I'm Alexander — a hands-on technologist and commercial pilot working across practical AI, software, day-to-day IT, and aviation. This is where I keep the things I'm building, learning, and wondering about. The client-facing version lives at Carr Ventures.
I've spent more than a decade close to the parts of technology people actually have to live with: small-business systems, networks, documents, workflows, and the occasional job site seen from the air.
These days most of my work is in AI and software through Carr Ventures, but the thread is older than AI. I like taking something complicated, finding the useful part, and making it easier to understand and trust.
When I'm not at a keyboard, I'm often at an airport. I hold a commercial single-engine pilot certificate with an instrument rating, plus FAA Part 107 for drone work. Flying scratches the same itch as engineering — checklists, systems, weather, and an honest respect for the facts in front of you.
Mostly, though, I'm just curious. About astrophysics and why the universe is the way it is. About what AI makes possible — I'm an unapologetic optimist there. About how people live everywhere else, which is how the passport picked up thirty-eight countries. I try to seek out facts, follow the evidence, and never stop learning.
This is my personal corner of the web — a running snapshot of what I'm working on, what I'm learning, and the ideas I keep coming back to.
FileNameChange — a small native Mac app that gives badly named PDFs a useful name, then lets you undo everything.
Apple's PDFKit, Vision, and on-device model docs. A surprisingly deep rabbit hole for a filename utility.
Single-engine time and drone work around the Twin Cities whenever weather, airspace, and a useful reason to fly all line up.
SwiftUI, on-device analysis, and how far a useful tool can go before it needs another API call.
How the universe got this way — astrophysics detours and big questions I can't stop asking.
What each new generation of AI models makes possible. I'm an optimist about where this is going, and I build accordingly.
The work moves between three lanes. They look different from a distance, but all three are about making complicated systems easier to use and trust.
Most of my time, and most of my open tabs.
The decade underneath everything else.
A different kind of systems work.
The client case studies live at Carr Ventures. These are the smaller, public things that say more about how I think when nobody has handed me a brief.
A native Mac app for PDFs with names like scan_0042.pdf. It reads what a document is actually about, suggests a useful filename, and keeps every rename reversible.
Hand-set type, an interactive session, light and dark themes, and no framework or build step. A personal site should be allowed to feel a little handmade.
AI systems, IT consulting, and aerial work happen through Carr Ventures. The service details and client case studies belong there, not duplicated all over this page.
Not a methodology. Just a few reminders that have survived changing jobs, tools, and technology cycles.
I like new tools as much as anyone. The test is whether somebody is happier to use the result on a Tuesday afternoon.
The document, the person doing the work, the machine in the field — abstraction is useful until it hides the problem.
Plain language, boring tools when they fit, and fewer moving parts. Cleverness has to earn the maintenance bill.
Sometimes literally. Flying is a good reminder that the shape of a problem changes when you step far enough back.
Est. 2017 · Twin Cities, MN
Carr Ventures is how I do client work. That's where the service details, case studies, and the practical AI, IT, and aerial side of the story live. This site stays closer to the person behind it.
Visit Carr Ventures (opens in new tab)An open invitation
If you're building something interesting, untangling a technology problem, exploring an idea, or simply want to say hello, my inbox is open.
An interesting problem, a half-built idea, or a simple hello is plenty.