Steve Wallace
Dec 19, 2025 - May 13, 2026
31
Decisions
0
Active Todos
8
Patterns
Decisions (31)
Engineering QBR format — collaborative discussion with three topics, not a presentation
Peter directed that the 5/22 Engineering QBR will be a collaborative working session rather than a formal presentation, organized around three questions: what is working well, what needs improvement, and how to streamline communication and increase work visibility. Chris Baek owns the shared prep doc that will collect bullet-point inputs from engineering leads ahead of the session.
CVE response strategy — three-pillar overhaul (process + tooling + strategic kernel review)
In Engineering Weekly Sync, Peter operationalized the 5/11 Leadership Roundtable vuln-handling commitment into three concrete pillars: (1) Chris Baek to restructure the embargo/CVE comms doc with Jamie, separating process from tooling/templates; (2) tooling strategy — Peter commits to email Greg requesting Claude Opus 4.7 whitelist for CIQ accounts AND to set up unbridled internal LLM models on Fuzzball for vuln investigations; (3) schedule strategic kernel philosophy review for early June, with Nathan and Justin to provide a list of downstream automation efforts to prioritize.
Late-August dedicated security hire timing (6 months post-Jasons departure)
Aligned with Steve in 1:1 that a dedicated security resource hire is appropriate in late August — six months after Jasons departure. Options on the table: full-time hire, fractional resource, or expanding the Shin Brothers role. Steve currently at 70% capacity on ISO 42001 documentation; workload expected to normalize after this week, with SOC 2 and ISO 27001 audits expected to be lighter.
Moody accountability: step up to senior contributor or be managed — framed as response to his growth ask
Flagged Moodys recent missed deadlines and failure to track work to Steve in 1:1, with explicit framing: this is a direct response to Moodys stated desire to become a senior contributor, not a punitive measure. Expectation set: Moody must step up and handle responsibility independently, not require close management. Steve aligned. Moody is out May 15-20 — coaching window is now.
Mariah escalates Stephen Moody project delays directly to Peter (bypass Wallace)
Mariah will notify Peter immediately when Steve Moody delays HR-relevant project work. Triggered by a 6-week unresponsiveness pattern on the Rippling/JIRA integration that Steve Wallace had not escalated. Direct-escalation bypasses the manager (Wallace) for HR-adjacent commitments while Peter assesses whether this is a Moody problem or a Wallace prioritization problem.
Ship CIQ kernel patch with extra fix; contribute upstream; race to be first/best on CVE response
Linux kernel CVE response: CIQ shipping 10 fixes vs CentOS Stream's 9 (CIQ found and is fixing an extra issue related to the CVE). Extra commit submitted upstream to centos-stream and acknowledged for inclusion. CIQ pushing to be first EL distro to release, with primary goal of customer reassurance and secondary goal of public proof point that CIQ contributes to security and is large enough to serve big customers. Also pushing patches to RLC kernels as fallback in case RH doesn't move quickly.
Approved ISO 42001 AI User profile addendum (~$30k)
Approved adding the optional AI User profile to CIQs ISO 42001 certification for approximately $30k, aligning the audit cycle for both Provider and User profiles over the three-year certification period.
Delivered Jira Hygiene Mandate to Engineering
In Engineering Weekly Sync, mandated immediate improvement in Jira hygiene after presenting 3.5 months of data showing >50% of tickets updated after their due date (most slips 2-4 weeks). Prioritized communication over speed — proactive updates required, aggressive initial targets (20-30% confidence) acceptable. Directed Chris Baek to add a 'blocked reason' field to Jira for stakeholder visibility.
Delivered Jira Hygiene Mandate to Engineering
In Engineering Weekly Sync, mandated immediate improvement in Jira hygiene after presenting 3.5 months of data showing >50% of tickets updated after their due date (most slips 2-4 weeks). Prioritized communication over speed — proactive updates required, aggressive initial targets (20-30% confidence) acceptable. Directed Chris Baek to add a 'blocked reason' field to Jira for stakeholder visibility.
Committed to engineering date hygiene confrontation with directs
Peter publicly committed in Leadership Roundtable to holding a tough conversation with his directs about deliverable date hygiene. Requested date-slip magnitude data from Chris Baek (days vs weeks) to focus on significant delays rather than minor variance.
Sensitive Decision
AI Governance Single-Track Pivot for ISO 42001
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.
RESF Monday Cutover — Finalized 3 PM PT Execution Plan
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.
RESF Operational Security — Compartmentalize Until Board Action
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.
Sensitive Decision
Team Building Mandate — 6-Month Priority Over Features
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.
Directed RESF counter-narrative to Bjorn to prevent premature escalation
Directed Steve Wallace to email Bjorn (CC Peter) with evidence of positive RESF engagement through Mirror Manager project before Bjorn potentially takes aggressive action. Steve's team has made progress with Neil — environment access granted, Mirror Manager epic unblocked — while other teams report significant friction.
Delegated Jason Lewis termination coordination to Mariah for March 3
While preparing for Dubai trip, delegated coordination of Jason Lewis termination logistics to Mariah Rippee, asking her to work with Steve Wallace during the week Peter is out, targeting the first Monday of March (March 2).
Jason Lewis Termination - Ready to Action
Confirmed readiness to proceed with Jason Lewis termination now that the ISO 27001 certification letter has been received. Will coordinate with Steve Wallace and Mariah Rippee (HR) to execute. Jason recently requested a seat at the table for self-service discussions, unaware of the pending action.
Infrastructure Cost Savings Approval
Approved a $10K infrastructure savings proposal from Steve Wallace with the condition that it does not burden development work.
Clarified bonus evaluation framework - above and beyond for step-function impact
Clarified to Steve Wallace that bonuses are awarded for actions that are above and beyond standard role expectations and provide a step function for CIQ - not for standard job performance, which is covered by salary. Also confirmed TJ bonus (Greg approved Jan 23 via private DM) and committed to close the loop with Greg.
Approved transfer of Depot operations from Justin to Steve team
Approved transferring Depot operations from Justin team to Steve team as a test of Steve team SRE capabilities. Justin team will define the architecture for moving Depot to object storage, then hand off execution to Steve team who will own provisioning, infrastructure, and monitoring.
Require mandatory tagging of all fully AI-generated content
AI Committee established policy that all fully AI-generated content must be tagged to manage user expectations. Applies only to fully AI-generated content, not human-reviewed or AI-assisted work. Format and placement of tags is flexible.
Transfer Depot operations from Justin team to Steve team
Depot operations will transfer from Justin team to Steve team. Justin team will define the architecture for moving Depot to object storage, then hand off execution to Steve team for provisioning, infrastructure, and monitoring.
Jason Lewis layoff with Steve Wallace as compliance owner
Decided to proceed with Jason Lewis departure (structured as layoff) due to expectation misalignment and damaged relationship with Bjorn. Steve Wallace will assume all compliance responsibilities (ISO 27001, SOC 2, ISO 42001). Budget reserved for full-time replacement after 6-month layoff waiting period. Fractional hire and external auditor approved for interim.
Depot Management Transfer to SRE
Decided to transfer Depot management (monitoring, maintenance) from Justin org to Steve SRE team. Committed to connecting Steve and Justin to define the work distribution.
Jason Lewis Retention Review - Requested Written Impact Case
Paused final decision on Jason Lewis role and requested Steve write a formal case detailing the operational impact of Jason departure - specifically on ISO 27001/42001 certifications and CIQ Federal work.
Trinity Quirk & Chris Short Terminations Executed
Terminated Trinity Quirk for failing to progress NARF/CVE automation integration despite clear expectations. Terminated Chris Short for failing to deliver on critical RESF-related goals. Sent transparent communication to all of engineering explaining the WHY behind these decisions.
H1 Planning Strategy - Aggressive Goals with Staggered Milestones
Articulated H1 strategy: shift from hope to concrete plan with aggressive audacious goals. Achieve goals differently not just faster. Staggered milestones every 4-6 weeks for course correction. Missed milestones trigger retrospectives for process or personnel changes. Clear prioritization at Reno eliminating everything is P0 problem.
Championing AI Butler Adoption Internally
Shared detailed Slack MCP setup instructions with team members. Hosted/recorded AI Dashboard session demonstrating Butler setup. Personally using and advocating for meeting prep automation.
Championing AI Butler Internal Adoption
Hosted and recorded the AI Dashboard/Butler setup session to drive internal adoption of Claude-based personal productivity tools across CIQ. Shared personal use case of creating meeting prep notes from Slack/email/docs.
Related Patterns (8)
Executive Sponsorship for Strategic Partnerships
Strategic cross-company initiatives and major client partnerships require executive-level accountability to move at the right pace and ensure proper prioritization.
Small Circle for Sensitive Operations
When executing sensitive strategic operations, keep the circle of informed people as small as possible to prevent leaks that could accelerate hostile action or undermine the initiative.
Protect Engineering Capacity
When external demands threaten to overload engineering capacity, protect capacity by either requiring the demand to come with additional resources, or forcing hard prioritization choices upstream.
Proactive Talent Pipeline Investment
Invest in building leadership bench and talent relationships before there is an urgent need. Use proven relationships from past experience to create optionality.
Lead by Example with New Tools
When championing new tools or processes, personally use them and share results rather than just advocating. Learning by doing and demonstrating value through example is more effective than mandates.
Accountability Follow-Through
When you issue a warning or mandate with stated consequences, you follow through. Warnings are not threats - they are commitments. The credibility of future accountability depends on following through now.
Protect Engineering Focus Through Process
When faced with requests that would disrupt engineering focus (from sales, governance, product, or other stakeholders), establish processes that protect engineering ability to innovate while still satisfying legitimate concerns. Prefer systematic solutions over ad-hoc responses.
Three-Lever Talent Management
When pursuing a velocity or performance mandate, simultaneously operate on all three talent levers — upgrade (hire better), retain (protect key people), and exit (remove blockers) — rather than sequentially. This creates compounding momentum: exits free capacity for upgrades, retention preserves institutional knowledge during transitions, and upgrades raise the performance bar that justifies further exits.