the standard I build to.
The AI assistants, agents and platforms I've built for my own organisation turned out to be exactly what other founders, operators and teams were asking me about. AI5 Labs is how I build them for others, and teach people to build with AI themselves.
It's deliberately small. I design and write the code myself and bring in trusted specialists only when a project needs them, so you always know who's doing the work.
Principles
How I work
You work with the builder
No account managers or handoffs. The person you talk to is the person who designs and writes the code.
I use my own systems
Everything I sell, I run myself first, in real organisations, my own projects and my own day.
Honest about status
Live means live. Pilot means pilot. You'll always know exactly what's working and what isn't yet.
Safe by default
I've built AI for systems that handle children's data. Privacy, human approval and testing aren't extras.
Want to work together?
Start with a free 30-minute call. Tell me what's eating your time, and I'll tell you honestly whether AI can fix it.