About Me

Background

I'm James KC Auchterlonie, co-founder of MLNavigator with Donella Cohen. I work on local-first AI systems for regulated environments, with an emphasis on governance, privacy, and reviewable deployment.

Where I've Been

Before ML research, I spent years across defense, AV engineering, and product design. Program and project management at Bombardier Defense. AV system design at CTI, with Crestron and AVIXA certifications. Design and production at Lazerworx. I studied Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering at Wichita State, with 8+ years of design work and 5+ in CAD.

That path gave me a specific perspective: the industries that need AI the most — aerospace, defense, manufacturing — are the ones that can tolerate it the least when it can't prove what it did. Compliance isn't a feature. It's the floor.

What I'm Building

adapterOS is a research effort focused on local-first AI and high-assurance workflows for regulated environments. NSF I-Corps cohort, Kansas ACCEL grant recipient.

Thesis

If a system can be examined in plain terms after the fact, it can be governed seriously. That's the bar I'm interested in — operational accountability as a prerequisite for trust.

Approach

Systems engineering applied to local-first AI. I care about durable software, clear boundaries, and deployment that holds up under scrutiny.