PeterStearns

For over 20 years I have built and led infrastructure and automation in secure, regulated environments. I look for the friction, such as the manual step, the one-off fix or the workaround everyone has accepted, and build the solution so it stays solved. Now I am extending that approach to AI platforms and governed AI-assisted work.

• ExperienceHosting and systems engineering, secure virtualization, and compliance automation on isolated networks.
• ToolsAnsible, PowerCLI, Python, Chef InSpec, vSphere, NetApp, OpenShift and GPU infrastructure.
• EducationB.S. and M.S. Software Engineering, AI Engineering specialization (WGU).
• Now working onSecure container platforms, GPU infrastructure and governed AI-assisted change.

• Compliance automation at scale

  Friction

  STIG compliance depended on heavy manual processing across several secure networks.

  Built

  Re-architected a long-running STIG automation effort around VMware’s OVA-based approach and extended it to NetApp ONTAP storage with a custom Chef InSpec train, then scaled it across thousands of systems.

  Result

  92% less manual processing time, and VMware compliance up from about 70% to over 99% across 80+ remote sites.

• Reusable operations automation

  Friction

  Provisioning, patching and remediation were handled case by case across a large, locked-down environment.

  Built

  Reusable automation for provisioning, patching, configuration, certificate management, inventory and security remediation.

  Result

  One-off fixes became repeatable capabilities across a large secure environment.

• Automated nested training labs

  Friction

  Training 120 students meant giving each one a realistic environment, and building labs by hand would not scale.

  Built

  Designed complete virtual labs for 120 students, tied to physical infrastructure and fully automated to deploy. Nothing is built by hand, so every lab comes out the same.

  Result

  Every student gets a complete lab on demand, and the footprint is now being expanded to roughly double.

• Governed AI-assisted work

  Friction

  AI assistance can quietly change what counts as correct, which matters most where accuracy and accountability are not optional.

  Built

  The Hub-Spoke State Governance Framework. Exploratory state stays separate from approved state, and validated changes become authoritative only through explicit promotion. Read it on GitHub.

  Result

  Decision integrity and human accountability are preserved while the work moves fast.

• Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate2026
• AWS Cloud Practitioner2026
• IBM RAG and Agentic AI2025
• DeepLearning.AI Deep Learning Specialization2025
• ITIL 4 Foundation2025
• CompTIA Security+ CE2014, active
• CompTIA Network+ CE2014, active
• VMware Certified Professional2016