https://thectoadvisor.com/ Enterprise technology without the vendor theater. Essays and commentary from Keith Townsend. en-us https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/07/16/if-you-cant-get-gpus-can-you-use-cpus/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/07/16/if-you-cant-get-gpus-can-you-use-cpus/ Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:39:04 GMT If I can't get GPUs, can I run AI work on CPUs I already own? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/07/04/they-shipped-buggy-code-faster-aiops-is-about-to-do-it-again/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/07/04/they-shipped-buggy-code-faster-aiops-is-about-to-do-it-again/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 23:54:52 GMT Is buying AIOps tools without changing our operating model going to repeat the DevOps mistake? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/07/02/encode-the-why-not-the-step/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/07/02/encode-the-why-not-the-step/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:36:53 GMT Why doesn't writing better documentation keep an AI agent from ignoring your process? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/06/26/i-built-a-framework-because-i-couldnt-move-my-own-app/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/06/26/i-built-a-framework-because-i-couldnt-move-my-own-app/ Fri, 26 Jun 2026 14:51:59 GMT What did Keith find when he ran the 4+1 DAPM assessment against his own Virtual CTO Advisor app? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/06/23/every-vendor-sells-an-ai-platform-none-of-them-sells-a-complete-one/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/06/23/every-vendor-sells-an-ai-platform-none-of-them-sells-a-complete-one/ Tue, 23 Jun 2026 17:02:29 GMT Can I buy a complete enterprise AI platform from a single vendor? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/06/10/the-fourth-cloud-vendor-map-is-live/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/06/10/the-fourth-cloud-vendor-map-is-live/ Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:55:34 GMT What does the Fourth Cloud vendor map at cloud.layer2c.com actually measure? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/06/07/the-ai-assembly-line-speed-without-flow/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/06/07/the-ai-assembly-line-speed-without-flow/ Sun, 07 Jun 2026 22:07:27 GMT If AI-assisted coding works so well, why aren't the returns showing up on the bottom line? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/06/04/from-migration-factory-to-migration-control-plane-2/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/06/04/from-migration-factory-to-migration-control-plane-2/ Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:32:43 GMT How do you safely use LLMs to scale cloud migration across a large application estate? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/26/ai-infrastructure-the-tradeoffs-behind-these-12-vendor-platforms/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/26/ai-infrastructure-the-tradeoffs-behind-these-12-vendor-platforms/ Tue, 26 May 2026 13:37:04 GMT How do I see the tradeoffs behind the major AI infrastructure platforms before I buy one? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/20/hybrid-is-not-a-place-the-ai-architecture-google-and-dell-both-pointed-toward/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/20/hybrid-is-not-a-place-the-ai-architecture-google-and-dell-both-pointed-toward/ Wed, 20 May 2026 18:02:47 GMT Should I run agentic coding on cheap cloud models like Gemini Flash or on-prem hardware like Dell's? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/17/who-determines-done-why-agentic-ai-needs-escalation-not-more-loops/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/17/who-determines-done-why-agentic-ai-needs-escalation-not-more-loops/ Sun, 17 May 2026 20:43:13 GMT Do agentic AI systems need better loops, or does the answer live somewhere else? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/13/who-controls-the-loop-a-requirements-document-for-local-first-agentic-ai/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/13/who-controls-the-loop-a-requirements-document-for-local-first-agentic-ai/ Wed, 13 May 2026 16:50:23 GMT Where should judgment live in a local-first agentic AI system? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/09/ai-trism-readiness-assessment/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/09/ai-trism-readiness-assessment/ Sat, 09 May 2026 23:18:19 GMT How do I know if my AI governance is operational and not just aspirational? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/06/closing-the-loop-google-just-validated-deterministic-code-in-the-loop/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/06/closing-the-loop-google-just-validated-deterministic-code-in-the-loop/ Wed, 06 May 2026 17:25:50 GMT Did Google's TensorFlow-to-JAX migration validate the deterministic code in the loop pattern? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/06/checking-the-cto-advisor-track-record/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/05/06/checking-the-cto-advisor-track-record/ Wed, 06 May 2026 14:46:07 GMT Can The CTO Advisor's frameworks be verified against a public track record? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/04/28/operationalizing-ai-trism-a-cto-advisor-field-guide/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/04/28/operationalizing-ai-trism-a-cto-advisor-field-guide/ Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:31:04 GMT How do you turn Gartner's AI TRiSM from approval language into an operating reality? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/04/27/the-industry-is-watching-gpu-prices-google-just-moved-the-fight-to-the-judgment-layer/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/04/27/the-industry-is-watching-gpu-prices-google-just-moved-the-fight-to-the-judgment-layer/ Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:15:55 GMT If Google Cloud Next was all remixes and no new products, why did it matter? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/04/26/auditable-authority-when-ai-can-advise-and-who-should-decide/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/04/26/auditable-authority-when-ai-can-advise-and-who-should-decide/ Sun, 26 Apr 2026 19:38:14 GMT Where should decision authority sit when AI enters an enterprise workflow? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/04/23/i-just-wanted-endpoints/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/04/23/i-just-wanted-endpoints/ Thu, 23 Apr 2026 20:03:24 GMT Why can't I just get inference endpoints from my own AI hardware? https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/04/22/layer-1a-is-table-stakes-the-real-ai-infrastructure-question-is-above-it/ https://thectoadvisor.com/blog/2026/04/22/layer-1a-is-table-stakes-the-real-ai-infrastructure-question-is-above-it/ Wed, 22 Apr 2026 12:00:28 GMT If every storage vendor passes the Layer 1A checklist, what should I actually evaluate?