The Calculus of IT

Nathan McBride & Michael Crispin
  • 5.0 (5)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

An exploration into the intricacies of creating, leading, and surviving IT in a corporation.  Every week, Mike and I discuss new ways of thinking about the problems that impact IT Leaders.  Additionally, we will explore today's technological advances and keep it in a fun, easy-listening format while having a few cocktails with friends.  Stay current on all Calculus of IT happenings by visiting our website: www.thecoit.us. To watch the podcast recordings, visit our YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/@thecalculusofit.

  1. 4D AGO

    Calculus of IT - Season 3 Episode 6 - Slack as an OS

    So Mike and I set out to answer a simple question: What actually constitutes an operating system in 2026? Turns out, it depends on whether you're talking about computers or how people actually work. For a computer OS, you need hardware management and file I/O. For a business OS, you need the thing that, when it goes down, everyone goes home. By that definition, Slack is absolutely an operating system. Nobody in your company can tell you what OS version they're running, but everyone knows their Slack workspace name. The desktop is dead. Your actual "desktop" is just a browser, Slack, and some cloud storage shortcuts. For most users, you could swap Windows for Mac or Linux and they wouldn't even notice. The uncomfortable truth: if Slack is where you spend your entire workday, Slack IS your OS. The thing underneath it is just infrastructure. Mike thinks the computer OS should become invisible while the business OS (Slack, identity platforms, automation) becomes the focus. Nate thinks we're heading toward a world where everything runs in browsers and the OS is just a launcher, probably Linux-based, definitely not what we have now. We also proved you could recreate email using Box notes and @ mentions (terrible idea, technically possible), went full nostalgia on OS/2 and BeOS and Adium with the duck, and discovered Mike hasn't touched his Vision Pro in months but is still paying $29/month for AppleCare. Oh, and Nate will assume you hate him if you don't respond to Slack messages within 7 minutes. The autonomy problem looms: if Slack becomes your OS, you're locked in. Convenience breeds dependency. Next week we're diving into what has become of chat - the full timeline from IRC to Slack, and why instant messaging makes us hate each other.  Also, Flock is watching you.  Is that really ok? Listen at thecalculusofit.com • Join our Slack board at thecoit.us • Leave five stars • The OS doesn't matter, the work matters. —Nate & Mike Support the show The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us "The IT Autonomy Paradox" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit Slack - Invite Link Email - nate@thecoit.us Email - mike@thecoit.us

    1h 45m

  2. JAN 12

    Calculus of IT - Season 3 Episode 5 - Who Speaks for IT Anyway?

    The new episode is live. As usual, we were topical af. The question: In an industry flooded with analysts, vendors, and LinkedIn thought leaders, who actually speaks for IT versus speaking to IT? Short answer: Gartner speaks TO IT (specifically to CIOs with budgets). The Register speaks FOR IT (with appropriate cynicism). Your Discord/Slack communities speak WITH IT (peer-to-peer, no bullshit). Longer answer: IT spent decades being invisible. Now everyone’s asking what to do about AI, and suddenly we need spokespeople. Problem is, most IT people weren’t trained to articulate value or push back on bad ideas. We were trained to keep things running quietly. The shift from order-taker to value generator requires having a voice. And your voice is directly connected to your autonomy. If you can’t explain what you do, you won’t get authority to make decisions. Our Hot Takes Nate: “If you put all your chips in the Microsoft basket, you’re in for a rude awakening. Diversify or enjoy your web-only future.” Mike: “AI won’t kill all jobs. Companies will invest heavily, realize they need humans to verify everything, and create a whole verification economy. It’s regulatory job creation all over again.” Also Nate: “99% of enterprise data is garbage. Stop putting ‘confidential’ in document titles, you’re literally giving attackers the bread crumbs trail.” What We Actually Covered Why analyst firms talk to budget holders, not practitionersHow IT communities (like our Slack board) are the REAL peer support networkThe uncomfortable truth that nobody QCs anything anymoreWhy younger IT professionals will push transparency and voice furtherMike’s unused Vision Pro (eBay value: $2,500, bids: 0)Nate’s fantasy honeypot containing 200,000 PowerPoint decks with a hidden cipherNext week: Slack as an Operating System (e.g., when did your chat tool become your company’s nervous system?) Join our Slack board (vendor-free, occasionally unhinged): links in the footer. Leave five stars. We said we don’t care but we definitely care. And remember: 99% of your data is garbage. Focus on the 1%. —Nate & Mike P.S. We’re better than Gartner and we’ll let you in our Slack for free. Support the show The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us "The IT Autonomy Paradox" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit Slack - Invite Link Email - nate@thecoit.us Email - mike@thecoit.us

    1h 20m

  3. 12/18/2025

    Calculus of IT - Season 3 Episode 4 - The Verification Economy (Part 2 of 2)

    In part two, we tackle who actually does all this verifying, what it costs, and the uncomfortable questions nobody's asking yet. IT is becoming the verification department whether you signed up for it or not. You're verifying employee identities, contractor credentials, AI agent authority, data provenance...basically everything, constantly. We explore the shift from proactive governance to reactive verification, the impossible tension between privacy and verification, and scenarios that keep you up at night: locked-out executives, disputed transactions, and verification systems that might be wrong. Big questions we couldn't fully answer: How do you verify AI agents? What gets verified - person, device, behavior, or all three? Can verification be continuous without becoming surveillance? Mike predicts 2-3 years before verification pressure really hits IT departments. New job titles emerging: Chief Truth Officer, Model Auditor, Verification Vigilante. We also accidentally invented a post-apocalyptic western about the last verification expert alive. It involves tape backup accidents and Mandalorian trust buoys. Don't ask. Next week: Who Speaks for IT Anymore? Support the show The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us "The IT Autonomy Paradox" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit Slack - Invite Link Email - nate@thecoit.us Email - mike@thecoit.us

    2h 4m

  4. 12/04/2025

    Calculus of IT - Season 3 Episode 4 - The Verification Economy (Part 1 of 2)

    In Episode 4 of The Calculus of IT, Mike Crispin and I dive deep into what happens when "proof of X" becomes the fundamental currency of digital interaction. We're entering an era where verification matters more than the technology itself and IT leaders are on the front lines whether we're ready or not. We explore the five pillars that need verification: Identity (are you who you say you are?)Humanity (are you even human?)Authority (are you authorized to do this?)Provenance (did you actually create this?)Expertise (do you actually know what the fuck you're talking about?)From deepfakes and social engineering at industrial scale to the coming wave of AI agents that need their own credentials, we break down why your company's verification gap is probably bigger than you think and what you need to do about it. Fair warning: This is Part 1 of a two-part episode. We got so deep into the weeds (in the best way) that we had to split it. Next week, we'll tackle IT's specific role in all this chaos, the impossible balance between friction and security, and whether continuous verification is our future or our nightmare. Mike drops his latest prediction: We're moving from a governance economy to a verification economy. Instead of asking permission upfront, we'll increasingly ask forgiveness afterward with an army of human verifiers cleaning up the mess. He even coins two new roles you'll see in 2028: Chief Truth Officer and Model Auditor (complete with an otter mascot, obviously). Key moments you won't want to miss: The safe word strategy we implemented at Xilio (and why you need one too)Why 60% of LinkedIn accounts are now fake—and what that means for professional networkingThe uncomfortable question: If an employee uses AI to create 90% of their deliverable, did they create it? And do you care if it's good?Why verification fatigue is about to become your biggest user experience problemSam Altman's ben-wah ball crypto solution to solve the world's identityThis episode will make you question everything about how you onboard employees, verify identities, and trust the content flowing through your systems. Because whether you're ready or not, we're building systems where proving you're real is becoming harder than faking it. Listen now, and join us next week for Part 2 where we tackle the really hard questions about IT's role in making verification work without turning your organization into a surveillance state. Support the show The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us "The IT Autonomy Paradox" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit Slack - Invite Link Email - nate@thecoit.us Email - mike@thecoit.us

    2h 15m

  5. 11/20/2025

    Calculus of IT - Season 3 Episode 3 - Distributed vs. Centralized IT (Redux) - The AI Paradox?

    Two years ago, we spent 4 hours and 27 minutes hours dissecting decentralized IT models. Now, AI has changed everything or has it? In this episode, Mike and Nate return to one of Season 1's most epic deep dives to ask a critical question: Has the AI revolution fundamentally altered how we should think about IT organizational models? (Hint: Maybe?) The uncomfortable truth? AI simultaneously pushes companies in BOTH directions. It makes decentralization technically feasible (business units can now code, troubleshoot, and build without IT) while making centralization organizationally necessary (governance nightmares, cost explosions, and compliance chaos). We explore: Why the four classic models (centralized, matrixed, decentralized, federated) still matterHow AI is turning "shadow IT" into "shadow AI", and why it's worseThe case for (and against) pulling cybersecurity, governance, and employee experience OUT of IT entirelyWhether every employee should have Claude as their personal IT departmentWhy 2028 might require a "verification economy" instead of traditional governanceThe prediction: Most companies will land on a federated model with centralized AI governance and distributed executionThe fundamentals haven't changed, but what HAS changed is our understanding that IT doesn't need to own everything (as if it ever did). The healthiest organizations will recognize what to control, what to influence, and what to let go. Plus: Why Gemini 3.0 matters (or doesn't), the 5,000-calorie Shake Shack challenge, and whether we're all just one well-crafted prompt away from knowing as much as our bosses. Episode runtime: 2+ hours of unfiltered IT leadership reality Support the show The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us "The IT Autonomy Paradox" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit Slack - Invite Link Email - nate@thecoit.us Email - mike@thecoit.us

    2h 22m

  6. 11/13/2025

    Calculus of IT - Season 3 Episode 2 - Identity with a Capital "I"

    Identity...I mean...super easy topic right?  Wrong. Season 3 is largely devoted to looking at "capital-I Identity" from all available viewpoints.  Tonight, we just started to try and figure out what the hell it actually means.  We will come back to this idea many times this season so let this be the baseline to our discussion. We also spent some time talking about idealizing tech stacks for small businesses and why Bob Barker's microphone was so long. Dare I say it...yet another smash hit episode. Support the show The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us "The IT Autonomy Paradox" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit Slack - Invite Link Email - nate@thecoit.us Email - mike@thecoit.us

    2h 4m

  7. 11/06/2025

    Calculus of IT - Season 3 Episode 1 - Welcome Back!!

    aaaaand we're back!! Season 3 of The Calculus of IT is here, and we're coming in hot with 40 episodes that go way beyond the AI silliness. Sure, we'll talk about GenAI when it matters - but from angles nobody else is touching. This season is about identity, autonomy, the death of IT as we know it, and why your infrastructure is probably lying to you right now. We kicked off with a recap of Season 2's autonomy deep-dive and laid out the roadmap for what's coming. Spoiler: it's gonna kick ass. Here's what you can expect: What Is Identity? (Really?) Distributed vs Centralized IT: The Eternal Battle The Verification Economy (Because Nothing Is Real Anymore) PowerPoint Inc.: Why We're Still Using the Cave Drawing Method The OpenAI Walled Garden Paradox The 99% vs 1% Data Problem (Why are we protecting all of the garbage?) Creative Business Slop vs AI Slop Edge + AI + Governance: The New Frontier The Viewer/Editor Paradox (hint: not everyone deserves creator rights) The COVID Retrospective: What changed forever for no particular reason Building a Website in 2026: Who still does this and why? The Death of the Password (For real this time - we mean it) ...and 28 more topics that'll make you rethink everything Join us every Wednesday (unless we change it, because...you know...autonomy).  Support the show The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us "The IT Autonomy Paradox" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit Slack - Invite Link Email - nate@thecoit.us Email - mike@thecoit.us

    1h 13m

  8. 06/12/2025

    Calculus of IT - Season 2 Episode 13 - NLM Bot TL;DR - Industry 5.0

    Oddly enough, the bots don't seem to be too emotionally affected by their future rise to becoming our overlords. Support the show The Calculus of IT website - https://www.thecoit.us "The IT Autonomy Paradox" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The New IT Leader's Survival Guide" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library "The Calculus of IT" Book - https://www.longwalk.consulting/library The COIT Merchandise Store - https://thecoit.myspreadshop.com Donate to Wikimedia - https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give Buy us a Beer!! - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecalculusofit Slack - Invite Link Email - nate@thecoit.us Email - mike@thecoit.us

    19 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

An exploration into the intricacies of creating, leading, and surviving IT in a corporation.  Every week, Mike and I discuss new ways of thinking about the problems that impact IT Leaders.  Additionally, we will explore today's technological advances and keep it in a fun, easy-listening format while having a few cocktails with friends.  Stay current on all Calculus of IT happenings by visiting our website: www.thecoit.us. To watch the podcast recordings, visit our YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/@thecalculusofit.

Information

  • Creator
    Nathan McBride & Michael Crispin
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    101
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Calculus of IT
  • Show Website
    The Calculus of IT