JA
John M. Aaron, PhD
Founder · Principal Architect
Milestone Planning and Research, Inc.
Chicago, Illinois · Est. 1995

Adjunct Professor Emeritus
Elmhurst University · 2015–2021
Implementation PM · AI Developer · Strategist · Knowledge Leader

Thirty years building
systems that see what
dashboards miss.

Two decades of AI thought leadership in business processFounder of Milestone Planning and Research since 1995. PhD economist, data scientist, SAP project manager, AI system architect, and author of the six-volume Inductive Enterprise series. Creator of PRIMMS-GPT and Sentinel — two operational AI systems built on the Hybrid Cognition architecture. 2,000+ project managers trained since 1989.

30+
Years in practice
2,000+
PMs trained
6
Books published
4
AI systems built
About

The practitioner who built the theory.

John Aaron is the founder of Milestone Planning and Research and the intellectual architect of the Hybrid Cognition framework. His work is unusual in that the theory and the operational systems were built together — Sentinel and PRIMMS-GPT are not illustrations of ideas in the books. They are the evidence base from which the ideas were derived. Seventeen years of PRIMMS deployments across SAP implementations produced the Bayesian WoE calibrations. 893 trading days of Sentinel data produced the Perceptual Macroeconomics co-integration framework.

His academic foundation spans econometrics, time series analysis, and organizational development, combined with hands-on electronics training, radiotelephone licensing, and aviation avionics experience. That breadth allows him to move across executive strategy, software architecture, Bayesian analytics, cybersecurity diagnostics, and delivery execution — and to translate advanced analytic ideas into operational tools rather than leaving them at the level of theory.

Prior to founding Milestone Planning and Research, he served as Dean and Director of DeVry University's Masters Degree Program in Project Management and as Executive Director for Corporate Educational Services. He taught data science, supply chain management, and project management as adjunct professor at Elmhurst University from 2015 to 2021.

Credentials
PhD
Economics · University of Illinois Chicago · 1987
Econometrics, time series, microeconomics
MS
Organizational Development · George Williams College
BS
Liberal Arts and Sciences · Northern Illinois University
Cert
Electronics Technology · Cleveland Institute of Electronics
PMP
Certified #1018 · PMI · 1993–2020
FCC
Commercial Radiotelephone License
USN
Electronics A School · U.S. Naval Air Reserves · 3rd class petty officer
Tools & platforms
MATLAB · Stata · Python · SAP / S4HANA · WORDSTAT · Tableau · SAS · Power BI · Bayesian WoE · LLM integration · Earned Value Management
Client engagement history · 1995 to present

Selected engagements

SAP implementations, S/4HANA upgrades, machine learning deployments, data science consulting, PMO leadership, and business transformation programs across manufacturing, distribution, defense aerospace, testing and certification, and financial services.

Network Distribution
2023–2025

Data science consultant and PM to resolve invoice anomalies and install RPA automation (2024–25). PM for S/4HANA upgrade (2023).

Winland Foods, Inc.
2022

ML team lead — ~35% reduction in customer deductions processing labor. Also PM for S/4HANA infrastructure installation.

American Digital Corporation
Recent

Contract SAP PM for S/4HANA upgrade and lead data scientist.

Underwriters Laboratories
2016–2022

Contract data scientist on special projects. PM consulting, coaching, and training for IT and business transformation over six years.

MAGNETROL International
2012–2015

ERP vendor selection, global blueprinting, go-live at first site in 12 months. KPI design and analytics for value attainment.

Honeywell Technology Solutions
2009–2011 · Columbia, MD

IT PM for defense aerospace contracts. Built EVM system (MS EPM + Deltek COBRA). Managed IT portfolio with PRIMMS.

Honeywell Specialty Materials
2006–2011 · Morristown, NJ

IT application, infrastructure, and compliance projects. Business Planning and Consolidations PM. Salesforce CRM program manager. AD Exchange for UOP acquisition.

Hart Schaffner Marx
2007–2008

PMO consultant for SAP ERP implementation.

Electro Motive Diesels
2004–2006

PMO consultant for SAP ERP supply chain implementation.

UOP
1997–2000, 2004

PMO lead for SAP ERP (1997–2000). PM for Sarbanes-Oxley IT compliance (2004).

CompTIA / U.S. Dept. of Labor
2001–2003

PM for National IT Apprenticeship System. Chairperson for CompTIA Project+ certification exam development.

SAP America · Tellabs
1995–2001

Contract PM for Litton Interconnect SAP implementation (SAP America, 2000–01). PMO lead for SAP ERP at Tellabs (1995–97) — the founding Milestone engagement.

Specialty AI systems

Four systems. One architecture.

Forecasting · Active · Free weekly
Sentinel Narrative Forecast

S&P 500 forecasting driven entirely by textual data. 185 headline topics co-integrated with price across 893 trading days. Stata locks all outputs before Claude interprets. 92.9% directional accuracy, Sharpe 23.0.

Read the forecast →
Project risk · Licensed desktop
PRIMMS®-GPT

MATLAB computes Bayesian WoE signals from schedule, Voice of Team, and documents — locked before Claude runs the five-layer Cortical Hierarchy. 17+ years operational. 65.5 dB illustrative jeopardy. Six failure archetypes.

License inquiry →
Portfolio management · Web-enabled
PRIMMS® Portfolio System

Multi-user, web-enabled portfolio and project management system for ERP and business transformation. Bayesian monitoring roots. Deployed at Honeywell and across multiple enterprise programs.

myprimms.com →
Cybersecurity · AI-assisted
IDS-X Intrusion Detection

Intrusion detection combining analytic logic, electronics-informed diagnostics, and machine-assisted pattern recognition. Same Bayesian evidence architecture as PRIMMS-GPT applied to security signal fusion.

Published work

The Inductive Enterprise — six volumes

M1
The Inductive Enterprise

Enterprise AI deployment, AI governance, AI PMO, five policy instruments.

M2
Human Relevance in an Age of Induction

Hybrid Cognition, Hybrid Falsification, institutional design under AI.

M3
Machine-Assisted Perception

PRIMMS, Bayesian WoE, cybernetics, project control. Theoretical foundation of PRIMMS-GPT.

M4
The Game You're Already Playing

Competitive strategy under AI convergence — bold-play theory and commitment.

B5
The Probability Advantage

Seven strategic domains for AI-enabled competitive advantage. Foundation of Tim Ricordati's training program.

M6
Why Autonomous AI Cannot Make Man Irrelevant

Structural proof from Gödel, Turing, Hayek, Arrow, and Marks.

Download selected papers →
Ready to discuss an engagement?
Specialty AI systems, complex ERP programs, data science engagements, or executive education on AI governance — 30 years of operational experience and published research in every engagement.
Email John directly