This page is a snapshot of where my attention actually sits this quarter. Inspired by Derek Sivers' /now movement. Updated when the picture changes enough to be honest.
Right now
Doctoral research. Wrapping the next round of QATT&CK work — extending the framework beyond utility-scale threat models toward hybrid classical-quantum adversarial pipelines, and writing up the formal mappings to MITRE ATT&CK enterprise techniques.
Agent governance. Continuing the Policed Agency thread: capability-gated IAM for AI agents, multi-tier escalation, and a concrete policy-engine prototype that treats agents like employees rather than root users. The goal is to make autonomy defensible, not just possible.
Autonomous software production. Quietly building toward agile software dark factories — orchestration layers that can take a specification and ship software with minimal human touchpoints, while keeping the human accountable. This is the long game.
Rust. Still the language I reach for. Currently extending Slatron's orchestration runtime with a more honest scheduling model; considering a public breakdown post once it's stable enough to be useful rather than aspirational.
What I'm not doing (right now)
- Conference submissions for their own sake. If a venue matches the work, I'll send it; otherwise, I'd rather write here.
- "AI agent" demos that lean on prompt cleverness instead of architecture. The interesting work is in the seams.
- Open-source projects I'm not using. Every repo I keep open is one I actually run.
Currently reading / re-reading
- The literature on capability-based security (KeyKOS, E, Capsicum) — modern agent architectures keep rediscovering 1970s operating systems.
- Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs — for the third time, deliberately.
- Bashō's Narrow Road to the Deep North. Not for the content. For the discipline of removing what's unnecessary.
How to reach me
- Email: hello@justinwoodring.com (forwarded from gmail)
- For research collaboration, include "research" in the subject.
- For anything urgent, just say so plainly.