SD IEEE Consultants' Network: SEPTEMBER 2026 Meeting ("Home Base")
"Use and Deployment of AI Specialists"
Matthew Zimmer, MSME, MBA
Systems Engineer \| AKA “The A\.I\. Penny Pincher”
TOPIC:
AI is a general-purpose technology, but it's already produced specialists — practitioners so fluent that the gap between them and a motivated beginner is wider than most people realize, and widening daily. We'll look honestly at where the real value lives, why meaningful results come from partnering rather than going it alone, and which skills and mental models non-specialists need to leverage what they can and hold a credible conversation with the people handling the rest.
SPEAKER:
Matthew Zimmer, BSME, MSME, MBA
Systems Engineer \| AKA “The A\.I\. Penny Pincher” \| "Chief Slopper"\, VibeCraft Works
Matthew's entrepreneurial journey began at a young age when he launched his first business mowing lawns for his neighbors. With a passion for technology and business, he went on to earn a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, followed by an MBA from the University of California, Irvine.
After joining Niagara Bottling in California, Matthew led the rapid expansion of their manufacturing facilities for seven years before embarking on his own venture in the food and beverage industry.
Since then, he has founded and grown multiple venture-backed enterprises, including (notably) StackTek, a single-serve consumer packaged goods company, and cheddr, a SAAS sales incentive management platform.
Matthew currently runs VibeCraft Works, an edutainment production company for AI fluency and systems thinking. Additionally, he currently serves as a Professor at Miramar College’s and University of San Diego's (USD) Schools of Business, focused primarily on the application of AI technologies within neo-businesses.
MORE INFO:
www.vibecraft.works
WHERE:
Leucadia Pizza UTC / La Jolla
7748 Regents Rd
San Diego, CA
Map: maps.app.goo.gl/8z7L