Mission-critical systems.
Measure the difference.

machine61 designs, builds, and de-risks the data, AI, embedded/IoT, and quantum systems that demanding organizations can't afford to get wrong — and engineers them to deliver the outcomes that matter: reliability, speed, and ROI.

Advisory & Engineering ★ Veteran-Owned
01 — Our Approach

Assess. Build. Lead.

01 / ASSESS

Know what to build

A clear-eyed diagnostic that maps what to build, in what order, and why — opportunities ranked by ROI and feasibility. The assessment fee credits 100% toward the work that follows.

02 / BUILD

Make it real

Production-grade data, ML, AI, and embedded systems — built to hold up under load and pay back in margin and speed.

03 / LEAD

Senior people, on call

Fractional CxO leadership and a subject-matter expert who owns your engagement as if the business were their own.

02 — About Us

AI and data engineering for
systems that can't fail

We are engineers, architects, and operators who build and deploy mission-critical systems at any scale. From petabyte and exabyte data platforms to embedded devices running in austere, hostile environments, and the claims management system running on your desktop, we deliver solutions that work when failure just isn't an option.

Our team brings decades of advisory and engineering experience across defense, insurance, legal, manufacturing, and banking — building systems for organizations that demand predictable results, unquestioned reliability and seamless usability.

03 — Services

Services

02 / GOVERNANCE & COMPLIANCE

ROI-focused, compliance-ready data, ML, and AI governance.

Governance frameworks, regulatory compliance, and delivery roadmaps that keep data and AI programs auditable, accountable, and on track.

03 / REAL-TIME SYSTEMS

Bulletproof real-time data, ML, and AI at microsecond latency.

Streaming pipelines, real-time inference, and event-driven architectures for the moments where milliseconds move markets, trigger decisions, or save lives.

04 / SCALE

Petabyte and exabyte scale data, analytics, ML, and AI.

From α and β prototypes through proof-of-concept, pilot, and production systems. Engineered for the scale that matters.

04 — Industries

Industries

05 — Product

insurOS

06 — Clients

Clients

Fincantieri

One of the world's largest shipbuilding groups, designing and building cruise ships, naval vessels, and offshore platforms.

defense embedded software embedded firmware

AIG

AIG is a leading global insurance organization. AIG provides insurance solutions that help businesses and individuals in approximately 190 countries.

insurance underwriting machine learning workflow

Voya Financial

Leading provider of retirement plans, investment management, and employee benefits serving millions of Americans.

finance insurance enterprise data mainframe

DOOR3

Machine61 powers DOOR3 Labs, DOOR3's Advanced Technology Advisory — providing the data, machine learning, AI, quantum, and device expertise, along with the insurance, legal, and banking subject matter experts.

center-of-excellence ai & ml quantum iot robotics

Nuream

Machine61 brings its commercial and defense IoT and signal processing expertise to build the software behind Nuream's cutting-edge EEG data and technology solution on Google Cloud (GCP), and to help specify the device architecture, firmware, and ecosystem.

eeg iot signal processing gcp firmware

Valley Bank

Regional bank providing commercial and retail banking services across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

banking MDM data quality data mapping mainframe

SS&C Intralinks

Pioneered the virtual data room. Key technology and services provider to global banking, dealmaking, alternative investments, and capital markets.

pharma big data analytics

Invidi Technologies

Pioneer in addressable advertising technology, enabling targeted TV advertising at scale across cable, satellite, and streaming.

advertising enterprise software

Medici

MEDICI unifies all your fund's data — deals, reports, and investor requests — into one system that gives you accurate answers in seconds.

defi data architecture business strategy

Namakina

Digital agency specializing in customer experience, marketing automation, and digital transformation.

marketing business strategy

Friended

Social platform helping people build meaningful friendships through curated connections and shared interests.

social data science

Additional references available on request.

07 — Team

Team

Sal Magnone

Sal Magnone

Co-founder, Senior Advisor

Sal's LinkedIn reads: "Co-Founder, Engineer, Veteran. I build multinational technology companies and run obstacle courses." That about covers it. He co-founded two successful technology companies, one around machine learning in the insurance space, one around embedded, real-time software in defense, and maybe one or two that weren't so successful. When he isn't running obstacle courses, he teaches business and military strategy at the university level, speaks at DARPA events, and keeps the rest of us from playing with matches near the solid fuel rockets.

x-PwC x-Sia Partners x-Gigaspaces x-US Army
Meiling Zhang

Meiling Zhang

Co-founder, Senior Advisor

Mei is the kind of engineer that senior engineers ask for advice. Her workspace is perpetually covered in small parts, some burnt, and smells of solder. She once tried to move us to a hangar because our office lease precluded welding. She co-founded her last two successful companies with Sal. Outside the lab, she's an elite CrossFitter and obstacle course runner. Mei is currently the founder of a stealthy but ridiculously well-funded quantum computing company focused on signal processing in the defense space, and our Quantum SME.

x-IBM x-Angry Robot Labs x-lab347
Subject Matter Experts
Nicole Tedesco

Nicole Tedesco

Robotics SME

Few people know more about designing, building, and deploying robotic and device technology than Nicole. At ARCA she defined and implemented a "robotics as a service" business model. At CalvIO she eliminated 50% of software-related costs and reduced time-to-delivery by 80%. At the legendary Boeing Phantom Works she built things she can't tell us about outside "the cone of silence". Yes, she really wears those glasses.

x-ARCA x-Microsoft x-Boeing Phantom Works
Alex Cone

Alex Cone

Mobile Applications SME

Alex is a rocket scientist. No, really, he worked on the Space Shuttle program. That was before he joined Steve Jobs at NeXT (he's very proud of still having two working units) and then followed Steve back to Apple, where Alex helped build the iTunes Store. Alex speaks at international conferences on enterprise mobile development and security, considers himself an alpha-geek, and is our mobile SME.

x-NASA x-NeXT x-Apple
Matt Weinstein

Matt Weinstein

High-Performance Computing SME

Despite any 8-bit resemblance, Pitfall Harry was not based on Matt. He was, however, Director of Technology at Activision back in their MechWarrior, Warcraft, and Hexen days. After Activision, Matt moved on to [x+1] (now Rocket Fuel) where he built their media-buying platform at Big Data scale. More recently, he's been at Ab Initio, where he dealt with very high-performance, low-latency, distributed systems. If it's fast, reliable, and distributed, Matt can build it.

x-Ab Initio x-Activision x-[x+1]
Michael Vila

Michael Vila

Legal SME

Michael is the person you want in the room when the regulators call. For over a decade he's worked inside banks and broker-dealers on the unglamorous-but-existential work — compliance programs, regulatory response, and remediation across the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money-laundering, Know Your Customer, and sanctions. He started at Deutsche Bank and went on to advise global financial institutions out of PwC Advisory. Michael has worked every seat where a control can quietly fail, which is exactly why his rarely do.

x-Sia x-Chubb x-PwC
Peter Rossow

Peter Rossow

Insurance SME

Peter has spent his career on the side of the insurance balance sheet that has to add up. A trained actuary, he went on to serve as CFO and Treasurer at Wolverine Mutual and CFO at Great West Casualty, building a track record of identifying and delivering world-class solutions for carriers ranging from the Middle Market to the Fortune 100. In an industry that runs on getting the numbers right, Peter is who you call.

x-Sia x-EY x-Deloitte x-KPMG
Shelley Pittman

Shelley Pittman

Banking SME

Shelley works at the intersection of banking and technology — modernizing financial institutions and helping fintechs scale. As a Chief Banking Officer focused on Embedded Banking and BaaS, she grew a sponsor-bank portfolio from one institution to ten and guided a fintech through both a state banking license and a Federal Reserve Master Account. Earlier she led financial-services practices at Accenture, IBM, KPMG, and Slalom. Few have sat on both sides of the bank-fintech table as often as Shelley.

x-Accenture x-IBM x-KPMG x-Slalom
08 — Principles

Principles

01

SMEs First

Every project is overseen by an industry subject matter expert whose business is your business.

02

Engineering Always

We are builders. Every engagement is grounded in hands-on technical expertise and production-grade delivery.

03

Mission Critical Design

We design for environments where failure has consequences. Reliability, security, and performance are non-negotiable.

04

Operator Mindset

We build systems we'd run ourselves. Reliability, long-term maintainability and operational clarity guide every decision.

05

Affordability Built In

We design every solution with lifetime affordability as a key goal and extensibility as a requirement.

06

No Lock In

Our open data architectures make getting your data out to other systems, to business partners, to regulatory bodies, or ready for migration, easy.

09 — Thoughts

Thoughts

See all thinking
10 — Resources

Resources

Frameworks, guides, and executive briefings from our practice.

Teaching decks from our executive, military, and university teaching program.

11 — FAQ

FAQ

What does machine61 do?

Engineering, advisory, and assessments for mission-critical data, machine learning, AI, quantum, and embedded systems.

What doesn't machine61 do?

machine61 doesn't do staff augmentation, generic IT support, basic web development (WordPress, Shopify), SEO, or recruiting. It's a specialist engineering and advisory firm focused on mission-critical data, machine learning, AI, embedded/IoT, and quantum systems, with a focus on reliability, time-to-market, and cost-effectiveness.

What makes machine61 different from a traditional consultancy?

Every engagement is led by an industry subject-matter expert and grounded in hands-on engineering, production systems, not slideware. Big-consulting rigor at startup speed. Singularly focused on delivery.

What is a machine61 assessment?

A structured diagnostic of your data, AI, and emerging-tech readiness that delivers a prioritized, build-ready roadmap. The fee credits 100% toward follow-on engineering.

How do I get started with machine61?

Most engagements begin with a structured assessment that identifies what to build, in what order, and why. Start the conversation at start@machine61.net.

How long does an assessment take?

Typically 8–12 hours of client interview time across four to six weeks, run as a seven-phase engagement with six structured interview streams. It doesn't hurt very much. Lollipops are distributed.

What industries does machine61 serve?

machine61 serves defense, insurance, legal, manufacturing, and banking sectors with specialized solutions including data architecture, AI implementation, quantum readiness, and embedded systems for mission-critical environments.

Is machine61 veteran-owned?

Yes, machine61 is a veteran-owned business. Founder Sal Magnone is a US Army veteran with 30+ years of engineering experience.

Who founded machine61?

Co-founded in 2024 by Sal Magnone, a US Army veteran and life-long engineer, and Meiling Zhang, a quantum-computing founder focused on defense signal processing. Mei and Sal have previously founded two successful technology firms.

12 — Start

Start

Whether you're modernizing systems that can't go down, deploying AI with compliance constraints, preparing for quantum, or just trying to figure out your next move — we're ready to talk.