Build Bolder. Move Faster. Think AI-First.

Welcome to Cornice Labs.

Are you on the cusp of something big?

AI has fundamentally changed what's possible in both product development and daily work. I help people navigate this shift with practical, hands-on guidance.

Whether you're a founder crafting an AI product strategy or a professional developing AI collaboration skills, I bring real experience building AI products and working with AI teammates.

Hi, I’m John.

I'm a problem-solver and a product builder. Whether it's crafting a piece of custom furniture or designing a complex product with AI, I thrive on deeply understanding constraints and creating elegant solutions that deliver results. 

I approach every challenge with the belief that all problems are solvable—it's about having the courage to explore every angle and find the right path forward with purpose and precision. 

I practice what I teach. I'm a solopreneur working with AI teammates daily—this hands-on experience is how I know what works.

When I'm not building and launching AI-driven products, you can find me in my workshop, training for a half-marathon, or navigating mountain terrain on wheels, skis, or by foot.

How I can help.

  • You know AI matters for your work, but you're not sure where it fits or how to use it effectively. You've tried it and the results were underwhelming, or you just feel behind.

    I help you develop practical AI collaboration skills through hands-on work with your actual challenges. You'll learn to work with AI like a talented colleague—building intuition through practice, not theory.

    What you'll develop:

    • Your natural voice for working with AI through plain conversation

    • Instinctive sense of when AI helps and when it doesn't

    • Confidence to integrate AI into your daily work

    • Skills to lead AI initiatives (if that's your role)

  • You're sitting on a product opportunity involving AI, but the path forward isn't clear. What's actually possible? What's hype? Where do you start?

    I help you think differently about your challenges, identify where AI creates real value, and develop strategies to get your ideas to market with speed and confidence.

    What we'll do together:

    • Reimagine how to solve your core problems with AI at the center

    • Identify the simplest path to test your assumptions

    • Design approaches that work with real-world constraints

    • Build confidence in your product direction

Projects: Proof in Practice

  • Rekindl: Effortless Family Storytelling

    Visit Rekindl

    AI-driven oral history platform currently in private beta. Built complex agentic workflows that conduct empathetic multi-session interviews with elderly users, then craft beautiful written stories from their memories. The technical achievement: creating AI that can maintain conversational continuity across sessions while adapting interview style to each person's communication preferences.

  • Shift AI Personas: Customer Insights to Accelerate Growth

    Built at Mach49

    Generative AI-powered customer simulations that help Global 1000 companies accelerate venture building. Created dynamic, research-driven customer representations that enable rapid hypothesis testing and product-market fit validation. Reduced customer discovery timelines by 10x while providing deeper insights than traditional research methods.

  • Randimal: AI-First Product Development at Speed

    Visit Randimal

    Built a complete AI-powered app in 3.5 weeks - from initial prototype to production with payments, marketing site, and user base. Kids combine any three animals to create magical hybrid creatures with unique personalities and stories. Used AI teammates for full-stack development, copywriting, design, and go-to-market strategy. Demonstrates how AI can compress traditional development timelines while maintaining quality.

  • Liminary: Human+AI Product Architecture

    In Alpha Testing

    Designing the seamless integration of human coaches and AI for life transitions. The core challenge: maintaining context and continuity as conversations flow between AI (24/7 availability, pattern recognition) and human coaches (empathy, lived experience). Building sophisticated handoff mechanisms that let each contribute their strengths while creating a unified user experience.

  • "I went from AI-anxious to AI-confident in two months. John didn't teach me prompt engineering—he helped me break down the mental barriers of how I apply AI to real problems in my work. The breakthrough for me was having specific exercises tied to actual challenges I was facing. Now I integrate AI into both work and personal life without hesitation. The biggest shift? When I need to reason through something, I just have a conversation with AI in plain English."

    Financial Services Professional

  • "John is a pragmatic thought partner who is ruthlessly focused on efficiency and results. I’ve relied on him to turn out-of-the-box ideas into tangible, user-friendly products under incredibly short time frames. It feels like everyone’s doing AI these days, but John fundamentally gets how to use it to supercharge even the most nascent product strategy."

    Monifa Porter, SVP of Shift AI and Managing Partner of Venture Building, Mach49

  • "I’ve worked with John to stand up an AI-driven solution that creates tailored product updates so critical stakeholders stay aligned without the constant busywork. He zeroes in on the fastest, smartest path to success, using his deep expertise in AI to come up with solutions that are both creative and incredibly practical. He's a master at turning complexity into clarity and action, and I feel fortunate to have him as a partner."

    Steve Strauch, Vice President of Product Management

  • “John is technically savvy, an excellent communicator, exceptionally detail-oriented, creative, and constantly consultative. Most importantly, he has an innate understanding of what a client needs (not just wants) and is able to figure out how to build and deploy enterprise software that delivers results.”

    Ben Magarick, former Client Solutions Manager, Opower

Let’s chat.