Media & Partnerships

Twenty years of judgment, applied to what AI actually means for your career.

I've spent twenty years leading engineering organizations and shipping systems that businesses run on. Now I'm building an audience from zero, in public, translating dense AI research and hard-earned career lessons into practical advice — for people worried about their jobs, beginners who want to actually use these tools, and everyone in between. If you're producing a show, programming an event, or looking for a partner who'll use the product first, everything you need is on this page.

The audience

People trying to figure out what AI actually means for their career — not researchers, not hobbyists. Early- and mid-career professionals worried about being made obsolete, beginners who want to use AI tools without wading through hype, and anyone who'd rather have a dense industry report translated into three things to do about it.

Broad by design — engineers are a slice of it, not the center. Sales, ops, customer success, and career-stage professionals across functions make up most of it.
The audience is small and growing quickly. It shows up for candor — admitting what's uncertain, not just what's been figured out.
Content is judgment-led, not hype-led: twenty years of technical leadership applied to what a piece of AI news actually changes for a normal career.

Primary platform: Instagram @davecto. Current audience size and engagement figures available on request.

Topics

What I talk about

Some of these I've lived through directly. Others are dense research I've read closely enough to translate into what to actually do. Happy to go deeper on any one, or shape a segment around your audience.

What the AI research actually means for your career

Reports like the Stanford AI Index and Harvard Business Review's coverage of AI-first roles are dense, footnoted, and mostly ignored by the people they're written for. I read them and pull out the specific, actionable moves — which industries are hiring, which skills are rising, where the real openings are — instead of the headline stat everyone already saw.

Good for Career and business podcasts · Newsletter or content partnerships · Beginner-to-intermediate audiences

AI tools for people who don't write code

Claude Skills, everyday workflows, and the beginner-level version of 'how do I actually use this thing' — aimed at people in ops, sales, customer success, and marketing, not developers. The goal is always the same: less hype, more "here's exactly what to click."

Good for General business and productivity shows · Beginner-friendly audiences · Workshop format

The parts of a career nobody explains

Twenty years of sitting in the room where raises get decided, teams get built, and micromanagers get diagnosed. Practical, sometimes blunt advice on getting paid what you're worth, reading a manager's incentives, and the things I wish someone had told me earlier.

Good for Career and workplace podcasts · HR and people-leader audiences · Early-career audiences

What I'd tell myself twenty years ago

The specific, sometimes uncomfortable lessons — about judgment, visibility, and not confusing effort with value — condensed from two decades of being an engineer, a manager, and eventually a CTO. Aimed at people a decade or two behind where I am now.

Good for Career podcasts · Early- to mid-career audiences · Panels

Don't let a vibe-coded dashboard ruin your job

A hands-on-built, hands-on-broken CTO's take on the AI tools and internal dashboards quietly showing up on teams with no review, no owner, and no plan for what happens when they break. The specific questions to ask before your job depends on one.

Good for Technical and business crossover shows · Team leads and managers · Panels on AI adoption risk

Building a personal brand from zero, in public, imperfectly

I'm a CTO, not a content creator, and I said so on day one. What it's actually looked like to start posting with twenty years of credibility and zero social media instincts — including the parts that didn't work.

Good for Personal branding and creator-adjacent shows · Career pivot audiences

Formats

Podcast interviews — remote, or in person in the New York area
Short-form video features or collaborations
Panels and moderated discussions
Workshops and team sessions
Written breakdowns and guest posts

Selected appearances

Where I've spoken

Talk

AI for the glass industry

California Glass Association

A session for glass industry executives on where AI is genuinely useful in their operations today — drawn from directly leading development of the industry's first AI-assisted takeoff tool.

Brand partnerships

How I work with partners

Short version: I use it, then I tell people what it's actually like.

What fits: AI tools and platforms, career and productivity products, HR and workplace tools, and technical education — anything I'd genuinely put in front of someone navigating their own career or trying to use AI without the hype.
How a collaboration runs: I use the product first, on something real, before agreeing to anything. What I publish reflects what it's actually like — because the audience shows up for candor, and a partnership that costs me their trust is a bad trade for both of us.
What I turn down: Anything I have not used, scripted copy I cannot edit, and products where an honest take wouldn't be a favorable one. I would rather say no early than deliver something that reads as an advertisement.
Working together: Usually a single piece or a short series, agreed on scope and timing up front. Rates and current audience figures on request — the fastest way to a real answer is a short email describing what you have in mind.

For producers

Bio & booking details

Copy whichever length fits your format — no need to ask.

Short — 34 words

Dave Brown is a CTO with 20+ years in tech, building a personal brand from scratch and posting about it honestly — turning AI research, career strategy, and hard-won management lessons into practical advice.

Medium — 70 words

Dave Brown is a CTO and technology executive with more than twenty years leading engineering organizations. He's spent the last stretch building an audience from zero, in public — breaking down AI industry research like the Stanford AI Index and Harvard Business Review into what it actually means for a career, teaching beginner-friendly AI skills, and sharing blunt, tested advice on management, raises, and the things nobody explains early on.

Long — 120 words

Dave Brown is a CTO and technology executive based in New York with more than twenty years leading engineering organizations and building the software systems that run underneath real businesses — from directing an AI-assisted takeoff tool for the glass industry to building ecommerce infrastructure handling over $125M in monthly revenue. More recently he's been building a personal brand from zero and documenting it honestly, including the parts that are genuinely uncomfortable for someone new to social media. He translates dense AI research into practical career moves, teaches beginner-friendly AI skills like Claude Skills, shares direct advice on management and getting paid what you're worth, and writes about the AI anxiety most people in tech feel but few admit to.

How to introduce me: Dave, or Dave Brown. A CTO with twenty years in tech, not a professional creator — he'll tell you himself he's still figuring the platform out, which is part of what the audience shows up for.
Based in: New York, NY. Remote recording for anything outside the area; happy to record in person locally.

Get in touch

Tell me what you have in mind.

Pick the closest match — it lands in the right place with the subject already filled in. A couple of sentences about your show, event, or product is plenty to start.

Book me on a podcast Speaking or event inquiry Brand partnership inquiry