brianletort.ai
Who I Am

The Equation of Me

Identity expressed mathematically — because some things are better said in symbols.

Equation of Me

∇⋅(data⋅trust)=value\nabla \cdot (\text{data} \cdot \text{trust}) = \text{value}

"Data only matters when it flows through trusted systems."

Digital Realty
TS/SCI
Dr. Brian Letort

D. BRIAN LETORT

Head of Data Office & AI

NG Fellow • Distinguished Professor
Chief Enterprise Architect

Ph.D.5 PatentsAuthor
25+
Years
Experience
5
U.S.
Patents
5K+
Students
Taught
Global
Enterprise
Scale
Distinguished Alumnus, Mississippi College
Multiple Books & Academic Papers

D. Brian Letort, Ph.D.

Enterprise AI Executive • Chief Data Scientist • Chief Enterprise Architect

Visionary AI and Data Executive with 25+ years of leadership across global-scale enterprises, defense, and cloud infrastructure. Former Chief Data Scientist and Chief Enterprise Architect with deep hands-on engineering expertise and a track record of building high-performing organizations, enterprise AI platforms, and multi-million-dollar data ecosystems.

Known for driving large-scale digital transformation, architecting enterprise data fabrics, launching patented AI technologies, and leading large enterprise teams. Trusted partner to CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, and business presidents—combining strategic clarity with technical depth.

Ph.D.NG Fellow5 PatentsAuthorTS/SCIDistinguished Professor

Impact at Scale

$13B+
Proposals Architected
$1.5B
IT Portfolio Aligned
25+
Years Experience
5
U.S. Patents
800+
Employees Trained in ML
5K+
Students Taught

Axioms of How I Think

Mathematical principles that guide my decisions.

d(trust)dt>0\frac{d(\text{trust})}{dt} > 0

Every decision should increase trust over time.

impact=f(data,teams)\text{impact} = f(\text{data}, \text{teams})

Impact emerges from data and people, not silos.

AI⊂Judgment\text{AI} \subset \text{Judgment}

AI augments judgment; it never replaces it.

∇L⋅ethics≠0\nabla L \cdot \text{ethics} \neq 0

Optimization without ethics leads nowhere good.

lim⁡complexityvalue=k\lim \frac{\text{complexity}}{\text{value}} = k

Complexity must converge to constant value.

P(win∣learn)>P(win)P(\text{win} | \text{learn}) > P(\text{win})

Continuous learning always raises the odds.

ATA=insight\mathbf{A}^T \mathbf{A} = \text{insight}

Understanding comes from self-reflection.

teach⇔master\text{teach} \Leftrightarrow \text{master}

Teaching and mastery reinforce each other.

Hover or tap cards to reveal the philosophy

The Journey

I've always been drawn to the edges—the places where established thinking breaks down and innovation becomes necessary. I wrote my first machine learning algorithm in 2003, hand-coding the math before scikit-learn existed. That curiosity has never faded.

My career at Northrop Grumman spanned over two decades, progressing from Software Engineer to NG Fellow & Chief Enterprise Architect. As Chief Enterprise Architect, I was responsible for aligning investments across a $1.5B corporate IT office. As lead data architect, I shaped proposals worth up to $13 billion in contract value, designing architectures under extreme regulatory, security, and mission constraints.

In 2022, I pivoted to Digital Realty—the world's largest colocation provider—to lead the Corporate Data Office & AI. My mission: data platforms, AI strategy, and governance at global enterprise scale.

I've filed 5 U.S. patents spanning Private AI and Data Exchange, SOX Automation, and Massively Parallel System Architectures. I've authored multiple books including The Machine Learning Toolbox and Industry Data Science, along with numerous academic papers and conference publications.

Throughout it all, I've taught. 12+ years as a Distinguished Professor. 5,000+ students and professionals through universities and Pluralsight. I believe teaching is mastery—each reinforces the other.

Career Timeline

2001

B.S. Computer Science

Mississippi College. Started building software before 'data science' was a term anyone used.

2001-2009

Software Engineer → Systems Engineer → Solutions Architect

Northrop Grumman. Built mission-critical systems. Multiple President's Awards and Chairman's Award. First ML algorithm in 2003.

2009-2015

Technical Fellow & Chief Enterprise Architect

Northrop Grumman. Led enterprise architecture strategy across major business units. Designed large-scale integration patterns.

2015-2019

NG Fellow & Chief Data Scientist

Northrop Grumman. Trained 800+ employees in ML. Delivered automation saving $4.5M+ annually. Led MLOps transformation.

2019-2022

NG Fellow & Chief Enterprise Architect

Northrop Grumman. Responsible for aligning investments across a $1.5B corporate IT office. Lead architect on $13B+ proposals. TS clearance.

2022-Present

Head of Data Office & AI

Digital Realty. Leading enterprise data governance, AI strategy, and platform AI initiatives at global scale.

What I Do Now

Lead Enterprise Teams

Leading cross-functional teams spanning data governance, cloud architecture, AI engineering, and platform services at global enterprise scale.

Innovate with AI

Driving AI strategy including governance, LLM adoption, RAG platforms, and productized AI agents. Building platforms that reduce PoC cycle time by 50-70%.

Mature Data for AI

Modernizing enterprise data portfolios with MDM, CDM, ontology-driven architecture, and data quality instrumentation to enable AI-ready foundations.

Enterprise Strategy

Defining multi-year roadmaps, shaping executive policy on AI safety and responsible usage, and advising C-suite on strategic technology investments.

Teach & Develop Courses

12+ years as Distinguished Professor at CTU. Pluralsight author teaching AI, ML, LLMs, RAG, and agentic systems to developers worldwide.

Innovation & Intellectual Property

5 U.S. Patents and enterprise platform innovations

Private AI & Data Exchange

2024

US Patent — Architecture for secure AI workload interchange across enterprise and partner ecosystems without exposing data to public internet.

SOX Automation

Patent

US Patent — Automated compliance and audit trail generation for SOX-compliant database migrations and operations.

Massively Parallel System Architectures

Patent

US Patent — Modular atomic server fabric enabling massively parallel processing across distributed enterprise systems.

Enterprise AI Platform

2023

Internal AI platform integrating Azure OpenAI, Semantic Kernel, Cosmos DB, and multi-index RAG—reducing PoC cycle time by 50-70%.

Enterprise Data Fabric

2021

Multi-million dollar initiative including virtualization, cataloging, common data model, metadata layers, and knowledge graph capabilities.

Books & Publications

Book • 2019

The Machine Learning Toolbox: For Non-Mathematicians

Practical ML guide for engineers and leaders who need intuition without a PhD in statistics.

Book • 2017

Industry Data Science

Foundations of applying data science in enterprise and industrial contexts.

Article • 2024

What is Private AI? The Next Step in Privacy-First Innovation

Thought leadership on secure, compliant AI for regulated industries. Published by DCD.

Papers • Various

Academic Papers & Conference Publications

Multiple peer-reviewed publications on machine learning, systems design, cloud architecture, and analytics.

Speaking & Recognition

Global Forums

  • Chief Architect Forum & BiL-T Conference thought leader
  • GDS Group roundtables on AI, cloud, digital transformation
  • Data Center Dynamics contributor on private AI

Recognition

  • Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, Mississippi College (2022)
  • Northrop Grumman Fellow designation
  • Multiple President's Awards & Chairman's Award
  • Distinguished Professor

Principles I Work By

AI as Infrastructure

Reliable, observable, governed, built to last.

Autonomous by Default

Systems that learn, adapt, and self-optimize.

Quality Through Feedback

Real-time loops that improve daily.

Data as Product

Versioned, documented, owned, improved.

Challenge the Norm

Innovation happens at the edges.

Teach to Master

Education benefits both parties.

Operating Philosophy

Operating Philosophy

"AI isn't magic; it's a better compiler for human intent.""The future of work is not fewer humans, but humans at a different altitude.""Data centers are the cathedrals of digital civilization.""Superworkers spend time on judgment, not busywork.""Complexity without purpose is just noise.""Every architecture decision should increase trust over time.""The best AI systems are invisible—they amplify without distraction.""Governance isn't the enemy of innovation; it's the foundation.""Teaching is how we ensure the future is built by the many.""The measure of a system is not its complexity, but its clarity."— Adapted from Dijkstra"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not."— Yogi Berra"Agents aren't automation—they're AI with intention."
"AI isn't magic; it's a better compiler for human intent.""The future of work is not fewer humans, but humans at a different altitude.""Data centers are the cathedrals of digital civilization.""Superworkers spend time on judgment, not busywork.""Complexity without purpose is just noise.""Every architecture decision should increase trust over time.""The best AI systems are invisible—they amplify without distraction.""Governance isn't the enemy of innovation; it's the foundation.""Teaching is how we ensure the future is built by the many.""The measure of a system is not its complexity, but its clarity."— Adapted from Dijkstra"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not."— Yogi Berra"Agents aren't automation—they're AI with intention."
"AI isn't magic; it's a better compiler for human intent.""The future of work is not fewer humans, but humans at a different altitude.""Data centers are the cathedrals of digital civilization.""Superworkers spend time on judgment, not busywork.""Complexity without purpose is just noise.""Every architecture decision should increase trust over time.""The best AI systems are invisible—they amplify without distraction.""Governance isn't the enemy of innovation; it's the foundation.""Teaching is how we ensure the future is built by the many.""The measure of a system is not its complexity, but its clarity."— Adapted from Dijkstra"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not."— Yogi Berra"Agents aren't automation—they're AI with intention."
"AI isn't magic; it's a better compiler for human intent.""The future of work is not fewer humans, but humans at a different altitude.""Data centers are the cathedrals of digital civilization.""Superworkers spend time on judgment, not busywork.""Complexity without purpose is just noise.""Every architecture decision should increase trust over time.""The best AI systems are invisible—they amplify without distraction.""Governance isn't the enemy of innovation; it's the foundation.""Teaching is how we ensure the future is built by the many.""The measure of a system is not its complexity, but its clarity."— Adapted from Dijkstra"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not."— Yogi Berra"Agents aren't automation—they're AI with intention."

"I help large, complex enterprises turn data and AI into real-world platforms and revenue—not just slideware."

Enterprise architect turned Head of Data & AI, building private AI platforms for the world's digital infrastructure.