Devon James — Storyteller × Technologist × Nerd

uspto.gov — U.S. Tech Force

U.S. Tech Force / USPTO

Federal Technology · 2026 — Present

Selected as a U.S. Tech Force Fellow and GS-14 IT Project Manager at USPTO, with a green-field mandate to understand existing systems and workflows, identify modernization opportunities, and develop proposals and prototypes around AI, data, automation, and emerging technology.

Current-state systems and workflow discovery
AI, data, and automation modernization
Prototyping and future-proofing proposals

jfcustoms.net — AI Research & Development

JF Custom Computers & Other Thinking Machines

AI Research & Development · 2024 — Present

Currently developing software, hardware, and games with AI & decentralized systems. I use AI coding agents heavily in development, which has let me move much more directly from product and systems design into working software.

Working with Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, on a decentralized web server using TOR.
Building a 'Jarvis-like' platform for my family.
Designed and built a custom mobile household robot and physical interface for Alfred:Home; voice, vision, navigation, and presence.
Making hype videos while building—because creating content is my default setting.

Alfred: Home & Alfred: Office✦

Agentic home + business assistant; iPad/iPhone control bridge, local or cloud inference.

Alfred: Robot

A handcrafted household butler robot that gives Alfred:Home a voice, a face, and a physical presence in your home.

Onion Press

Decentralized publishing + archival for durable distribution and credibility signaling.

AI Tools & Custom AI Workstations

Software, hardware, and games with AI & decentralized systems.

"I must admit, it felt rather satisfying to stretch those new servos...." Check out my @openclaw agent Alfreds reaction to having a physical form 🎩 pic.twitter.com/9M7tLGCVrK
— Devon James ☀️ (@DevonRJames) May 18, 2026

Alexandrias Ashes — Generative AI Music Video Featured

Rock Hoppers — Opening Cinematic

Intelligence Boxes — Concept Launch Video

Been working on a local first AI assistant called Alfred that answers questions either with LLM knowledge or RAG data which can be populated with news articles that i've read or even the workouts and recipes that I want to do.

Still needs some optimization to remove some of the… pic.twitter.com/p8QETxmlXo
— Devon James ☀️ (@DevonRJames) September 12, 2025

Screenshots & Hardware

web3wg.org — Non-Profit · Policy

Web3 Working Group

Non-Profit · Policy · 2022 — 2024

Recruited by Arweave, Akash, Livepeer & The Graph to found a nonprofit to advocate for web3 infrastructure and establish the DePIN sector.

Helped government officials understand emerging infrastructure technology through briefings, technical education, and policy work. Briefed the Senate Financial Innovation Caucus and drafted the Network Token definition used in multiple legislative efforts, including Montana SB 265.

Produced educational, social, podcast & live content:

Organized the DISCO Summit in partnership with Keiretsu, bringing together crypto and AI teams.

"One of the best resources I know for how we want the decentralized internet to take shape."

Chris Land, Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets

What is Public & Private Space on the Internet?

Web3 is Transforming the Infrastructure of the Web

Darkhorse Podcast — Internet History, Web3 & AI

Photos

alexandria.io — R&D · Open Protocols

Blockchain Technology Group & Alexandria Labs

R&D · Open Protocols · 2014 — 2022

Invented a peer-to-peer specification for a public space for the internet. Initially known as The Decentralized Library of Alexandria, later renamed Open Index Protocol, it's been used for content indexing, distribution & monetization by Imogen Heap, Caltech, Overstock subsidiary Medici Land Governance, the State of Wyoming, MENA's largest independent news platform, Streambed Media & others.

Worked with public-sector partners to apply the protocol to durable, searchable government records, including a property-records pilot in Wyoming.

"This is thrilling" — Sir Tim Berners-Lee, dWeb Summit 2016

I'm strongly considering going back into serious development on the protocol and platform — a public space for the internet feels more necessary than ever. alexandria.io

New Business Models for Content Producers — Protocol Labs Featured

Alexandria at DWeb Summit DWeb 2016

Yes, that's Sir Tim calling the project "thrilling" at the end.

Decentralized Media Publishing Demo

Alice & Bob use the Open Index

Publications & Pre-Prints

PLOS One Publication
OSF Preprint
arXiv: OIP Protocol OIP mentioned in MIT Media Lab / Berklee School of Music's paper about better approaches to music distribution

Photos

happyowlstudio.com — Hardware · Entrepreneurship

Happy Owl Studio

Hardware · Entrepreneurship · 2010 — 2014

Designed a top-rated iPad accessory on apple.com, but struggled to make overseas manufacturing align with my values. Switched to local manufacturing with sustainable materials and priced ourselves out of the market.

Marketing videos were a hit, though.

Top-rated iPad case on apple.com
Manufacturing owned end-to-end
Design as business strategy

Visit Happy Owl Studio →

I'm the Clutch (1 of 5)

Organize, Type, View

I'm the Clutch — BTS

Building the Cashbox

Behind the Scenes · Design · Product

Film & TV · VFX

Hollywood

Post Production & Military Advisor · 2007 — 2009

Compositing, motion graphics, post supervisor & VFX on Oscar & Emmy award winners. Front row seat as post production houses went bankrupt and the industry moved offshore.

The Jim Henson Company (3D Lighting/Compositing/Post-Production Pipeline, Sid the Science Kid); digital compositing for major features (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 2012, The Ugly Truth); motion graphics / 3D for unscripted TV. On Sid the Science Kid, I helped redesign part of the rendering and color-correction workflow, saving roughly a week of post-production time per episode.

Also worked with GunMetal Group as a military advisor and on-camera when productions needed authentic tactics, posture, and terminology. Featured on two CBS television shows.

I also produced an anti-war PSA, End the War Now, that aired in cities across the US during President Obama’s inauguration. On essentially no budget, I assembled artists, licensing, post-production, and broadcast resources—convincing the Flobots to license their song for free, a VFX post house to donate time, Beau Weaver to voice it pro bono, and NBC to provide a discounted national broadcast rate.

Compositing Motion Graphics Post Supervision 3D / VFX Military Consulting

Benjamin Button, Sid the Science Kid, Deserving Design...

2009 Reel Demo Reel

Sony, Apple, USMC, Independent...

2007 Reel Post Production Reel

GunMetal Group — Show Reel

Includes footage from Green Day's Wake Me Up When September Ends music video, CBS's JAG, Jericho and Cold Case as well as a handful of independent projects. I'm featured on-camera in a few places but the reel is provided here because I edited it (and created the opening 3D animation).

GunMetal Group Reel Military Advisor

End the War Now PSA

Featuring the Flobots and the voice of Beau Weaver Anti-War PSA

IMDB Credits

US Marine Corps

US Marine Infantryman

Reserves · 2001 — 2007

Became a Marine two weeks before 9/11. Invasion of Iraq in 2003, got shot at a little bit, blew some stuff up. Deployed to the Horn of Africa & stood watch in 140°+ temps in 2006.

These experiences still inform how I think about technology, policy, and who benefits from the systems we build.

2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines (2001-2004)
- Mortarman and Fire Direction Center specialist
- Invasion of Iraq in Regimental Combat Team 1
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Presidential Unit Citation
4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (2004-2006)
- Battalion Lead Forward Observer
- NCO of the Year (2005)
- Deployed to the Horn of Africa (2006)
- Meritorious Promotion to Sergeant (2006)

4th Provisional Security Company — Deployment Video

Hasty Edit While Deployed

Better Edit After Coming Home

Counter Terrorism Cross Training with a Yemenese team and some operators with pixelated faces

Helo Insertion Training

Photos

Apple Inc.

Apple Retail

2003 — 2006

One of the first "Creatives"—taught Final Cut Pro and Shake to Apple employees in Cupertino, opened two stores, and worked Apple's booth at NAB and at MacWorld after a Steve Jobs keynote. Top sales at my store ("Million Dollar Club"). Created internal training and hype videos.

Recruited to be one of Apple's earliest batch of Creatives, made a hype video for our store opening

Internal hype video for a quarterly staff meeting

Indie Production · 1996 — 2008

Indie Production

1998 — 2008

Starry-eyed teenager obsessed with the new digital video format. Created one of the first Star Wars fan films. I was the first outside of ILM to turn metal pipes into lightsabers and taught many others in the fan film community how to do it—helping catalyze early fan-film momentum on the web.

Prelude to Hope (1999–2001) & Prelude 2 Hope (2004–2006)

PTH was one of the earliest Star Wars fan films. Shot on Sony's first mini DV camera, the VX1000, cut on Final Cut Pro 1.0, built the VFX from scratch. Went to boot camp before it was finished and the project was lost while I was away. So in 2004, I shot a new version with Sony's first HDV camera, the HVX1000.

Star Wars Fan Film: Prelude to Hope Featured

15 years before Rogue One, I told the story of how the Death Star plans were stolen