About this newsletter
I write about the gap between what a technology category promises and what a buyer can actually get. I’ve watched that gap open and close from the inside — as the SE whose demo got turned into a marketing pitch, as the product leader trying to ship against the pitch, and as the consultant doing the integration work that eventually made the pitch true.
Right now I think AI governance is sitting in exactly that gap. The pattern is worth writing about while it’s still recognizable and actionable, rather than after it’s resolved. That’s what this newsletter is for.
What you’ll find here
Technical analysis of where the marketing pitch has outrun the product. Procurement-grade skepticism about what’s actually shipping in the box. The occasional story from twenty-five years ago that turns out to be about right now. And honest uncertainty where I have it — I’d rather flag what I don’t know than pretend otherwise.
Enterprise AI Watch
A working letter on agent security, governance, and control in the enterprise: what shipped, what broke, who got funded, and what the rule-makers did. Every other week. Every factual item links a primary source I read while writing it. When I get something wrong, I correct it in place and mark the correction.
You can subscribe to the letter, the essays, or both.
Who I am
I’m Brian Gardner. Twenty-five years in enterprise technology — storage, networking, security, payments, and product management — including five years embedded at Apple and senior roles at EMC/Legato, Quantum, and FalconStor. Four patents in data protection and content repository architecture. Based in Campbell, California. I consult through my own firm, Technical Strategy Leadership, LLC.
What I’d like from you
The point of writing this in public is to provoke careful thought and honest discussion — including, and maybe especially, the kind that tells me where I’ve got it wrong. If you’ve worked through any of this from another angle and reached different conclusions, I’d very much like to hear from you. That’s the conversation I’m hoping this newsletter starts.
A standing disclosure
I consult in this industry. The views here are mine alone — not those of any client or company I work with. This is analysis, not advice: not investment advice, and not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold anything, including the securities of any company I name. I hold no positions in any company named in an issue; if that ever changes, I’ll say so at the time.
P.S. I use em-dashes shamelessly, and have been doing it since well before AI came around. Please do not discriminate against the lowly em-dash. Their use indicates my judgment — or lack thereof — and predates the current AI moment by about thirty years.
