The Tech Guy Who Helps People, Not Just Machines
Brooklyn-based AI Engineer, Systems Architect, and Business Automation specialist with 25+ years turning complex technology into real-world results: from Sydney's largest trading room to NYC City Hall.
"Education is not something you finish!"
: Christian Lawson
And his résumé proves it.
Christian Lawson started his career in 1997 in Sydney's largest trading room at Bankers Trust: the kind of environment where if the system went down, someone lost money. Fast. That pressure forged a systems thinker who does not just understand technology; he understands the cost of getting it wrong.
Over 25+ years, he moved from hands-on server engineer to Solutions Architect at the NYC Mayor's Office of Municipal Service Assessment, where his efficiency solutions now save NYC over $200 million annually and have contributed to a 27% reduction in crime through public safety data analytics. He also designed the CityWide Asset Ledger: a 512-bit encrypted private blockchain tracking all NYC city assets, securing property titles, death certificates, marriage records, and public benefits.
Along the way, he proposed a tow truck notification system for the NYPD that would eliminate 40,000 unnecessary 911 calls per year: saving approximately 100,000 hours of police and public time annually. The math is classic Christian: find the inefficiency, quantify the waste, fix it.
He built AISmallBiz™ because the strategies that work for Fortune 500 companies should not be locked behind $50,000 consulting fees. Small and medium businesses deserve the same competitive intelligence: and he intends to give it to them.
A Self-Made Education from the World's Best Institutions
12 years of continuous self-funded learning. 30+ courses. 1,200-2,400+ hours outside of a full-time career.
Artificial Intelligence
2013-2025
- Caltech: Machine Learning I
- Stanford: Machine Learning II (Andrew Ng)
- MIT: AI (Patrick Winston)
- UC Berkeley: Artificial Intelligence
- Saylor Academy: Advanced AI
- Stanford / DeepLearning.AI: Deep Learning Specialization
- Google: Generative AI Leadership
Data Science & Statistics
2016-2023
- Columbia University: Data Science for Executives (IoT, Statistical Thinking, ML)
- Johns Hopkins: Executive Data Science Specialization (5 courses)
- MIT: Data Science & Statistics MicroMasters
IoT: Internet of Things
2018-2021
- Intel: IoT Foundations
- EIT (European Institute of Technology)
- Yonsei University: Emergent Technologies (2018) & Analytics (2019)
- Waseda University: System Architecture (2020)
- Microsoft: IoT Analytics (2019)
- Curtain University: 6-course Master's-level IoT program (2021)
- Blockchain Alliance: IoT & Blockchain (2019)
Blockchain
2018-2023
- IBM: Blockchain Essentials
- iTech: Blockchain Essentials, Deep Fundamentals & Business MasterClass
- Blockchain Council: Certified Blockchain Expert (2018)
- Blockchain Council: Certified Blockchain Architect (2023)
- Caltech: Quantum Cryptography (~2021)
Business & Leadership
2018-2024
- Columbia University: Compressed MBA (Chris Haroun, 2018)
- Johns Hopkins: Executive Data Science Leadership
- Yale School of Management: Leading Supply Chain Innovation (2024)
Systems Engineering & Operations
Career-long
- Windows Server, Exchange, Active Directory, PowerShell, Citrix, SCCM
- AWS, Azure, GCP: multi-cloud architecture
- Splunk, Elastic, Linux / Red Hat
- 25+ years in production environments
The Numbers Do Not Lie
Real impact. Real scale. All applied to real public problems.
Saved annually for NYC municipal agencies
Reduction in crime through public safety data analytics
Police and public time saved per year (tow truck notification system)
Value of automating one repetitive 10-minute task per day
What Christian Writes About
His Substack covers five territories: all orbiting one conviction: technology should serve humanity, not replace it.
AI Adoption & Workforce Empowerment
How to sell AI to the people who actually use it. Including his flagship post using AI as Fire, the Loom, and the Wheel: fear before transformation.
NYC Government Innovation & Blockchain
The CityWide Asset Ledger. The tow truck 911 fix. Practical, massive impact. Classic Christian.
The Future of AI, AGI & Technology Critique
From near-future fiction warnings about AGI to why the cloud giants are heading toward disruption. Thought-provoking, occasionally alarming.
Human Intelligence & Self-Development
On emotional intelligence, metacognition, the neuroscience of optimism, and why going analog sometimes beats going digital.
Business Strategy & Branding
Appreciated Branding by Reid Holmes: the framework behind this site. Plus how Apple accidentally helped build China's tech ecosystem.
The Through-Line
"If you cannot better the machines, you should be bettering the humans."
That is the thesis of every post on his Substack, every efficiency system he has built in NYC, and every guide on this site. Technology should empower people: not replace them, not overwhelm them, and definitely not price them out of competing.
AISmallBiz™ exists because Christian believes small and medium business owners deserve the same strategic tools as the Fortune 500. The playing field is not level. This site is one way to tilt it.