Life Sciences and Biotechnology
Decide what to test, develop or fund. Connect scientific evidence, process assumptions and data to the next decision.
DATA, AI & TECHNICAL CONSULTING
Put your data and ideas to work.
I help teams turn scattered information into useful decisions, build practical websites and tools, and work through scientific and process-development questions. We start with a clear problem and a result you can inspect.
For life sciences and biotechnology, civil engineering and infrastructure, industrial and agriculture, and small business and professional services. The right approach may be analysis, a simpler process or a bounded AI workflow.
Currently booking engagements for fall 2026.
One clear scope at a time Client-owned implementation Every critical output traced or flagged
Who I help
Start with the work in front of you.
Find the services, deliverables and relevant examples for your team. Each engagement starts with a clear problem, the evidence available and a result you can review.
Civil Engineering and Infrastructure
Make scattered project information reviewable. Assess data readiness and build bounded tools around engineering judgment.
Industrial and Agriculture
Compare process and resource choices. Make costs, constraints, data gaps and development risks visible.
Small Business and Professional Services
Build a useful website, a focused business tool or a clearer recurring process, with AI only where it fits.
You do not have to pick a package first.
Bring the decision or task. A website, scientific analysis, workflow review or technical brief can be scoped on its own.
When a recurring workflow is the problem
Start small. Decide what deserves a build.
These are separate engagement options, not a required sequence. A website, scientific decision model or communications project can be scoped directly. For a recurring workflow, choose the starting point that fits what you already know.
- 01
Workflow Teardown
A half day on one workflow with the people who run it, then a short readout: where the friction is, and whether the Sprint is the right next step.
Teardown details → - 02
Diligence Sprint
Three calendar weeks after kickoff and receipt of agreed source material. You leave with a pilot specification and a build, narrow, defer, or stop decision.
Sprint details → - 03
Pilot build
If the decision is build, the pilot runs in your environment on representative inputs, with agreed acceptance criteria and run records you can inspect.
Pilot details → - 04
Independent advisory
Review an AI decision, vendor claim or existing workflow at any stage. A single engagement or a scoped monthly retainer ends in a written advisory record. Evaluation can be scoped explicitly; nothing auto-renews.
Advisory details →
For workflows that need deeper assessment · AI Workflow Diligence Sprint
Start with one workflow, one decision, and one pilot scope.
Three calendar weeks after kickoff and receipt of the agreed source material
You bring
- Access to the people who run and own the workflow
- Representative inputs and outputs from the workflow
- Existing SOPs, process notes, or examples of how the work is done
- Known security, regulatory, quality, or IP constraints
- A decision-maker who can evaluate the proposed pilot
You leave with
- A current-state workflow map
- A time and cost baseline for the workflow, or a written note on what it would take to get one
- A record of the handoffs, review points, and failure consequences
- A breakdown of deterministic, model-assisted, and human-judgment steps
- A risk-and-value ranking of the possible automation points
- One bounded pilot specification with inputs, outputs, acceptance criteria, and stop conditions
- An implementation estimate for that pilot
- A build, narrow, defer, or stop decision memo
What I can help you build and decide
Different problems. A broad technical range.
Models that inform decisions, AI that works with your information, and tools built around a real business need. These examples show how I combine analytical work, software and scientific judgment. Each case names its original context and development stage.
Flagship case study · Commercialized product
Turn complex data into a product customers can use.
I brought scientific modeling, product development and customer economics together to turn a research program into a commercial decision tool at Cargill.
The original problem was poultry nutrition. The broader capability is turning complicated data into useful recommendations, making the service affordable to deliver and giving customers a reason to adopt it.
$180 → $25per-sample analysis cost
Read the flagship case study →Cargill Animal Nutrition · 2015–2018 · Historical employment work
Team-used workflow
Put existing knowledge to work on the next proposal.
I built tools for reusing prior work, assembling proposal drafts and producing supporting documents. The wider opportunity is recurring business writing that starts with information your team already has.
Status Team use reported; business-impact metrics not established
Read the walkthrough →
Research implementation
Ask questions of your documents. Check the sources.
I built a document-retrieval system that connects answers to supporting passages. It demonstrates how AI can help people work with a body of information while keeping the evidence available for review.
Status Built and tested on a small, controlled document corpus
Read the walkthrough →
Prototype
Bring scattered project data into one reviewable workflow.
I designed engineering prototypes to assemble information, extract requirements and flag discrepancies. The capability is turning fragmented files and repetitive checks into a tool a specialist can review.
Status Prototype design; no real-project results claimed
Read the walkthrough →
Worked example
Compare your options under real constraints.
A synthetic-data feed-formulation example connects cost, requirements and input quality. It shows how a decision model can make tradeoffs visible and help a user trace the assumptions behind a recommendation.
Status Illustrative data; no client results or completed implementation claimed
Read the walkthrough →
Conceptual analysis
Test the economics before committing to the build.
I developed organism strategy, a conceptual bioprocess and technical-economic analysis for a space-biomanufacturing study. The practical skill is comparing technical options against the resource that actually limits the project.
Status Conceptual design and analysis; not deployed hardware
Read the walkthrough →
Research implementation
Make the quality of the evidence part of the answer.
I built a biological reference catalog that connects findings to their sources and grades their supporting evidence. It demonstrates research synthesis and a disciplined way to distinguish strong support from uncertainty.
Status Evidence catalog; grades support expert review
Read the walkthrough →
Research implementation
Weigh competing explanations before drawing a conclusion.
I built an analytical evidence system that updates competing explanations as new information arrives. It makes uncertainty visible and identifies when the available evidence is insufficient for a conclusion.
Status Evidence-assessment software; conclusions require qualified review
Read the walkthrough →
Proof of concept
Connect information without losing where it came from.
I built a scientific knowledge-graph proof of concept that connects records from different sources and preserves their provenance. It shows how linked information can remain inspectable as it moves through an analytical workflow.
Status Research proof of concept on a bounded dataset
Read the walkthrough →
Worked example
Turn a technical idea into a proposal a reviewer can assess.
An illustrative proposal review connects a technical concept to funding criteria, evidence gaps and a revision plan. It shows how I structure a difficult technical decision before more writing or development begins.
Status Illustrative service walkthrough; not a client result
Read the walkthrough → Career record
Career systems that had to work in the real world.
These are career precedents, not consulting-engagement results. They show the same discipline the Sprint applies: process design and technical systems that had to hold up at commercial scale.
$180 → $25 analysis cost per sample
I led the development and commercialization of Galleon™ Broiler Microbiome Intelligence. Per-sample analysis cost fell from $180 to $25, making routine customer testing economically practical.
Galleon™ Broiler Microbiome Intelligence (Cargill) · 2023 Gold Edison Award winner
Over 62 countries reported adoption of HTSi and its intestinal-integrity index
At Elanco, I owned HTSi strategy, vision, roadmap and analytics direction, coordinating R&D, marketing and sales. A 2020 study reported adoption of HTSi and its intestinal-integrity index by customers in over 62 countries during my tenure.
Elanco · HTSi product ownership · 2020 platform adoption study
Read the 2020 adoption study → R&D portfolio governance and investment decisions
At Land O'Lakes, I monitored the PMI portfolio against business goals, built dashboards and led go/no-go decisions. I also led customer relationships and intellectual-property strategy for the portfolio.
Land O'Lakes · PMI Business Portfolio
Method
Reliability is the product.
AI is very good at doing the wrong thing correctly. The discipline below is how I catch the confident wrong answer before it reaches your workflow.
Read the full method →-
Sealed workshop, not loose in your systems.
The agent works in a contained workstation with the tools it needs and nothing else, walled off from your network and operations.
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Real-workflow checks, not just passing tests.
AI-built work routinely passes its own tests and still does nothing in the real flow of the job. I check the work in that flow, on the inputs and handoffs the job actually has, before it counts as done.
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Every number cited to a source.
Where a value has to be right, it comes from the source document, the published table, or a federal data feed, with a citation. Never from the model's guess.
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Domain-expert review, every time.
I am not a domain expert in everything I touch. Your domain experts review the output before it ships. My job is the workflow map and the build path, not overriding your judgment.
Detailed service scopes
Choose the work by the decision it supports.
Review the named deliverables, required inputs and boundaries. These services can stand on their own or support a larger scoped project. The audience pages explain where each fits.
Workflow Engineering
Review a recurring workflow, test an existing synthetic dataset or build a bounded pilot with acceptance criteria and run records.
Scientific & R&D Decision Support
Evaluate AI choices, map R&D and scale-up risks, or compare process options before committing resources.
Federal & Technical Communication
Review an eligible proposal, establish a repeatable proposal process or explain technical work to a defined audience.
About
Dr. Vernon McIntosh
Founder & Principal Consultant
I help business owners and technical teams turn a problem into a scoped project, a working tool or a decision they can act on. My consulting work includes workflow design, applied AI and technical advisory.
My background includes product commercialization at Cargill, product ownership at Elanco, R&D portfolio governance at Land O'Lakes and scientific evaluation at Signature Science. I hold a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and am a named co-inventor on granted US patents.
Hiring for your team? View my employment portfolio →
AI/ML Workflow EngineeringAutomation & Data ScienceMetabolic EngineeringFederal Proposal SystemsCivil Engineering Tooling
Patents & Publications
The record, on file.
Named co-inventor on granted US patents in metabolic engineering and yeast biosystems, and co-inventor on a published microbiome-analytics patent application. Doctoral research on the transcriptional response of microbial systems to chemical stressors. Everything below is on file and verifiable.
Patents & Applications
Research & Recognition
- PhD Dissertation An Analysis of Global Gene Expression Resulting from Exposure to Energetic Materials
- Recognition Galleon™ Broiler Microbiome Intelligence: 2023 Gold Edison Award
Get started
Bring the question or task.
Tell me what you want to improve, the evidence or material you already have and the result you need. We can decide whether the right next step is a website, a focused tool, an analysis or a narrower review.