More Data, Better Decisions? Building AI Products People Can Act On

ProductFest 2026 | Richmond, VA | Oct. 22, 2026

Your CEO calls. One question: “Are we covered?”

Now you have to answer it. Hundreds of alerts a day. Four threat intel reports to read. More data than any human could get through.

Here is what I covered in my talk at ProductFest 2026 at the Science Museum of Virginia

• Why 1,700 data points can still leave you with 4 actionable answers

• What an appliance repairman can teach an AI product team

• Why the expert’s judgment is what you build around

• Where AI belongs, and where a deterministic calculation does the job better

• What the board needs to hear to trust the answer

Slides

Resources

Decision Making

• Annie Duke, “A framework for making better decisions” (Lenny’s Podcast)

• Cassie Kozyrkov, Decision Intelligence (LinkedIn Learning):

• Hallway Studio: Why I’m Not Data-First When It Comes to AI (Usually):

Cyber

• The Cuckoo’s Egg, Clifford Stoll (CyberCanon review:)

• Tracers in the Dark, Andy Greenberg:  (CyberCanon review)

• The Perfect Weapon, David Sanger: (CyberCanon review)

• The next evolution for the intrusion (Substack)

AI

• Hallway Studio: Why Ontologies Fast-Track AI Product Development

• Hallway Studio: Before You Bet Big on AI, Run Some Experiments

• Hallway Studio: The Business Leader’s Guide to Writing AI Use Cases

Citations

1. Stryker Says Malicious File Found During Probe Into Iran-Linked Attack (Security Week)

2. SAP Concur, 2026 CFO Insights.

3. Eric Hutchins, Michael Cloppert, Rohan Amin (2010). “Intelligence-Driven Computer Network Defense Informed by Analysis of Adversary Campaigns and Intrusion Kill Chains.” Lockheed Martin.

4. Blake E. Strom, Andy Applebaum, Doug P. Miller, Kathryn C. Nickels, Adam G. Pennington, Cody B. Thomas (2018). “MITRE ATT&CK: Design and Philosophy.” MITRE.