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Tim Fisher

VP of AI

I’ve spent 25 years in IT and digital media watching organizations throw tools at problems they haven’t actually defined yet. The result is usually wasted budget, frustrated teams, and a new platform nobody uses. If you’ve lived through that cycle, especially with AI right now, you know how expensive “let’s just try it” can get. I have spent the better part of two decades in hands-on roles spanning IT infrastructure, software development, digital publishing, and now AI governance and implementation.

I’m currently VP of AI at Black & White Zebra, where I lead how the company adopts and applies generative AI across the business. My job is to cut through the noise, identify where AI genuinely solves something, set guardrails for responsible use, and help teams implement it without compromising accuracy, privacy, or reader trust.

Before this role, I built the AI Operations function at People Inc. (formerly Dotdash Meredith) from the ground up, turning scattered generative AI experiments into a coordinated business function across a portfolio of major media brands. Before AI became a job title, I ran Lifewire and nine other digital brands as Senior Vice President and Group General Manager, growing Lifewire into a top 10 technology website by Comscore while driving millions in revenue. Earlier in my career, long before LLMs, I designed an IT knowledge base and ticketing system at Target that supported over 10,000 users.

I studied Computer and Information Sciences at Emporia State University. My technology writing has been cited by The New York Times, Forbes, and Scientific American, as well as in corporate documents from Intel, Adobe, and Mozilla. It is also referenced across more than 100 Wikipedia articles and by the Library of Congress.

My Areas of Expertise:

  • Applied AI and generative AI in a business setting
  • IT service management and helpdesk operations
  • IT project management, including budgeting, vendor management, and software selection
  • IT governance, risk, and compliance

What’s In My Tech Stack:

AI & Automation

  • Claude & ChatGPT: Used for research, writing, brainstorming, and problem-solving. I keep both Claude and ChatGPT in rotation because they each excel at different tasks, and I prefer using the strengths of multiple models rather than relying on a single vendor.
  • Claude Code: My preferred AI coding assistant for building small internal tools, scripts, and automations. I use it to accelerate development while still keeping a hands-on approach to engineering.
  • Codex: Another agentic coding tool I use for software development and automation work. It complements Claude Code by providing a different set of strengths for coding and experimentation.
  • n8n: My primary workflow automation platform. I use it to connect systems and automate processes without writing large amounts of custom code, which aligns closely with the process improvement work I’ve focused on throughout my career.

Home Lab & Self-Hosted Infrastructure

  • Linux: My preferred operating system for development, experimentation, and self-hosted infrastructure. It’s the foundation of my home lab, where I enjoy building and testing new ideas.
  • Home Assistant: The platform that powers my smart home and IoT automation. Beyond managing my home, it’s also a practical environment for experimenting with system orchestration concepts before applying similar thinking to business processes.
  • OpenClaw: Used alongside Home Assistant for home and IoT automation projects. It gives me another platform for exploring automation, integrations, and system orchestration in a self-hosted environment.

Project & Knowledge Management

  • Asana: My primary project management platform for organizing work, tracking progress, and keeping projects visible across teams.
  • Airtable: My go-to solution when spreadsheets become too limiting but a full database is unnecessary. I use it to build flexible workflows, manage structured data, and create lightweight operational systems.
  • Slite: The shared documentation platform I use for capturing team knowledge, documenting processes, and keeping information accessible across the organization.
  • Capacities: My personal knowledge management system and “second brain.” I use it to organize ideas, notes, research, and long-term thinking so information is easy to revisit and connect over time.
Tim Fisher

300+ published articles on The CTO Club