James Edward Dillard

I'm a product builder, Emergent Ventures awardee, and dad.

I'm a product leader at Istari Digital, where what drew me was the chance to use AI to build highly complex physical systems—from hypersonic drones to race cars. In my spare time, I'm building HeyRecap into a high-quality, AI-driven news source for Roswell and Georgia, and podcasting at --dangerously-skip-permissions with Matt Holden.

Three obsessions I can't shake: AI for creative work, building tools for agents (like AgentCAD), and the hunch that AI could make America a whole lot weirder and more alive. If you share one, you should probably email me.

Work

• Recap uses AI to summarize local government meetings, supported by an Emergent Ventures grant.
• Dangerously Skip Permissions is a show where Matt Holden and I explore how AI is changing our work.
• I co-founded Macro Oceans and led the company to its first products and revenues. Macro Oceans makes high performance biomaterials from kelp for the beauty industry, using the waste material in packaging applications like kelp pots. Here's what I learned about launching novel materials.

Writing

I wrote a picture book for my kids. Read Papadough Climbs the Mountain, a story about a little mountain goat who takes it one step at a time.

I'm deeply curious and keep a blog to stay in the creative habit. Some posts I'm most proud of:

• An exploration of how AI is going to change software development: Drawing lessons from military history's resistance to machine guns, I explore why adopting AI requires reimagining values, tactics, and team structures—not just adding new tools.
• Product 101: Some lessons I've learned building products and leading product teams.
• Each year, I keep a list of things I learned. Here is my 2025 list (and 2024 and 2023 too).
• Building a superstar career outside a superstar city. Some inspiration for those of us living outside of SF and New York.

Memento mori: a reminder to make the days count.

Be brave and have fun.