About Me
I am a writer and builder living in Montgomery, Alabama.
My work sits at the intersection of humanism, technology, and strategy. I have a varied background including serving 22 years in the Air Force, earning a Political Science PhD from Stanford University, studying Arabic and Conflict Resolution in the Middle East, founding and leading drone engineering teams, serving as a professor of strategy, and writing science fiction and nonfiction. I currently lead software engineering at TILT Autonomy.
What unites my life's work is the belief that building well—whether software, organizations, communities, or a life—requires intentionality, skill, and deep attention to what makes us human.
"Future innovation will come from people who are able to link beauty to engineering, humanity to technology, and poetry to processors. In other words, it will come from... creators who can flourish where the arts intersect with the sciences, and who have a rebellious sense of wonder that opens them to the beauty of both."
— Walter Isaacson
Background
In 2024 I retired from an eclectic 22-year Air Force career defined by continual learning, invention, and leadership in pursuit of a better world. As a cargo pilot I criss-crossed the globe during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, learning about foreign policy and national security.
Dissatisfied by what I found, I obtained an Olmsted scholarship to learn Arabic, lived in the Middle East for two years, and earned a Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution at the University of Jordan. I went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Strategy. I founded a nonprofit that aimed to break sieges and end the weaponization of starvation in Syria. I earned a PhD in Political Science at Stanford, with the goal of understanding the collapse of states into anarchy. I founded and led an agile software development team at the Defense Innovation Unit aimed at stopping the use of drones for terrorism.
I have written a novel, various short stories, and numerous articles to help think through the changing dynamics of warfare.
I have also written numerous software applications to make my organizations more effective. I spent my final years in the Air Force as a Professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the Air Force’s School of Advanced Air & Space Studies, Air War College, and Blue Horizons.
Elsewhere
When I'm not writing or building, I enjoy rock climbing, running, and playing banjo. I live with my wife and three children in Montgomery.
Contact
The best way to reach me is by email: mark@markdjacobsen.com