Randall Rusher
Senior AI Strategist and Governance Advisor. Four decades of technology leadership, now focused exclusively on helping organizations navigate the AI transformation.
The long version
I wrote my first code in the mid-1980s and haven't stopped since. Over four decades, I've worked across every layer of technology — from writing assembly language to advising senior leadership on digital transformation. I've been a developer, architect, manager, director, technical program manager, consultant, and privacy officer.
The through-line has been pattern recognition: seeing what's real and what's hype across every major technology shift. Mainframe. Half-inch mag tape. Cellular. Desktop. Client-server. Internet. Cloud compute. And now, AI. I've learned to separate the signal from the noise, and I've learned that the most important decisions are rarely about the technology itself.
My enterprise experience includes roles at Amazon, T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, lululemon, Clearwire, and InfoSpace. I've held regulatory accountability across multiple industries — designated HIPAA Privacy Officer in healthcare, SOX IT compliance lead for a public company during its IPO, and CPNI compliance in telecommunications. I understand how regulatory frameworks actually work from inside the operating machinery — not just from reading the policy documents.
Today, I focus exclusively on AI strategy, governance, and risk-to-ship — the full arc from “should we build this?” through “is it safe to deploy?” to “what does a well-governed AI operation actually look like?” This is the biggest shift I've seen in my career, and it's all I do. I'm not a generalist consultant who added AI to their service list — I'm a practitioner who builds multi-agent systems daily. See what that looks like in practice.
Why this work, now
AI is different. Not because the technology is more advanced — every generation thinks their technology is the most important — but because it touches decision-making itself. For the first time, we're building systems that don't just process information but synthesize it, reason about it, and act on it.
Most organizations aren't ready for this. They're getting pitched by vendors, pressured by boards, and experimenting without strategy. They need someone who can see the whole board — who understands both what AI can do and what it shouldn't do.
That's the work I find meaningful: helping organizations make good decisions about AI. Not selling them technology, not hyping the possibilities, but helping them figure out what's actually worth doing and how to do it well.
How I work
I'm an individual contributor at heart. I do my best work close to the problem, not in meetings about meetings. I write code, orchestrate multi-agent systems, and build production AI workflows. That practitioner depth is what makes the strategy advice credible — I'm not describing what I've read about. I'm describing what I built last week.
I'm direct. If something isn't going to work, I'll tell you. If a vendor is overselling, I'll flag it. If your timeline is unrealistic, we'll have that conversation early. I'd rather lose an engagement than watch a client waste time and money on the wrong path.
I aim to build capability in your team, not dependence on me. The goal is always for your organization to be stronger and more capable after our engagement than before — whether that's three months or three years.
Inland Northwest
I live in the Spokane/Coeur d'Alene/Sandpoint corridor of the Inland Northwest. It's a beautiful part of the country with growing tech communities and organizations that are navigating AI transformation just like their coastal counterparts.
I work with clients across the country and can be on-site when the work requires it. But for most engagements, effective remote collaboration is the norm — and often more productive than burning time in travel.
Let's have a conversation
Whether you're exploring AI strategy, evaluating a specific initiative, or just want to talk through what you're seeing — I'm happy to connect.
Start with a 15-minute intro to see if we're a fit, or jump straight into a working conversation on a specific decision.