Entrepreneur / CEO / COO / General Manager building great technology product and services businesses in cloud, enterprise software, SaaS and related products/services. Passionate early-adopter and evangelist for cloud computing - and all things cloud-native -  and its ability to transform IT. Strong across multiple competencies - sales, marketing, technology, finance & operations.

John. Treadway

I believe there’s a parallel between the autonomous driving market and internal AI strategy. Let me know what you think.

Elon Musk has said he doesn’t understand why other automakers won’t license Full Self-Driving (FSD) from Tesla. Some automakers, notably Rivian, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz, have determined that this technology is so central to their businesses that they cannot just abdicate it and let another company control their destiny. While this makes for more work and higher upfront risk, they are not wrong to want to "own" something so fundamental.

In 2026, we are seeing a similar shift in the enterprise. The bigger companies are often avoiding "renting" external AI stacks tied to a single vendor (OpenAI, Salesforce, etc.) in favor of building a sovereign internal AI stack. Here is why the "Own vs. Rent" debate is shifting:

- Data Sovereignty & Security: You keep your IP and customer data behind your own firewall, not a third-party black box.

- Operational Control: You aren't at the mercy of a vendor's pricing hikes, model deprecations, or roadmap pivots. Control your roadmap, control your destiny.

- The "Unified Brain": An internal stack connects all your siloed data (CRM, ERP, Slack) into one cohesive intelligence layer.

- Unit Economics: While "renting" is cheap at first, building your own infrastructure avoids the compounding "SaaS tax" at scale. If you have 2,000 employees, even part of the stack will be $720k per year (at $30). Add in the siloed AI add-ons from Salesforce, ServiceNow and others and that number can quickly balloon! You can "own" your own stack for a lot less - and use the savings to fund enablement, process change and other super-important efforts. 

- Custom Moats: Generalist vendor AIs are a commodity; an AI stack fine-tuned on your proprietary processes is a competitive advantage.

The takeaway: If AI is going to be the "engine" of your company, do you want to own the engine, or just lease the same system your competitor is using?

#AIStrategy #EnterpriseAI #SovereignAI #Innovation #DigitalTransformation

John Treadway

CEO of AI Technology Partners, provider of governed, adopted, enterprise AI—deployed in our client’s environment and under their control

I am very excited to welcome Dave MacKay as SVP, Client Strategy & Partnerships at AI Technology Partners!

Dave is a senior go-to-market and strategy leader with more than 25 years of experience helping technology companies translate AI, advanced analytics, and cloud capabilities into clear customer demand and measurable business outcomes. At AI Technology Partners (AITP), he is focused on accelerating early customer traction and shaping our go-to-market strategy in the generative and agentic AI landscape.

His background spans enterprise analytics, cloud platforms, and professional services, with leadership roles at SAS, Cognos, Onica, and Slalom, as well as early-stage growth firms. Across these environments, Dave has consistently helped organizations open new markets, validate repeatable sales motions, and extend platforms into new use cases and verticals. He is particularly known for building and leading high-performing, cross-functional teams that align strategy, sales, partners, and delivery around concrete outcomes.

Dave’s strength lies in bridging strategy and execution. He brings a pragmatic, market-driven perspective that helps teams focus on what actually drives adoption, revenue, and scale.

Dave is working closely with me and the rest of the leadership team to inject real-world market signal into how we position, sell, and partner as the company grows. His mandate is to drive early market traction through hands-on collaboration with clients and strategic partners, helping refine and scale AITP’s go-to-market approach.

Outside of work, Dave enjoys staying active and spending time outdoors, including fishing and tennis.

Dave is widely respected for his strategic judgment, collaborative leadership style, and ability to create clarity through action. We are excited to have him join AITP as we continue to build practical AI solutions that deliver real business outcomes.

AI | Strategy | Data | Governance | Transformation

Joey Jablonski

It feels like every day I’m having the same conversation — with a friend in the middle of a job hunt, a recruiter trying to fill a role, or a hiring manager growing their team. Different perspectives, same underlying struggle: the hiring market has become deeply fractured.

In an era dominated by applicant tracking systems, AI, and endless “resume best practices,” it’s starting to feel like none of it actually works. Candidates are frustrated. Recruiters are overwhelmed. Hiring managers are struggling to find real signal.

This isn’t something any one person can fix alone. As a technology community, we need to come together to repair this — not just for ourselves, but for the companies we work for and the roles we support. Especially as AI continues to reshape how value is measured, created, and recognized, the way we connect people to work has to evolve with it.

#recruiting #candidates #jobs #ai #change

The relationship between recruiters and candidates hasn’t just changed — it’s fundamentally fractured. What was once a flawed but mostly functional sy

Open article: The Hiring Market Has Fractured — and Everyone Feels It by Joey Jablonski • 6 min read

The Hiring Market Has Fractured — and Everyone Feels It

This week I finished reading Story Business (https://lnkd.in/g5raxmyV). This is one of those books that lingers with you long after you put it down. While Gavin McMahon outlines six different types of stories, the sections on Culture and Brand were the most thought-provoking for me—and the ones that immediately changed how I think about my own work and buying behavior.

The discussion on Culture pushed me to reflect on how culture is intentionally (or unintentionally) shaped inside an organization: how information is organized, shared, and reinforced, and how stories create a common understanding that goes far beyond values written on a slide. It challenged me to think more deliberately about how I drive a shared culture rather than assuming it will organically emerge.

The Brand chapter was equally impactful. It made me pause and examine why I gravitate toward certain companies—why I buy from Apple or Southwest Airlines, but also from local businesses like The Lucky Rabbit (https://lnkd.in/g3njacf7) or Instill Coffee Co. Each of these brands has a clear, curated identity. You instantly recognize who they are, what they stand for, and what the relationship will feel like. McMahon does a great job showing that strong brands deliver far more than transactions—they deliver trust, consistency, and connection.

This book is approachable, insightful, and immediately applicable, whether you’re a leader, marketer, founder, or simply someone curious about how stories shape the businesses and communities around us. I highly recommend picking it up—you’ll likely find yourself rethinking both how you lead and how you choose the brands you support.

Thank you Gavin McMahon for your insights & experience. 

#culture #leadership #product #stories  #bookreview

Open article: Lucky Rabbit | Bar Restaurant in Jonestown, TX by luckyrabbitbar.com

Lucky Rabbit | Bar Restaurant in Jonestown, TX

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