John Conafay

Founder, @Integrate_co | Board of Advisors, @sedsusa | Rockets, motorcycles, planes, art, and food. Opinions my own.

[John Conafay @JConafay]

New day at @integrate_co.

[Integrate @integrate_co]

Integrate has been awarded a $25 million contract by the @SpaceForceDoD to modernize how complex space programs are executed.

This award reflects a growing recognition inside the @DeptofDefense: success in modern defense and space operations requires collaborative, software-native infrastructure just as much as it needs rockets and radars.

We’re honored to support MMO and SSC as they streamline execution across complex, multi-partner missions, bringing clarity, speed and confidence to the teams building the future.

Read the full press release: 
https://t.co/bvBkz0523Z

[John Conafay @JConafay]

@Tomas_Stellar @LionnetPierre I’m so glad someone finally said it.

[Erin Price-Wright @espricewright]

If you're a naturally anxious person, I recommend pursuing a high stress career path where at least you'll be compensated for anxiety you're going to have anyways.

[okazakitomohiro @oo_kk_aa]

ニャッキの伊藤有壱さんにお声掛け頂き、コマ撮りの展覧会に一作家として参加しています。私はコマ撮り分野ではない場所から活動をはじめて、デザインの視点でのコマ撮りに取り組んできましたが、今回初めてコマ撮り界の本丸の方々とご一緒でき嬉しいです。今6年目のマッチ撮影素材等を展示しています

[ted @tednotlasso]

a few weeks ago someone called work without AI “tradwork” and i can’t stop thinking about it

[Robert Sterling @RobertMSterling]

I am very concerned about these strikes in Iran. What if the Iranian government retaliates by funding a network of proxy militias across the Middle East, attacking US troops in the region, sponsoring terrorism against Israel and Saudi Arabia, and attacking vessels in the Red Sea?

[Paul Graham @paulg]

Larry Page is gone. He wasn't just pretending to move to Florida. He has moved. The proposed wealth tax hasn't even passed, and already it has cost California both Larry's presence and all the tax revenue it made from him.

[Avi @AviFelman]

When I was 7 years old I was asked by my father what went into the price of a sandwich. Considering it carefully, I answered.

The lettuce, the tomato, the bread and the meat.

I did not consider correctly. I was short quite a few costs as my father was eager to point out. I had forgot the labor of the worker, the rent of the land, the marketing costs of the chain. I wasn’t seeing the full picture.

Today we are all making a similar mistake with AI. We are not considering what cannot be considered. As foreign to the 7 year old as these excess charges were, so are the downstream affects of AI.

In 1850, if you had told a teamster that his horse and carriage would soon be obsolete, he would have envisioned a world of mass starvation for men of his skill. He could grasp the concept of a faster carriage, but he could not conceive of the interstate highway system, the suburban real estate market, or the roadside motel industry. These were not just new products; they were an entirely new social architecture.

We are currently in the teamster’s shoes. We see AI automating the ingredients of our current economy—the writing, the coding, the data entry—and we fear the void. But history shows that humanity doesn't fall into the void; it builds a floor over it.

Karl Marx looked at the dark satanic mills of the 19th century and saw a terminal point. He argued that as the means of production became more efficient, capital would consolidate and labor would become a worthless commodity. He believed capitalism would eventually eat itself because it would run out of things for people to do.

Marx was wrong because he viewed human utility as a fixed pie. He didn't understand that technology doesn't just subtract labor; it changes the nature of what we consider valuable.

When the mechanical loom made fabric cheap, we didn't stop buying clothes. Instead, we invented the fashion industry. We created brand management, retail psychology, and textile engineering.

We moved from a world where everyone owned two outfits to a world where millions of people are employed in the cycle of seasonal trends.

In the age of the steam engine, "handmade" was a sign of poverty. Today, it is a luxury. We are already seeing a shift where the human touch—the artisanal, the face-to-face, and the physically present—is becoming the high-margin sector of the economy.

Every time we automate a simple task, we move the human to a more complex one. We didn't stop needing accountants when Excel was invented... we simply started asking accountants to perform much more sophisticated financial modeling.

The 7-year-old misses the rent and the marketing because they are abstractions. Similarly, we struggle to see the jobs of 2040 because they rely on problems we haven't even encountered yet. We might see the rise of Personal Data Stewards, who manage the interaction between our private lives and public AI models, or Reality Architects, who ensure that the virtual spaces we inhabit are psychologically grounded.

The world works itself out because humans are fundamentally restless. We do not tolerate a vacuum of purpose, we seek higher function always.

[John Conafay @JConafay]

@michaelxbloch checking a lot of boxes here

[Dave Limp @davill]

This week we completed direct field acoustic testing on our Blue Moon MK1 lunar lander, a major flight‑qualification milestone. 

We surrounded the fully integrated lander with a ring of 34‑ft speaker towers to generate a near‑diffuse acoustic field, matching the New Glenn payload fairing environment at over 138 decibels overall sound pressure level. MK1 ran in a flight-like configuration: tanks pressurized with helium and nitrogen, batteries powering the vehicle, with all critical avionics and guidance systems operating. 

43 triaxial accelerometers measured response during a two‑minute exposure at protoqualification levels. Because the lander's vibration environment is driven by acoustic loads, this test replaces traditional shaker-based vibration testing and more accurately represents ascent conditions. 

Next stop: @NASA_Johnson for thermal vacuum chamber testing.

[Joe Morrison @mouthofmorrison]

space industry rn

[John Conafay @JConafay]

accurate

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

The company hired me to lead their "Agile Transformation."
I don't know what Agile means.
Nobody does.
That's why it works.

I make $425,000 a year.
To move sticky notes.
From left to right.
On a board.
The board is digital now.
The sticky notes cost $80,000 in Jira licenses.
Progress.

Day one, I said "we need to break down silos."
Everyone nodded.
Silos are bad.
I don't know why.
But destroying them is a career.
My career.

I introduced "squads."
Squads are teams.
But disrupted.
We disrupted the teams into teams.
Different names.
Same people.
Same problems.
But Agile problems now.
Agile problems are strategic.

A senior engineer asked what we're actually changing.
I said, "The mindset."
He asked what that means.
I said, "It's a journey."
He asked where we're going.
I said, "Toward agility."
He asked what agility means.
I pointed at the sticky notes.
They were moving left to right.
That's velocity.
We have velocity now.

The VP of Engineering said two-week sprints don't fit their work.
I said, "That's waterfall thinking."
Waterfall is bad.
Like silos.
I don't know what waterfall is.
But I know it's bad.
She stopped talking.
Waterfall accusations end conversations.

We had a retrospective.
In the retro, we discussed what went wrong.
Everything went wrong.
We put it on sticky notes.
Then we moved the sticky notes.
Into a column called "Parking Lot."
The Parking Lot is where problems go to die.
It's full.
We don't look at it.
That's agile.

Velocity is up 40%.
I defined velocity.
I also defined the points.
I also defined the stories.
We're crushing it.
At the things I made up.
To measure.
Ourselves.

The CEO asked for ROI.
I showed a chart.
The chart went up.
Charts should go up.
This one did.
I didn't label the Y-axis.
Nobody asked.
Leadership is confidence.

We do standups now.
Every day.
We stand.
For 45 minutes.
Standing is agile.
Sitting is waterfall.
My legs hurt.
But we're transforming.

The transformation is now "Phase 3."
Phase 1 was assessment.
Phase 2 was implementation.
Phase 3 is "continuous improvement."
Continuous means forever.
Forever means job security.
I'm very secure.

My contract was extended.
Three more years.
For "cultural impact."
The culture is confused.
But impacted.

Agile transformation isn't about being agile.
It's about transforming.
Continuously.
Toward more transformation.
The destination is the journey.
The journey is billable.

[InfantryDort @infantrydort]

I feel this in my soul.

[John Conafay @JConafay]

@meawoppl https://t.co/YraLPCWPnk

[Philip Johnston @PhilipJohnston]

People don’t understand, Starlink is gonna be just: ‘the internet’. Direct to cell is gonna hit hard. Basically all telco is doomed. Let’s check in this time next year 👋

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

i believe that many of the things that you take for granted around you can become beautiful if they were made by a skilled craftsperson and you take the time to learn how that item was made

IG floriangadsby, havelockstudio, jjsflooringltd, peterelliotglomb

[John Conafay @JConafay]

This song’s been on repeat since it came out. Seems relevant these past two years.

https://t.co/arXEYf8g7u

[Andrew Côté @Andercot]

The history of the future will be unwinding the great mess of postmodern moral relativism and finding our way back to virtue.

[ksa 🏴‍☠️ @kosa12m]

The dumbest person you know is currently being told “You're absolutely right!” by ChatGPT

[John Conafay @JConafay]

@thatbergness This is legitimately the funniest tweet I’ve ever read, but no, oil refinery explosion

[John Conafay @JConafay]

Massive explosion in el Segundo, what’s happening?