Now 

Last updated: January 2026

This is a Now page, a concept by Derek Sivers, which I was introduced to by Rusty Blazenhoff. A public snapshot of my current focus, the work that has my attention, the questions I’m exploring, and the kinds of engagements I’m saying yes (and no) to. It’s shared in the knowledge that priorities shift, plans evolve, and the future remains stubbornly disinterested in our best intentions.

What Has My Attention

Right now, I’m spending a lot of time thinking about AI - not just what it can do, but how it decides what it thinks it knows.

I’m particularly interested in the mathematics behind AI, and in the idea that these systems don’t have to be purely predictive. Used carefully, they can point to gaps in our knowledge — the edges of what we don’t understand yet — rather than confidently extending patterns that may already be misleading.

This feels important, given how enthusiastically we’re deploying systems that sound certain in environments where certainty is often the problem.

What I’m Working On

AI

Eighteen months ago, I co-founded Virtually Myself, exploring how AI can serve as a digital twin and help elevate voices that matter with clarity - not as a replacement for human connection. It’s a private. structured memory of what smart people have already written, said, and published and helps people explore and extend their thought leadership.

More recently, I built a fully offline AI system for a medico-legal firm working with highly confidential documents, helping people claim benefits they’re entitled to. The requirement was clear: all the benefits of AI, none of the data touching the internet, being used to train LLMs, or touching international jurisdictions.

I’ve also built corporate AI knowledge systems for a healthcare organisation and a business school.

Separately, I created Ask The Budget as a public experiment on television’s night of nights - the Australian Federal Budget - exploring how AI can help people interrogate complex public documents in real time, without requiring them to already be policy experts.

Across this work, the pattern is consistent: using AI to access information and support human judgement, rather than pretending it can replace it.

Innovation and Futures Thinking

Alongside this experimentation, most of my professional energy is focused on helping leaders and organisations make better decisions about uncertain futures - ideally before those decisions become unavoidable.

Some of that happens through The Futures Project® - a bespoke, high-intensity activation for leaders with ideas or strategic bets that carry real consequence, something I’ve only done on request in the past but am now making available more generally.

In parallel, I speak at conferences and leadership forums about complexity, uncertainty, and futures thinking. I’m selective about where I do this - I prefer rooms where people can actually act, rather than applaud thoughtfully and return to doing exactly what they were doing before.

Workforce Strategy

I’m also continuing long-standing work in Strategic Workforce Planning, including facilitating the Strategic Workforce Planning Masterclass in partnership with HRNZ in New Zealand, as well as via Kienco in Australia.

What I’m Saying Yes (and No) To

I’m most energised by work that has the potential to create positive external impact for society, particularly where the benefits extend beyond a single organisation, sector, or press release.

At the same time, I’m actively saying no to work that:

  • furthers inequality (whether by design or indifference)

  • treats technology as neutral when it very clearly isn’t

  • optimises systems without asking who absorbs the downside

These boundaries save a lot of time.

What I’m Noticing

I’ve been paying close attention to small, repeated signals in public life.

One example: when politicians finish radio interviews, they almost always end with “nice to be with you”. No other guests do this. It’s a tiny phrase, but it performs a surprising amount of political labour.

I’m increasingly interested in these kinds of linguistic habits - the quiet rituals that reveal power, intent, and positioning without announcing themselves.

What I’m Playing With

Outside of work, I’m simplifying.

I’ve been reorganising furniture, finally hanging artwork after 18 months of good intentions, clearing out things I don’t need or use anymore, and discovering that gardening is far more compelling than it has any right to be. It turns out that reducing clutter is an underrated strategic move.

What I’m Reading

Right now I’m reading The Mic Drop: Be a Better Guest | Host by Penny Terry — a thoughtful, practical guide to showing up well in important conversations, whether you’re behind the mic or in front of it. Cleverly, it’s also 2 books in 1! Penny’s been a friend for the better part of a decade and is a former journalist for ABC Hobart with great insights.

What I’m Watching

Downton Abbey and waiting for new seasons of The Rookie and Bridgerton

What I’m Writing

A Time Traveller’s Guide to the Future of Work should be out at some point in 2026. (Time travellers, as it turns out, are terrible at committing to dates.)