═══════════════════════════════════════════════ ABOUT ═══════════════════════════════════════════════
The SysOp
Todd LeBaron — Navy veteran, Air Force AI engineer, STRATCOM wargamer, global consultant, company founder, and AI platform architect.
Started on PDP-11s and Apple IIes in the early ’80s. Flew anti-submarine warfare missions in the Pacific. Ran DARPA AI research at Rome Labs with teams from MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Stanford. Directed nuclear deterrence wargaming systems at STRATCOM on 30-year-old mainframes.
Left the military for the private sector — Andersen Consulting, then London to lead EMEA services at Callidus. Came back to Austin and founded OpenSymmetry, grew it to a $30M professional services firm across 17 industries.
Now in Scottsdale building AI Code Rally — an enterprise governance platform for AI-assisted development. Everything from the military discipline to the AI research to the consulting to the company-building feeds into what we’re creating.
The machines changed. The mission didn’t.
═══════════════════════════════════════════════ COMPUTING HISTORY ═══════════════════════════════════════════════
A Journey Through Computing
Every machine I’ve touched shaped how I think about building systems.
PDP-11 & Mainframes (1970s–80s)
The big iron era. PDP-11 minicomputers, IBM mainframes, green phosphor terminals, JCL job cards. Computing meant waiting in line at the campus lab to submit your deck. The machines taught patience and precision — every byte mattered.
Apple IIe (1983)
My first personal computer. Green phosphor CRT. Applesoft BASIC. That ] prompt. I wrote my first programs on this machine — GOTO loops and PEEK/POKE into memory. The magic of making a machine do what you tell it.
Symbolics Lisp Machine (1986)
Genera OS at Rome Labs during the DARPA AI days. The most exotic machine I ever touched. Purpose-built for artificial intelligence research. The Symbolics 3600 could run, debug, and hot-patch Lisp code at a level modern IDEs still haven’t matched.
BBS / Dial-Up (Late 80s–90s)
ANSI art, 14.4k modems, US Robotics Sportster. The sound of carrier negotiation was the sound of connection. Door games, message boards, file areas. This site’s default theme is a love letter to that era.
Sun SPARCstation / OpenLook (Early 90s)
Rounded pushpins, distinctive scrollbars, the olvwm window manager. Sun workstations were where real engineering happened. The Unix workstation era — before everything became a PC.
SGI IRIX (Mid 90s)
The purple-teal Indigo Magic desktop. The coolest workstation ever made. SGI machines rendered Jurassic Park and Toy Story. IRIX was Unix with style — the 4Dwm window manager, the toolchest, that startup chime. This site has an IRIX theme too.
NeXTSTEP (Late 80s–Early 90s)
Steve Jobs’ other computer company. Dark gray panels, vertical title bars, the Dock, Interface Builder. Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first web browser on a NeXT cube. The DNA of macOS started here. This site has a NeXTSTEP theme as well.
BeOS (Late 90s)
Yellow tab bars. True preemptive multitasking on commodity hardware. Jean-Louis Gassée’s masterpiece that almost became the next Mac OS. Ahead of its time. Dead before its time.
The Thread
PDP-11 to AI Code Rally. Every era built on the last. The tools changed — the discipline didn’t.
═══════════════════════════════════════════════ PROJECTS ═══════════════════════════════════════════════
Projects
AI Code Rally (2024–Present)
Enterprise governance platform for AI-assisted development. Policy enforcement, usage metering, audit trails, and multi-tenant governance. 22 Go microservices, gRPC + NATS event bus, Next.js frontend, Neon PostgreSQL.
ŒXITS, LLC (2024–Present)
Executive-in-Residence consultancy. Advisory services for enterprise clients navigating AI adoption, sales performance management, and digital transformation.
OpenSymmetry (2009–2018)
Built from zero to a $30M professional services firm — the largest independent SPM consultancy in the world. 17 industries. Global delivery across North America, EMEA, and APAC.
Real Good Spirits (2022–2023)
Go-to-market strategy advisor to CEO. Helped raise a $38M Series A round. POS and inventory platform for craft cocktail bars.
Military Systems
Strategic Wargaming Systems — USSTRATCOM, Offutt AFB. Directed the operation and replacement of a 30-year-old mainframe-based nuclear deterrence wargaming platform. The real WOPR.
DARPA AI R&D — Rome Labs. Managed a $25M AI research portfolio with teams from MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Stanford. Lisp Machines, expert systems, military planning AI.
P-3 Orion ASW — Anti-submarine warfare operations across the Pacific. Rated flight crew.
═══════════════════════════════════════════════ RESUME ═══════════════════════════════════════════════
R. Todd LeBaron
Founder · AI Evangelist · Veteran
Scottsdale, AZ · LinkedIn →
Military Service
Captain — Director, Strategic Wargaming Systems USAF, USSTRATCOM · Offutt AFB, Omaha NE Managed the operation and replacement of a 30-year-old mainframe-based Strategic Wargaming System for STRATCOM’s nuclear deterrence platform.
1st Lieutenant — Artificial Intelligence Engineer USAF, Rome Labs · Rome NY Managed a $25M DARPA AI R&D effort across Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and Stanford. Lisp Machines, expert systems, military planning AI.
Petty Officer 2nd Class — Aviation ASW Operator USNR · NAS Point Mugu, Oxnard CA Rated flight crew performing Anti-Surface Warfare and ship interdiction missions on P-3 Orion aircraft across the Pacific.
Industry
Founder & Managing Partner — ŒXITS, LLC · Scottsdale, AZ Executive-in-Residence consultancy. Advisory services for KPMG, Accenture, BHG, and technology startups.
Founder — AI Code Rally · Scottsdale, AZ Enterprise AI governance platform. Policy enforcement, audit trails, multi-tenant governance for AI-assisted development.
Chief Development Officer — Real Good Spirits Go-to-market strategy advisor to CEO. Raised $38M Series A round.
Founder & CEO — OpenSymmetry Inc · Austin, TX Built a $30M professional services firm from zero. Global consulting engagements across 17 industries.
Head of Services, EMEA — Callidus · London, UK Multiple technical leadership roles at an early-stage startup in the nascent SPM space.
Senior Solution Architect — Andersen Consulting · Denver, CO Architecture and consulting for Fortune 500 clients.
Director of Engineering, EMEA — Clear with Computers · Minneapolis, MN Built the EMEA software development organization from the ground up.
Education
Bachelor of Science — Physical & Computer Science Northern Arizona University · Flagstaff, AZ
═══════════════════════════════════════════════ CONTACT ═══════════════════════════════════════════════
Contact
Find Me
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thetoddfather
- GitHub: github.com/toddlebaron
- AI Code Rally: app.aicoderally.com
Location
Scottsdale, Arizona
About Inquiries
Open to conversations about AI governance, enterprise platform architecture, sales performance management consulting, and advisory engagements.
Best way to reach me is through LinkedIn.
═══════════════════════════════════════════════ BLOG ═══════════════════════════════════════════════
Blog
Posts will appear here as they are written.
