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Who We Are

We Didn't Start as
a Consulting Firm.

We started as builders. The consulting practice exists because companies kept asking us to do for them what we were already doing for ourselves.

Our Story

Four decades of
building things that work.

DevThing was founded on a simple observation: most companies know AI matters, but almost none know how to deploy it effectively, securely, and profitably. That's not a technology problem. It's an experience problem.

Our founder has spent 40 years at the intersection of business and technology — founding companies, shipping products, working with DHS and CISA, raising venture capital, and managing enterprise-scale systems. When AI emerged as the dominant technological force of our era, it wasn't a pivot for us. It was a natural extension of everything we'd been building toward.

We operate our own AI systems — trading bots that manage real portfolios, recruiting platforms that process thousands of candidates, automation agents that run business processes. Every recommendation we make to clients is grounded in what we've learned from running these systems ourselves.

DevThing LLC is a division of Briskhaven Holdings LLC — which provides the operational backing, infrastructure, and institutional credibility that our clients deserve from a consulting partner.

1984
The Beginning
Professional software development begins. Desktop applications, early enterprise systems, the foundation of 40 years of craft.
1990s
Entrepreneurship
First companies founded. Learning the difference between building software and building businesses. VC engagement begins.
2000s
Enterprise Scale
Large-scale technology leadership. Cross-functional teams, complex stakeholders, distributed systems. Military service. Federal work with DHS/CISA.
2010s
Cloud & Platform Era
Cloud-native architecture, platform engineering, cybersecurity. The infrastructure era that made AI possible at scale.
2024+
DevThing
AI-first consulting and implementation. Building what we sell. Transforming how companies operate. For real.
Leadership

The People Behind the Work

FL
Fred Lackey
Founder & Principal — DevThing LLC

40 years of professional technology experience. Not just writing code — building companies, shipping products, managing teams, raising capital, and operating at the intersection of business and technology since the 1980s.

Military background as an active-duty Marine and Army infantryman. Federal experience with the Department of Homeland Security and CISA — hands-on penetration testing, remediation, and hardening of enterprise networks against the full spectrum of modern threats, including bot intelligence and automated attack vectors.

Software Development Entrepreneurship Military Service DHS / CISA Venture Capital Enterprise Leadership Cybersecurity AI Systems
"Technology exists to solve problems. Not to create complexity, not to generate buzzwords, not to pad resumes. Every system should earn its place by delivering measurable value."
Our Approach

Seven Principles We Don't Negotiate On

01
AI-First, Not AI-Adjacent

Most consulting firms are traditional companies that added "AI" to their pitch deck. We are the opposite. DevThing was built from day one as an AI-native organization. Our own operations run on the same technology we deploy for clients.

02
We Build What We Sell

We develop and operate our own AI-powered systems — trading bots, recruiting platforms, automation agents. These are production systems generating real revenue. When we advise a client, we draw from direct operational experience, not theoretical frameworks.

03
Security Is the Foundation, Not a Feature

Every engagement is approached with security as the non-negotiable baseline. Data governance, access controls, compliance requirements — these aren't afterthoughts. Every AI system we deploy is built with the assumption that it will be audited, attacked, and scrutinized.

04
Pragmatic, Not Evangelical

We don't push AI for the sake of AI. If a process doesn't benefit from automation, we say so. Our goal is measurable business impact — reduced costs, increased throughput, eliminated errors, stronger margins. We're consultants, not cheerleaders.

05
Exponential Growth, Not Incremental Improvement

We don't optimize at the margins. We identify opportunities for step-change improvements — the kind that turns a 10-person process into a 2-person process with 5× the output. The kind that makes competitors irrelevant.

06
Human + AI, Not Human vs. AI

We don't position AI as a replacement for people. We position it as an amplifier. The best results come from humans and AI systems working together — humans providing judgment, creativity, and domain expertise; AI providing speed, consistency, and scale.

07
Constantly Evolving

AI moves fast. Most companies can't keep up. We can, because staying on the bleeding edge isn't a side project for us — it's our entire business. Our clients benefit from an organization that is always learning, always building, always pushing what's possible.

The Two Arms

Internal & External — Both Real

We're not a pure advisory firm that talks about AI without doing it. We operate the systems we recommend.

Internal Operations
We Eat Our Own Cooking

Our internal AI systems aren't demos or proof-of-concepts. They're production systems generating real results — trading bots that manage live portfolios, recruiting platforms processing real candidates, automation agents handling real business processes.

  • → Algorithmic trading and portfolio management
  • → AI-powered recruiting and talent intelligence
  • → Voice AI and communication systems
  • → Process automation agents
External Consulting
What We Do for Clients

Every recommendation we make comes from operational experience. Discovery, strategy, implementation, and optimization — the same four phases we use internally, now applied to your organization's specific challenges and opportunities.

  • → AI Readiness Assessment & Discovery
  • → Custom AI Strategy & Architecture
  • → Implementation & Deployment
  • → Security, Compliance & Ongoing Optimization
Corporate Parentage
DevThing LLC is a division of Briskhaven Holdings LLC
Institutional backing. Operational stability. The infrastructure that serious AI work requires.
Work With Us →

Enough about us.
Tell us about you.

Every engagement starts with a conversation. No commitments, no slide decks — just an honest look at where AI can move the needle.

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