The Empathy Engine
You maybe wouldn’t see this coming, but my formal education is actually in psychology.
Nerdily, I love research psychology. I even got to TA the research class for a year. I think it’s in poor taste to say now, but back then Dr. Carden referred to me as “Master Knowles.” My senior project was on the connection between social media usage and depression. I felt something that people hadn’t yet perceived.
The same intuition that drove me to look closer 15+ years ago is the same intuition that drives my belief that we need a reimagining now.
We all have different strengths and weaknesses.
My background in psychology taught me how to listen and understand. My experience as a craftsman taught me how to build things that are simple, effective, and serve their purpose. During my time as a consultant, I spent hours just listening to clients talk about their frustrations. I realized I could combine all the lessons learned from these experiences to fix a problem.
It’s led me to a breakthrough: A new kind of architecture that has empathy at its core. I know this can't be built from a single perspective. True empathy requires a menagerie of perspectives and a chorus of voices. The 'Empathy Engine' isn't just about my background; it's a commitment to building technology by listening, by co-creating, and by bringing a diverse range of experiences to the table.
A Blueprint For A Better Future
This is the plan for architecting our success.
It’s a revolutionary social enterprise model designed to build community wealth and foster human-centric technology. Our plan unfolds in two integrated phases:
Phase 1 (Years 1-3): Forging Our Weapons
We begin by establishing a non-profit institution in Olathe, Kansas: Project Agent X. Inspired by the proven success of the RocketTown community model, this non-profit is where we forge our weapons, not in secret, but in partnership with the community we serve. It has a dual mandate:
Community Fortress: Provide foundational pillars of stability for our neighbors, including access to stable housing and holistic wellness resources. This is how we build trust and live our values from day one.
The Empathy Engine: Launch a state-of-the-art technology and AI R&D lab. The lab’s mission is to solve the problem that plagues millions: the clunky, frustrating, and dehumanizing software people are forced to use at work. It will develop our new, empathetic software architecture from the ground up, built on the insights of a diverse community.
Crucially, the non-profit will own all intellectual property developed in the lab. This is the first pillar of our new model: the tools of the future will be born from and owned by a mission-driven entity.
Phase 2 (Years 4-5): Commercializing for the Common Good
Once our technology is proven, we will launch a for-profit Benefit Corporation (B-Corp). This entity will license the IP from the non-profit to bring our human-centric software to the commercial market.
This creates a powerful, self-sustaining cycle that makes our mission unstoppable:
The B-Corp generates revenue by selling technology built on a foundation of empathy and service.
A significant portion of profits flow back to the non-profit through licensing fees, creating a permanent endowment.
This endowment perpetually funds and expands our community programs; providing healthcare, sponsoring AI ethics research, and incubating other mission-aligned ventures.
A Revolution in Governance and Ownership
This is not just a new product; it's a new structure for power. It is our answer to the fatal flaw of Big Tech: their legal and fiduciary responsibility to generate obscene profits.
Our B-Corp will feature a democratized ownership model, funded initially through crowdfunding and small-dollar investments, ensuring that the community that helps build it shares in its success.
The non-profit serves as the ultimate failsafe. As the owner of the IP, it holds a legally binding mandate—a "mission-lock"—to revoke the license if the for-profit B-Corp ever strays from its core mission of serving humanity. This creates a system of powerful checks and balances, hard-wiring our ethics directly into our business model.
This is more than a plan. It is a vision for how we all win. However, a blueprint is nothing without its builders.