The bots will have their way. So get out of their way.

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We’ve talked resilience, compliance, AI, and risk - but what does it really take to become the architect of your organization’s technology future?

In this penultimate episode of Season 2, Nate and Mike step back to connect the big picture. It’s not just about weathering trends or keeping up with the latest tec - it’s about building systematic autonomy into every layer of IT leadership.

This episode covers:
- The Standardization Paradox: how to create innovation zones without losing operational control
- Matrix leadership and decision rights: thriving in the age of distributed authority
- The rise of composable enterprise architecture—and why optionality > efficiency
- Rethinking IT talent: why tomorrow’s teams need both deep specialists and versatile generalists
- Building adaptive learning and knowledge transfer into your org’s DNA

And, as always, we tie everything back to the original four pillars - Risk, Productivity, Automation, and Innovation - showing how true autonomy is the thread that connects them all.

Wrap up with our final IT leader archetype: The Autonomy Architect - the leader who builds for adaptability, modularity, and future strategic choice.

Next week: our grand finale, as we take everything we’ve learned into the future of Industry 5.0.

Keep fighting for autonomy, one decision, one architecture, and one team at a time.

Support the show

The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us
"The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
"The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com
Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give
Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit
Youtube - @thecalculusofit
Slack - Invite Link
Email - nate@thecoit.us
Email - mike@thecoit.us

Welcome to the Calculus of IT double feature you didn’t know you needed. In this two-part journey, me and Mike stare down the end of the world - at least, the IT version - and ask: what does it really mean to be resilient when everything is “as-a-service,” your best people keep quitting, and zero-trust is somehow both everywhere and nowhere?

In episode 11 Parts 1 and 2:

• Why true resilience is about more than just backup plans and disaster recovery - it’s about knowledge transfer, adaptability, and culture.
• How to build “graceful degradation” instead of catastrophic failure into your tech stack - and why sometimes, “just go get a coffee and wait it out” is the right answer.
• Rants on SaaS fragility, fourth-party risk, and why duplicating your data across every vendor is fun until AWS gets nuked.
• The real-world pros and cons of zero-trust, passwordless dreams, and whether we’re just dumbing people down for the sake of convenience.
• Practical frameworks (and a few philosophical tangents) for building knowledge resilience, operational resilience, and maintaining autonomy - even when the world is melting down.
• The Resilient Orchestrator archetype: that unnervingly calm IT leader who’s already got Plan B, C, and D (and maybe some snacks).
• Plus: job updates, security news, the fate of Box, why “five nines” is a myth, and the launch of Micro Spin - IT’s first trance supergroup.

Whether you’re prepping for the next cyberattack, pandemic, or sudden urge to form an EDM band, this is the survival kit for modern IT leaders.

Stay resilient, stay witty, and don’t forget to document your runbooks before the next person quits.

Support the show

The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us
"The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
"The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com
Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give
Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit
Youtube - @thecalculusofit
Slack - Invite Link
Email - nate@thecoit.us
Email - mike@thecoit.us

Welcome to the Calculus of IT double feature you didn’t know you needed. In this two-part journey, me and Mike stare down the end of the world - at least, the IT version - and ask: what does it really mean to be resilient when everything is “as-a-service,” your best people keep quitting, and zero-trust is somehow both everywhere and nowhere?

In episode 11 Parts 1 and 2:

• Why true resilience is about more than just backup plans and disaster recovery - it’s about knowledge transfer, adaptability, and culture.
• How to build “graceful degradation” instead of catastrophic failure into your tech stack - and why sometimes, “just go get a coffee and wait it out” is the right answer.
• Rants on SaaS fragility, fourth-party risk, and why duplicating your data across every vendor is fun until AWS gets nuked.
• The real-world pros and cons of zero-trust, passwordless dreams, and whether we’re just dumbing people down for the sake of convenience.
• Practical frameworks (and a few philosophical tangents) for building knowledge resilience, operational resilience, and maintaining autonomy - even when the world is melting down.
• The Resilient Orchestrator archetype: that unnervingly calm IT leader who’s already got Plan B, C, and D (and maybe some snacks).
• Plus: job updates, security news, the fate of Box, why “five nines” is a myth, and the launch of Micro Spin - IT’s first trance supergroup.

Whether you’re prepping for the next cyberattack, pandemic, or sudden urge to form an EDM band, this is the survival kit for modern IT leaders.

Stay resilient, stay witty, and don’t forget to document your runbooks before the next person quits.

Support the show

The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us
"The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
"The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com
Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give
Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit
Youtube - @thecalculusofit
Slack - Invite Link
Email - nate@thecoit.us
Email - mike@thecoit.us

It’s another Calculus of IT mini-episode (“Jort” alert!), and this time Nate and Mike are spiraling down the GenAI token rabbit hole - no tokens required (yet).

Join us for a fast-paced, highly caffeinated, and only slightly unhinged tour of the emerging AI token economy:
- Why tokens aren’t just for arcades anymore (and why your IT budget should be afraid)
- How the AI industry is setting you up for a future where “out of tokens” is the new “out of office”
- Will we see a future where you’re forced to watch ads to get your AI answers, or trade your last Lamborghini for more compute points?
- Prompt efficiency, token tiering, and the question nobody can answer: does your $20 model get you the “good” answers or just leftover AI slop?
- Plus: all of Mike's Black Mirror references, security news, and the world’s first pitch for a Calculus of IT meme coin

Whether you’re running a multimillion-dollar enterprise or just trying to get ChatGPT to write your grocery list, the token economy is about to change the way you work, budget, and even onboard your next AI assistant.

So grab a beer, check your token balance, and get ready to laugh (and maybe cry) as we decode what’s coming next.

*Stay sharp, stay witty, and never run out of tokens.*

Support the show

The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us
"The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
"The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com
Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give
Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit
Youtube - @thecalculusofit
Slack - Invite Link
Email - nate@thecoit.us
Email - mike@thecoit.us

Bots don't actually care about compliance. Maybe because they are literally one of the most noncompliant technologies possible? Who knows, let's listen to them hash this one out.

Support the show

The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us
"The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
"The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com
Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give
Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit
Youtube - @thecalculusofit
Slack - Invite Link
Email - nate@thecoit.us
Email - mike@thecoit.us

It’s the regulation episode you didn’t know you needed - but absolutely do.

After three weeks swimming in the future of AI, quantum, and edge, Nate and Mike are back with a rundown of the one thing every IT leader loves to hate: compliance. From GDPR’s wake-up call to the alphabet soup of CCPA, DORA, and CPRA, we break down how the modern regulatory landscape is reshaping not just what you do—but how much freedom you have to do it.

In this episode:
- How to build compliance into your IT DNA (and why it’s not just “a legal thing” anymore)
- The autonomy-killing dangers of compliance fragmentation (and how to avoid them)
- Why “check the box” compliance is dead - and what replaces it
- Real-world stories: compliance councils, distributed champions, and the joy of deleting every trace of someone (on request)
- The new rules of “as-a-service” and why you can’t outsource your way out of an audit
- The secret to making compliance a competitive advantage (or at least less of a migraine)
- Strategic frameworks for balancing compliance, innovation, and your own sanity

Plus: philosophical debates on rope steak, cosplay, and the eternal question - what color pill do you *really* need to take to make all this go away?

Support the show

The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us
"The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
"The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com
Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give
Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit
Youtube - @thecalculusofit
Slack - Invite Link
Email - nate@thecoit.us
Email - mike@thecoit.us

What happens when your AI agent tries to talk to mine but mine hates yours?

Support the show

The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us
"The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
"The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library
The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com
Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give
Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit
Youtube - @thecalculusofit
Slack - Invite Link
Email - nate@thecoit.us
Email - mike@thecoit.us