About | Minimum Distance

Many organizations are navigating AI without a clear picture of what it actually does inside their operations — where it creates risk, where it creates opportunity, and how to keep humans meaningfully in control. Minimum Distance is a group of engineers and technologists who care deeply about how technology shapes society. We help senior leadership turn AI uncertainty into practical systems, operating models, and better decisions.

Ronald Petty

Ronald Petty works at the intersection of AI, systems, operations, and society—helping organizations understand, adopt, and operate modern technical systems.

His work spans public speaking, research, teaching, writing, and technical auditing, with an emphasis on translating technical complexity into useful guidance for senior managers, boards, and operational leaders.

Core areas

Speaking

Executive briefings, conference talks, workshops, and public presentations on AI, operations, cloud native systems, and technology & society.

Research

Frameworks and analysis connecting AI systems with organizational structure, incentives, risk, and long-term strategic impact.

Teaching

Professional development, technical education, and community instruction across AI, software, infrastructure, and related topics.

Writing

Whitepapers, papers, books, presentations, and long-form material for both technical and executive audiences.

Technical auditing

Review of AI systems, data flows, workflows, operational design, and production risks, including where systems can fail and how leaders can better oversee them.

Typical engagement areas

AI risk framing for boards and senior leadership
Operational design for AI-enabled systems
Review of vendor claims and system capabilities
Architecture strategy across AI, data, and infrastructure
Bridging technical teams and executive decision-making