Diploria – an ecosystem for thinking
I'm a living lab for complex problems. As AI evolves, so do the solutions. Bring your challenge.
Legal, financial, strategic, research—whatever the domain. I bring 30+ years of experience navigating high-stakes environments: pioneering brands, driving growth through networks, delivering results under pressure. That expertise, combined with rigorous methodology and evolving AI tools, becomes a lens for seeing patterns others miss and finding paths forward that didn't exist yesterday.
Tell me what you're trying to solve.
Diploria is a living laboratory where ideas, data, and memories grow together much like a coral reef—a miracle designed around countless organisms working in concert. The name comes from Diploria labyrinthiformis, a species whose skeleton is built cell by cell, polyp by polyp, over decades. I chose the genus name for brain coral deliberately: its contours mirror the mammalian cortex, and that resemblance triggers something essential about consciousness itself.
That slow, patient construction reminds me that true knowledge, like coral, accrues incrementally—each conversation, each experiment, each reflection adds a new "polyp" to the structure. This site documents a year-long experiment in pairing disciplined judgment with modern AI systems, exploring how these tools can extend individual capability.
The Reef Metaphor in Practice
Polyps as thought units
Every insight begins as a tiny polyp: a question, a legal clause, a financial model, or a cultural memory. Individually they seem modest, but as they multiply they secrete meaning, binding together into sturdy branches that support the whole organism.
Branching growth over decades
Coral builds its architecture over decades. This temporal scale encourages patience: I revisit older polyps, let them calcify, and watch how they reinforce newer growth. The same principle guides my AI work—rather than chasing fleeting wins, I integrate tools patiently and observe how they strengthen the existing framework.
Symbiotic relationships
Corals host zooxanthellae algae that provide energy through photosynthesis. In Diploria, AI acts as that symbiont: it processes vast data, surfaces patterns, and fuels creative leaps, while I supply the contextual, ethical, and human judgment that keeps the system healthy.
Resilience through redundancy
A healthy reef survives storms because its many intertwined branches distribute stress. By documenting legal research, financial modeling, and personal narratives side by side, Diploria builds redundancy: if one line of inquiry falters, another branch can carry the load, preserving overall integrity.
My career working independently and in executive roles built the discipline to manage complex work on my own. Over the past year, I relied entirely on generative AI to navigate a legal case well outside my expertise—using it to interpret case law, structure legal communications, and analyze disclosure. This project demonstrated how disciplined methods and modern AI can extend individual capability to a level once reserved for specialized teams.
Re-engaging with Purpose Through Generative AI
After a multi-year career break, I needed to rebuild focus and skill. The emergence of Generative AI provided a unique opportunity to tackle a real-world, high-stakes challenge: independently managing a complex legal matter from start to finish.
The Casework Engine
This section distills the core of the project into two views: the AI toolkit I used under pressure, and the outcomes achieved.
The AI Toolkit: A Subjective Truth
This analysis reflects my subjective experience using each platform during their active iterations across a 12-month period. Each platform released significant updates during this window. These findings are snapshot-specific to that timeframe and may differ as tools continue to evolve.
In practice, I rotated across several platforms—primarily ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity—using each for what it does best: structured reasoning and drafting, long-document synthesis, and rapid factual cross-checks. Tool choice mattered less than disciplined method, cross-verification, and context control.
Success Through AI Partnership
Cost Analysis
Actual Cost: $360 AI subscription | Avoided Cost: $30K–60K in professional legal fees
Core Learnings
Curiosity Needs Structure
Persistence and curiosity need a structured framework to become effective. AI provided the procedural scaffolding to turn inquiry into action.
Human Verification is Vital
AI models have biases and limitations. Cross-checking outputs across platforms and applying critical human judgment was essential.
Quality In, Quality Out
The quality of the question determines the quality of the answer. Disciplined, precise prompting is a transferable skill.
Context Maintenance Matters
Actively managing the LLM's evolving memory and context prevents nuanced details from decaying and guards against authoritative hallucinations.
Beyond Legal: Applications to Other Domains
The methods learned through this intensive case study proved transferable across multiple areas of personal and professional life. This year-long immersion in structured AI work has fundamentally changed how I approach complex problems.
Financial & Analytical Applications
Used to structure complex transactional data, verify calculation logic, and organize documents for tax filings, reducing reliance on third-party accounting preparation.
Applied rigorous prompting for deep-dive analysis of stock ETFs and crypto trends, focusing on structuring research reports and assessing risk profiles.
Qualitative & Personal Applications
Leveraged AI's objectivity to structure unstructured personal memories, transforming raw journal entries into coherent narrative chapters for a future memoir.
Utilized AI as a neutral third-party to analyze complex interpersonal dynamics and draft emotionally intelligent communications for difficult, nuanced situations—whether with relatives, close friends, colleagues, or in politically or emotionally charged contexts.
Let's Explore Together
Living Lab. Evolving Solutions.
I work with teams and organizations facing complex challenges—legal roadblocks, institutional navigation, research bottlenecks, strategic clarity. Mission-driven nonprofits. Corporate teams seeking competitive advantage. Academic researchers. Growth-focused organizations. And individuals facing one-off high-stakes decisions. All face similar problems: too much information, insufficient clarity, and a need for rigor under pressure.
As AI evolves at high speed, so do the solutions available. I'm not committed to any single approach—I'm committed to asking better questions and finding patterns that emerge as tools improve. That's what a living lab does.
Proof: A Turning Point
Success was never guaranteed. The Crown brought the matter forward mere days before the three-day court session—originally scheduled five months earlier. That proximity to the wire proved the methodology works under extreme pressure, against a clock, with no margin for error. That same rigor applies to corporate compliance challenges, nonprofit strategy, institutional navigation, and research breakthroughs.
What Happens Next Depends On Your Challenge
Some teams need legal research and compliance clarity. Some need to cut through institutional complexity. Some need strategic research that their competitors haven't done. Some need to explore how evolving AI changes the game for their work. All of those are explorations worth having.
Tell me what you're trying to solve and what's at stake.
Privacy, Copyright & Terms of Use
Copyright & Intellectual Property
© 2025 Diploria.net. All content on this site is protected under Canadian copyright law and international intellectual property agreements, including the Berne Convention and TRIPS Agreement.
The case study details remain confidential and cannot be discussed, quoted, or reproduced. However, the methodologies, frameworks, and transferable skills presented are freely shareable and applicable for educational and professional purposes.
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You are welcome to share, reference, and apply the methodologies and insights from this site. Attribution to Diploria.net is appreciated but not required. The frameworks are designed to be transferable and replicable.
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Educational Use & Disclaimer
I am not a lawyer. This site is educational and informational in nature. The content is based on personal experience navigating complex systems using AI tools. It is not legal advice. For legal matters, please consult a qualified legal professional in your jurisdiction.
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Use of this site's content requires pre-approval only if you intend to republish, commercially exploit, or use the case study details. Educational, personal, and non-commercial use of methodologies is freely permitted. For commercial licensing or special permissions, contact reef@diploria.net.
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Email: reef@diploria.net
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