Helping organizations build what's next –with clarity, depth, and 25 years of knowing what actually works.
Strategic technology advisory for enterprises navigating complexity. From AI-native architectures to legacy modernization, I help leadership teams make decisions that scale.
Where I Help
Technology Strategy
Roadmaps that connect business objectives to technical reality. Vendor evaluation. Build vs. buy decisions. Architecture that scales without burning budget.
AI-Native Thinking
Not just adding AI to existing processes –rethinking workflows, data architecture, and capabilities from first principles. Practical implementation, not hype.
Enterprise Architecture
Complex integrations, data platforms, security-conscious design. I've built systems for federal agencies where reliability isn't optional.
Full-Service Delivery
From staffing and hiring to managing developers and delivering the finished product. You direct and provide feedback. I handle everything else, from zero to launch.
Technical Leadership
Vendor management, team coordination, budget accountability. The work between strategy and execution that makes projects actually ship.
When technology works, it disappears into the mission it serves. Guiding principle
I Have Opinions
After 25 years, I've stopped hedging. These aren't universal truths –they're hard-won positions shaped by building, breaking, and rebuilding systems across dozens of organizations.
Build vs. Buy
Buy when the problem is commoditized. Build when it's your competitive edge. The mistake is buying platforms for core differentiators and building custom solutions for solved problems. This is worth getting right.
AI Strategy
Most AI initiatives fail at the data layer, not the model layer. Before choosing tools, fix your data pipelines, define your governance boundaries, and know exactly what you're measuring. The organizations winning with AI aren't the ones spending the most –they're the ones who were disciplined before they started.
Complexity Tax
Every tool, abstraction, and platform you add is a tax on every future decision. High-performance teams don't adopt technology to feel modern –they ruthlessly eliminate anything that doesn't directly serve the mission. Simplicity isn't a compromise. It's a competitive advantage.
Security & Data Governance
Zero trust isn't a product you buy –it's an architecture decision you make on day one. Every dataset is a liability until it's governed. With AI training on everything and regulation accelerating globally, the organizations collecting less data more deliberately will outperform the ones drowning in it.
Technical Debt
Debt is a tool, not a failure. Take it on deliberately, track it visibly, and pay it down strategically.
SaaS Sprawl
SaaS is rent. Audit annually. Subscription creep is real, and lock-in is more expensive than the license.
Smaller Teams, Bigger Scope
AI changes the math on team size. Five disciplined people with the right tools now outperform twenty without them.
Vendor Lock-in
Own your data exports. Never let a vendor hold your business hostage. The best partnerships are the ones you could walk away from.
Cloud Strategy
Pick one provider and commit. Multi-cloud is expensive theater. But keep your exit doors unlocked.
Shipping Culture
If deploys are scary, your pipeline is broken. But tooling isn't culture –invest in the boring stuff that makes teams actually function.
I've led technology programs for organizations where failure isn't an option. Multi-million dollar enterprise deployments. Platforms supporting thousands of users. Systems that federal agencies depend on for national preparedness.
The work isn't always visible. That's by design.
I founded MJCZone in 2013 after years leading technology practices at a large consulting firm and delivering enterprise architecture for associations, big tech, scientific and multi-national organizations.
My background is unusual: physics and anthropology from UVA, an MBA from Pepperdine, and deep technical work across dozens of platforms and languages. I've managed teams, managed budgets, managed vendors, and I still write code when that's what the problem needs.
I'm based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Native bilingual in English and French.
Let's talk.
Whether you're evaluating a major technology decision, need an outside perspective on architecture, or want to explore working together, I'm happy to have a conversation.
matt@mjczone.comMJCZone, Inc.
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Registered in SAM.gov – DUNS/UEI on file