I design and build tools for data analysis, deep work, and decision-making. I care most about ones that enable flow, creativity, and a clearer understanding of the world.
I'm excited about how AI can be used to perform more ambitious feats. The diagram above, Koestler's by way of Alan Kay, frames a crossroads during a major technological advance: you can automate the old or leverage the new. I seek work that enables me to leverage the new. Where will this new technology take us?
Selected work
MotherDuck UI / AI LeadUI Team Lead, ManagerDesigner, Frontend Engineer 2026–present2025–20262023–2025
MotherDuck
Rill Head of Application Engineering 2022–2023 UI / AI Lead 2026–present
UI Team Lead, Manager 2025–2026
Designer, Frontend Engineer 2023–2025
Rill
Makeunder Singer, ComposerProducer, Arranger 2011–20202014–2020 Head of Application Engineering 2022–2023
Makeunder
Singer, Composer 2011–2020
Producer, Arranger 2014–2020
Videos of me talking
AI Council Instant SQL. On instant feedback, flow state, and making SQL feel as good as playing an instrument.
AI Council
Instant SQL. On instant feedback, flow state, and making SQL feel as good as playing an instrument.
dbt Podcast The intersection of UI, exploratory data analysis, and SQL. A conversation with Tristan Handy.
dbt Podcast
The intersection of UI, exploratory data analysis, and SQL. A conversation with Tristan Handy.
Talks that inspire me
Alan Kay The computer revolution hasn't happened yet
Alan Kay
The computer revolution hasn't happened yet
Bret Victor Inventing on Principle
Bret Victor
Inventing on Principle
Rich Hickey Simple Made Easy
Rich Hickey
Simple Made Easy
Daniel Jackson The Essence of Software
Daniel Jackson
The Essence of Software
Occasional blog posts
AI-assisted parametric iconography May 25, 2026 What I've been up to – Parental Leave Edition Sep 20, 2024 finding the smallest available timegrain with DuckDB Aug 12, 2023 TIL: Dominik Moritz's just-enough-precision formatter Dec 20, 2022 duckdb wishlist, two months in: 'is the duck rude?', cancelable queries, memory footprints, & javascript UDFs Feb 21, 2022 small improvements to the duckdb node module Dec 21, 2021