james tunningley 

co-founder of ARCHITECT & executive director at ARCHITECT Systems Advisory: our craft is the design and scaling of market structures in massive-scale, computing-enabled ecosystems. 

10+ years in diplomacy, venture, & ecosystem architecture. interested in intersection between technology, geopolitics, & the global economy. amateur sinologist & extreme sports enthusiast.

tldr

• current: co-founder at ARCHITECT Systems, lead ARCHITECT Systems Advisory 

• formerly: ecosystem architect lead at protocol labs, UK diplomat, CoS to national security council member, int'l security research at RUSI

• interests: geopolitics, deep tech, compute, sustainable ecosystem building, kitesurfing, big mountains, freeskiing, climbing, muay thai, psychedelics, ghost writing, boom bap  

• board / advisory: crecimiento, mycomeup, lead edu, station [acq. Coinbase]

• fellowships: kernel, royal asiatic society, pacific forum, royal society for asian affairs

• volunteer / mentor: world wide web foundation, oxford university crankstart programme

• alum: oxford university (full blue) 

• languages: competent: english, mandarin, french; incompetent at best: cantonese, japanese, italian, german, papiamento

principles

• intention > attention

• creativity > productivity 

• process > destination

• we > me

selections 

2024 sample

I. compass 

• all in. all the time. 

• we are, in the end, a measure of the love we leave behind

• You become responsible, [forever,] for what you have tamed

II. thinking about

• governance of global compute 

• creativity tripwires

• kiteloops 

• dialecticism 

• miegakure

III. reading

• the forty rules of love by elif shafak

• braiding sweetgrass by indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge & the teachings of plants by robin wall kimmerer

• the secret pulse of time by stefan klein 

• aftershocks: dispatches from the frontlines of identity by nadai owusu

• a path with heart by jack kornfield

• figuring by maria popova 

• blue mind by wallace j. nichols

• range: how generalists triumph in a specialized world by david epstein 

III. listening 

• ♫ this playlist

IV. art 

• voyages immobiles 35, yannick fournié

• the kiss, gustav klimt 

• rebel velvet II, Max Zorn

personal projects 

• For When You Are 

• ACE (Story)

• cool shit 

words

• "I don't believe in magic, the young boy said. The old man smiled, you will when you see her.” – Atticus

• "The only important elements in any society are the artistic and the criminal, because they alone, by questioning the society's values, can force it to change." – Samuel R. Delany

• “The world is suffering from intolerance and bigotry, and from the belief that vigorous action is admirable even when misguided; whereas what is needed in our very complex modern society is calm consideration, with readiness to call dogmas in question and freedom of mind to do justice to the most diverse points of view.” – Bertrand Russell

• “I hold this to be the highest task of a bond between two people: that each should stand guard over the solitude of the other.” – Rainer Maria Rilke 

• “It is much easier to terrorize than to charm.” – René Magritte

• "She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together." – J.D. Salinger

• "Not all those who wander are lost." – Tolkien

more

• x

• linkedin