About Operational Visions

David Russell

The Veteran Operational Architect

Distinguished Innovation Fellow, Cortado Group

45+ years of software development and engineering leadership spanning startups, high-growth companies, and the education sector. David's work in applied AI predates the current moment by decades — from ML-powered facial recognition systems protecting school environments to ML-driven supply chain and manufacturing applications to the LLM deployments now underpinning Cortado's Knowledge Integration Platform.

At Cortado Group, he developed the Five Levels of AI Maturity Framework, a workforce transformation taxonomy, and three proprietary technology platforms including a patent-pending research analysis engine. He is the author of the forthcoming book, AI-Powered Growth.

“Frameworks only matter if they get used. My job is to close the gap between what's possible and what our clients actually do.”

Collin Russell

The Digital Native

Innovation Engineer, Cortado Group

At 22, Collin represents the generation that grew up immersed in technology — not as something novel, but as the fabric of everyday life. His perspective challenges assumptions about what “digital native” really means and brings fresh insight into how younger professionals view automation, AI tools, and the evolving workplace. He asks the questions that need asking.