Decisions
50+ recent decisions
Reaffirmed Speed-First Culture to Brady Before Leave
Mar 13, 2026 · operational · medium90% confidence
Reaffirmed to Brady that the directive is move fast and break things — leadership provides air cover. Corrected a team perception that leadership expects both speed AND perfect quality.
People: Brady Dibble, Brian Dawson
Louis — No Acting Role for Next Couple Years
Mar 13, 2026 · people · high95% confidence
Decided Louis cannot have any acting role in RESF for the next couple of years. Technical contributions may be allowed later by whoever runs RESF. Priority is not muddying the transition message.
People: Greg Kurtzer, Louis, Mustafa Gezen
Post-RESF Consolidated Deliverable Reset
Mar 13, 2026 · strategy · high94% confidence
Decided to deliver a single consolidated update to Lindsay on revised March deliverables after RESF work stabilizes, rather than incremental delay announcements. Nathan will reset all project dates at once.
People: Nathan Blackham, Max Spevack, Lindsay Aamodt
AI Governance Single-Track Pivot for ISO 42001
Mar 13, 2026 · technical · high91% confidence
Pivoted AI governance from dual-track (internal vs products) to single rigorous model because CIQ products (RLCAI, Fuzzball, Werewolf) now directly integrate AI, changing the liability profile.
People: Steve Wallace, Stephen Moody, Brady Dibble, Chris Baek, Ryan Smith, Tabatha Wilmot, Brian Dawson, Michelle Novicio
Excluded Brian from RESF Pre-Transition Planning
Mar 13, 2026 · people · high85% confidence
Decided to exclude Brian from pre-transition RESF planning based on synthesizing risk signals from multiple sources. Brian's role will be carefully managed post-transition.
People: Ryan Smith, Greg Kurtzer, Brian
RESF Internal Comms — Slack Post Not AMA
Mar 13, 2026 · operational · high92% confidence
Decided to announce RESF engineering support via a Slack post (not company-wide AMA) to control narrative without signaling alarm. Nathan follows up with team Q&A for project impacts.
People: Nathan Blackham
RESF Monday Cutover — Finalized 3 PM PT Execution Plan
Mar 13, 2026 · operational · critical97% confidence
Finalized the RESF infrastructure cutover plan for Monday March 16 at 3 PM PT, including DNS NS record flip, AWS VPC firewalling, account disabling (Lewis, Neal), and security audit — accepting up to 24 hours of DNS-related downtime.
People: Nathan Blackham, Max Spevack, Greg Kurtzer, Steve Wallace, T.J. Gohl, Jonathan Dieter, Ryan Smith, Justin Haynes, Leigh Hennig, Mustafa Gezen, Joseph Tate
RESF Impact — Consolidated Marketing Alignment Meeting
Mar 11, 2026 · operational · medium50% confidence
Decided to schedule a single, consolidated meeting with Chris Wolford and Marketing to align on a new delivery schedule once the full RESF impact is known, rather than piecemeal schedule updates.
People: Chris Wolford, Marketing team
Enforcing Product Process for Greg's RLCAI Requirements
Mar 11, 2026 · operational · high60% confidence
Enforcing the correct process by directing all of Greg's RLCAI requirements to the Product team rather than allowing Greg to bypass Product and give direct requirements to Engineering. Brian Dawson raised the concern; Peter is supporting and enforcing.
People: Greg Kurtzer, Brian Dawson, Brady Dibble
Asset Management — Backend-First, Bridge to Views
Mar 11, 2026 · technical · low74% confidence
Advocated for deciding where the asset management backend should live first, then building bridges to expose it wherever needed (Jira, Rippling). Explicitly disagreed with Greg's framing that building bridges adds unnecessary complexity.
People: Greg Kurtzer, Christina, Mariah Rippee
Brian Clemens — Loop In After Front Door Closes
Mar 11, 2026 · strategy · high72% confidence
Decided Brian Clemens should be brought into RESF matters only after the front door is closed, acknowledging he'll be critical for reconstruction but the current phase requires operational security. Conditional on his behavior: 'If he hasn't gone off the reservation at that point.'
People: Brian Clemens, Greg Kurtzer, Bjorn Hovland
Coordinated Google Post-Mortem Alignment Between Nathan and Bjorn
Mar 11, 2026 · operational · high69% confidence
Ensured Nathan's Google post-mortem document was reviewed by Bjorn before sending to Google, because Bjorn has a Thursday call about contract changes and the doc could undermine his asks.
People: Nathan Blackham, Bjorn Hovland, Max Spevack
Endorsed Bjorn's Linux Prioritization Framework
Mar 11, 2026 · strategy · medium63% confidence
Endorsed Bjorn's four-principle framework for prioritizing Linux work (Parity, Value, Access/ubiquity, Integration) and directed him to provide concrete examples demonstrating the framework in action.
People: Bjorn Hovland
Claude Government Use — Restrict Shipping, Internal Use Fine
Mar 10, 2026 · operational · medium90% confidence
Directed AI committee not to ship products to the government with Claude use embedded, while clarifying that internal CIQ use of Claude remains fine. Shared Microsoft's statement about Anthropic products remaining available except for Department of War. Framed as 'don't overreact' — risk mitigation, not panic.
People: AI Committee
RLC AI — Ship Iteratively Despite Unclear Vision
Mar 10, 2026 · strategy · medium72% confidence
Directed that RLC AI should ship something iteratable now rather than waiting for a clear long-term vision. Product direction should be discovered through market interaction, not predetermined.
People: Max Spevack
TPS Report Visibility — Expand Justin's Reporting Scope
Mar 10, 2026 · operational · medium70% confidence
Directed Justin to update TPS reports to reflect current reality and add missing workstreams (Portal, Depot, Releases). Goal is independent progress tracking without needing Justin's verbal context.
People: Justin Haynes
Sensitive Decision
Zorina LOA — Grant Extended PTO to Retain
Mar 10, 2026 · people · medium77% confidence
Decided to grant Zorina 5 weeks of PTO (May 4–June 5) if her FMLA application is denied. FMLA application goes first for compliance, but the fallback is already decided. Remote work from Bulgaria for 2 weeks is also approved pending IT security check. Delegated execution details to Justin and Mariah.
People: Zorina, Justin Haynes, Mariah Rippee
RESF Operational Security — Compartmentalize Until Board Action
Mar 10, 2026 · strategy · critical94% confidence
Directed that Brian must not be told anything until after the RESF board notification. Emphasized extreme caution about leaks to Lewis. Approved Joseph being read into the initiative but warned about leak risk. Sequenced information flow: board action first, then notifications, then credential recovery.
People: Nathan Blackham, TJ Gohl, Steve Wallace, Max Spevack, Jonathan Dieter, Justin Haynes
Sensitive Decision
Sensitive Decision
Prioritize GPU Optimization to Define Team Capability Needs
Mar 8, 2026 · strategy · high78% confidence
Directed that GPU utilization optimization be prioritized for Fuzzball/RLC AI, using the priority as a diagnostic to reveal what in-house capabilities the team needs.
People: Greg Kurtzer, Bjorn Hovland
Prioritize Google Exec Meeting — Adjust Reno Travel
Mar 6, 2026 · strategy · medium78% confidence
Agreed to meet a confidential new Google executive (distinguished engineer from Google Cloud, came through Tissa) for Monday dinner or Thursday lunch. Thursday option requires returning from Reno Wednesday night. Directed Greg to cover Toyota in person on Wednesday if needed.
People: Kelly Hall, Bjorn Hovland, Sarah Almaraz, Greg Kurtzer
Custom Engineering Scoping Process — Nathan as Gate
Mar 6, 2026 · operational · medium80% confidence
Established formal process for unplanned custom engineering requests from sales: Nathan provides quick effort estimate (days/weeks/months), enabling formal prioritization. Nathan can say no, escalation goes to Peter.
People: Ryan Smith, Nathan Blackham, Dave Dickerson
Sensitive Decision
Westley Transition — 70% Fuzzball, Maintain Depot Support
Mar 6, 2026 · people · medium82% confidence
Westley will start transitioning to Fuzzball at 70% allocation while maintaining depot support work for Justin team until fit is confirmed.
People: Westley, Justin Haynes, Chris Wolford
Damen — Action-First Title Policy
Mar 5, 2026 · people · medium76% confidence
Set clear position on Damen's request for an AI ownership title: titles are granted AFTER impact is proven, not as a motivator to drive it. Directed that Damen should escalate issues with other teams publicly rather than absorbing work and complaining privately. Asked Justin to get Damen to define specifically what 'owning AI' means and what title he wants.
People: Justin Haynes, Damen
Michael — Create-a-Hole Performance Framework
Mar 5, 2026 · people · critical85% confidence
Coached Justin that the goal with Michael's performance management is to create a 'hole' for a high performer (like Ben), NOT to raise Michael to 'barely acceptable.' Framed 'barely acceptable' as worse than low performance — a barely-acceptable employee is hard to remove, creating permanent drag. Told Justin to leverage startup advantage (no HR handcuffs) to set higher bar, and shift mindset from 'fair for Michael' to 'fair for the team.'
People: Justin Haynes, Michael, Ben
Toyota POC — No Hotfix, Demo MPI and PBS Separately
Mar 5, 2026 · technical · high82% confidence
Decided NOT to rush a hotfix for Toyota's urgent out-of-scope MPI-via-PBS request before their Thursday director meeting. Team will demo MPI and PBS as separate working components, explain the integration bug is known, and commit to fix in ~1 week by the March 17 Reno meeting.
People: Chris Wolford, Jonathan Anderson, Bjorn Hovland, Art Tyde, Yoshi
Ascender Developer Hiring — Network-First Sourcing Strategy
Mar 5, 2026 · people · high78% confidence
Decided to hire a dedicated AWX developer for Peter's team to offload maintenance from Jimmy Conner, freeing him for strategic architecture, sales engineering, and customer engagement. Hiring strategy: Jimmy sources from AWX network first (leveraging dissatisfaction with project's shift to internal repos), Brianne as fallback. Compensation: culture-forward, candidates may accept $25-50K pay cut for culture/stock options, $100K+ gap is non-starter.
People: Jimmy Conner, Bjorn Hovland, Katie O'Malley, Brianne
RESF Option A — CIQ-Led Transition with Narrative Reframing
Mar 5, 2026 · strategy · critical81% confidence
Adopted Option A (CIQ-led transition) as the only viable path for RESF. Reframed narrative for Greg as 'skeleton' foundation for future vibrant community, not 'threadbare' end state. End-state vision: Rocky Linux displaces Alma and Ubuntu as de facto enterprise OS. Identified critical leadership gap requiring new empowered leader ('mystic unicorn') deputized by remaining board. Internal story: 1-year transition to 501(c)(6).
People: Max Spevack, Bjorn Hovland, Greg Kurtzer
Push for Continuous Sales/Support Enablement
Mar 4, 2026 · operational · medium76% confidence
Aligned with Greg on pushing for continuous product enablement (demos, walkthroughs) for Sales and Support on every new engineering feature, overriding Bjorn's resistance. Peter committed to re-engaging Bjorn on this.
People: Greg Kurtzer, Bjorn Hovland
Unified Google Proposal — Present Combined GDC/GCE to Rohan
Mar 4, 2026 · strategy · high92% confidence
Aligned Kelly and Bjorn on presenting a unified GDC/GCE proposal to Rohan (Google senior director) instead of negotiating separately. Reframing from pro-serve/ticket model to value-driven partnership with a large fixed annual fee ($8-9M).
People: Kelly Hall, Bjorn Hovland, Katie O'Malley, Rohan (Google), Tissa (Google)
Team Building Mandate — 6-Month Priority Over Features
Mar 4, 2026 · people · high91% confidence
Directed all engineering managers to prioritize team building over feature delivery for the next six months. Includes permission to swap out low performers, with Peter providing air cover for the risks involved.
People: Nathan Blackham, Ryan Smith, Max Spevack, Steve Wallace, Justin Haynes, Chris Wolford, Chris Baek, Brady Dibble
Sensitive Decision
Directed March engineering priorities to come from Bjorn (Product)
Mar 3, 2026 · operational · medium71% confidence
When Chris Baek asked Peter to present engineering deliverables for March at the Leadership Roundtable, Peter redirected: the top priorities for March should come from Bjorn (Product), not from Engineering. Peter offered to go over them but insisted the framing should come from Product.
People: Chris Baek, Bjorn Hovland
Aligned with Max on RESF Option A (Skeleton Independent) as the best path
Mar 3, 2026 · strategy · high82% confidence
After reading Max's RESF decision framework document ('The Future of the RESF: A Decision Framework for CIQ'), Peter agreed with Max that Option A — maintaining the RESF as an independent entity in the lightest possible form with one CIQ-employed full-time RESF leader — is the best path. This is Peter's position alignment with Max, not yet a company decision. Next step is presenting to Bjorn and Greg for buy-in.
People: Max Spevack, Bjorn Hovland, Greg Kurtzer
Aligned with Max on RESF Option A (Skeleton Independent) as the best path
Mar 3, 2026 · strategy · high82% confidence
After reading Max's RESF decision framework document ('The Future of the RESF: A Decision Framework for CIQ'), Peter agreed with Max that Option A — maintaining the RESF as an independent entity in the lightest possible form with one CIQ-employed full-time RESF leader — is the best path. This is Peter's position alignment with Max, not yet a company decision. Next step is presenting to Bjorn and Greg for buy-in.
People: Max Spevack, Bjorn Hovland, Greg Kurtzer
Set maximum urgency on LTS 9.6 i686 package crisis
Mar 3, 2026 · operational · high65% confidence
Nathan escalated that i686 multilib packages were never built for LTS 9.6 — the S3 bucket and Peridot config were never created. Every LTS 9.6 package with i686 variants is missing them. Brady flagged Siemens as a customer that specifically cares about i686. Peter acknowledged the escalation and set maximum urgency expectation.
People: Nathan Blackham, Jeff Uphoff, Brady Dibble
Demanded measurable success criteria for LinuxLM project
Mar 3, 2026 · technical · medium69% confidence
Greg proposed training/fine-tuning a Linux-expert foundation LLM (LinuxLM). Peter pushed back by demanding explicit success criteria — deployment plan, evaluation methodology, and clear value proposition — before endorsing the project.
People: Greg Kurtzer, Bjorn Hovland
Committed to RESF day-of execution planning meeting next week
Feb 27, 2026 · operational · high78% confidence
Committed in #internal-resf-escalation to organizing a meeting next week to build an execution plan for the RESF day-of lockdown. Directed Sarah to invite Nathan, Max, Justin, and Dieter. Bjorn is finishing messaging drafts this weekend, so technical execution planning must be ready to match the communication track.
People: Nathan Blackham, Max Spevack, Justin Haynes, Dieter, Bjorn Hovland, Leigh Hennig, Sarah Almaraz
Decided to carefully surface Icicle results to Bjorn
Feb 27, 2026 · strategy · medium69% confidence
After validating Icicle test methodology with Ryan (BIOS change applied before both with/without comparisons — apples-to-apples), and learning Ani was told by Bjorn to stand down on Icicle, Peter decided to personally and carefully bring the validated results to Bjorn's attention.
People: Bjorn Hovland, Ryan Smith, Ani Fox Bochenkov, Greg Kurtzer
Coached Justin on Michael performance management with net-good framework
Feb 27, 2026 · people · high91% confidence
In Justin 1:1, directed Justin to deliver direct performance feedback to Michael next week with Andrew-level success metrics. Framed PIP as high-bar exercise to confirm exit decision. Differentiated Michael (low performer, manage out) from Brady (high potential, wrong role, coach/move). Used weeding the garden and Expedition 33 metaphors to help Justin reconcile empathy with accountability.
People: Justin Haynes, Michael, Brady
Shaped Ryan's H-1 strategic plan with specific direction
Feb 27, 2026 · people · medium62% confidence
Reviewed Ryan's H-1 plan and gave specific strategic direction: reframe team skill tracking to outcome metrics, loop Product into GTM translation validation, create simplified 4-page sales pitch deck, align with Max on Rocky Linux upstream strategy (pure RESF vs hybrid best-of-breed) before engaging community, and present AI-assisted goal-setting process at Engineering Weekly Sync.
People: Peter Nelson, Ryan Smith
Expanded NVIDIA licensing ask to include Fabric Manager + NVISM
Feb 27, 2026 · strategy · medium85% confidence
Expanded the NVIDIA licensing negotiation scope beyond DOCA-OFED to include Fabric Manager, NVISM, and other critical InfiniBand components not currently in the CUDA bundle. Sent email to Scott Hara while Bjorn was drafting the DOCA-OFED amendment language.
People: Peter Nelson, Scott Hara, Bjorn Hovland
Committed to aggressive NVIDIA GPU Operator self-certification timeline for GTC
Feb 27, 2026 · strategy · high95% confidence
Led GPU Operator Self Certification meeting with NVIDIA. Committed CIQ to building pre-compiled GPU driver containers for Rocky Linux (mirroring Ubuntu model) and pursuing self-certification targeting preliminary completion by end of next week to support a GTC announcement.
People: Peter Nelson, Bjorn Hovland, Scott Hara, Edrick Wong, Francis Guillier, Christophe Harle, Nathan Blackham
Rocky project contingency war room - infrastructure security planning
Feb 26, 2026 · strategy · critical74% confidence
Committed to scheduling a war room meeting to create a detailed, step-by-step contingency plan for securing Rocky infrastructure (AWS, FreeIPA) against potential hostile action by former members. Plan assumes an outage will be necessary to revoke access. Technical cutover to be planned before legal letters are sent.
People: Nathan Blackham, Justin Haynes, Max Spevack
Risk tolerance recalibration - push and be wrong for low-risk releases
Feb 26, 2026 · strategy · high80% confidence
Established new release philosophy: 'push and be wrong' for low-risk changes, prioritizing speed over perfection. Directed Nathan to ship two approved CVE fixes for unused packages immediately as a precedent-setting test case, bypassing the usual review process.
People: Nathan Blackham, Justin Haynes, Max Spevack
Release artifact ownership assignment - Nathan RPMs, Justin images
Feb 26, 2026 · operational · high72% confidence
Assigned clear ownership of release artifacts: Nathan is the final approver for RPMs, Justin for images. Each owner defines their own validation process and has autonomy to improve it without seeking permission. Creates a 'throat to choke' accountability model for release quality.
People: Nathan Blackham, Justin Haynes, Max Spevack
Personnel action plan from effort/impact matrix review
Feb 26, 2026 · people · critical77% confidence
Conducted comprehensive effort vs. impact performance review of ~20 engineers across kernel and platform teams, resulting in specific personnel actions: underperformers on short improvement timelines or face replacement, one engineer to be replaced with a high-impact hire, one engineer requires direct performance conversation about ownership and visibility, one to be reassigned to simple packaging tasks.
People: Nathan Blackham, Justin Haynes, Max Spevack