EST. MMXXVI · SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, USA
Advisors who build.
K&J Kerner & Jaglom Executive Technology Advisors Start a conversation
Board · Executive · Implementation

Advisors who build.

Trusted technical counsel for the organizations building the systems that cannot fail.

Executive technical advisors and hands-on engineers for organizations building complex, mission-critical, and high-consequence systems. Two senior technologists, operating as a small leadership team — at once your board's counsel and your engineers' colleague.

01

Board

Directors & Investors

Counsel and education for the people accountable for governing technology risk and opportunity.

02

Executive

C-Suite Leadership

Senior technical leadership embedded with the executive team — fractional, but fully accountable.

03

Implementation

Hands-On Technical

We build working systems, not just recommend them — sitting with your engineers and shipping.

01 The Proposition

Most organizations building technically complex systems reach the same inflection point: the technology becomes too important, too costly, or too consequential to steer without experienced senior leadership.

We provide executive technical counsel and hands-on engineering at three levels — advising boards, partnering with executives, and building alongside implementation teams — moving fluidly among them as the work demands.

Unlike the typical fractional-CTO model, clients engage two complementary senior technologists as a leadership team. And unlike most advisory firms, we do not stop at strategy. We build.

02 How We Engage

Three levels of counsel, delivered by one leadership team.

Level 01

Board

Directors & Investors

Advising boards and investors on technology strategy, risk, and the safe and effective adoption of advanced technology — especially AI.

Board-level education that equips directors to govern, question, and oversee emerging technology with confidence; independent technical due diligence and operational-risk assessment.

Level 02

Executive

C-Suite Leadership

Fractional CTO and senior technical leadership. AI and automation strategy. Architecture, vendor, and build-versus-buy decisions.

Executive education so leadership teams can reason about advanced technology — and its risks — with confidence, alongside organizational and technical roadmap design.

Level 03

Implementation

Hands-On Technical

We build working systems, not just recommend them. Architecture, prototyping, and production engineering for mission-critical and safety-critical systems.

AI automation, integration, and tooling, with hands-on training and upskilling for engineering and implementation teams.

03 What Sets Us Apart
01

Advisors who build

Many firms assess your architecture or hand you a strategy memo. We can do that — then stay to implement it, whether that means a proof-of-concept, a new prototype, or production code in a live system. The same two people who brief your board can sit with your engineers and ship.

02

Advanced technology at every level

We help boards and executives separate genuine opportunity from hype, adopt it safely, then help implementation teams actually deliver: AI strategy and governance, automation and AI-system architecture, and hands-on integration, tooling, and pipeline work.

04 The Principals

The partnership is the proposition.

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Bob Kerner
Bob Kerner
Commercial-Scale Systems · AI/ML · Defense

30+ years building and operating production technology across startup, enterprise, media, finance, and defense. Most recently CTO at Bel USA. Previously Principal Engineer (Advanced Signal/Image Processing) at Lockheed Martin; Technical Program Manager (L7) at Google, leading the Arm CPU and server software ecosystem; CTO at Valence Media; SVP & Chief Digital Officer at NYSE Euronext; SVP of Engineering at Revolution Money (American Express); and Chief Architect at AOL.

He began his career architecting non-propulsion electronic systems for the Virginia-class submarine, following Navy service as a cryptologist and Korean linguist.

M.S. Computer Science (Computational Perception & Robotics), Georgia Tech.

AI / MLSignal & image processingEngineering at scale
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Peter Jaglom
Peter Jaglom
Aerospace · Mission-Critical · Defense Acquisition

A 20-year U.S. Navy career spanning developmental flight test, intelligence-community program management, and depot-level aircraft maintenance. Most recently directed a $75M F/A-18 and EA-18G overhaul operation with 400+ personnel at Fleet Readiness Center Southwest.

Previously managed SIGINT and GEOINT mission-management system development at the National Reconnaissance Office, and led flight-test programs including live-fire AIM-120 and AIM-9X events. NASA astronaut candidate finalist, 2016.

Physics & M.S. Technology & Policy, MIT; M.S. Computer Science, Georgia Tech. U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate.

Aerospace & weapons systemsTest & evaluationDefense acquisition

Bob brings the production and AI/ML depth; Peter brings the aerospace, acquisition, and program depth. Together we cover the technical and institutional sides of building complex systems.

05 Why Two, Not One
01

Coverage

One of us is always available. Travel, illness, and competing engagements never stall a client's work.

02

Calibration

Hard technical decisions get a second senior opinion before they ever reach a client.

03

Range

AI/ML systems, defense acquisition, safety-critical software, high-throughput platforms — together, we can.

04

Scaling

We dial our individual involvement up or down based on exactly what the work needs.

06 Where We Add Value
01

Defense and dual-use startups building toward production and fielding.

02

Aerospace and autonomous-systems companies with safety-critical requirements.

03

Growth-stage technology companies scaling architecture, teams, and AI adoption.

04

Investors and acquirers requiring credible technical and M&A due diligence.

Start a conversation

Let's discuss what you're building.

Tell us where your system is headed and what is at stake. We will tell you how we would engage — and whether we are the right two.

Lines of business
Fractional CTO leadership Board & executive education AI & automation strategy Mission-critical engineering Technical due diligence M&A due diligence Defense & government advisory Prototype & production build
Direct
+1 (000) 000-0000
Based
Los Angeles, CA · San Diego, CA
Engagements
Remote & on-site, U.S. and allied