Leadership decisions are never purely about authority. Every choice has tradeoffs — team dynamics, organizational alignment, timing, and trust.
The human side of engineering at scale — navigating resistance, quantifying hidden costs, and building the conditions where teams make good decisions on their own.
Legacy systems don't survive because they're good. They survive because they work — which is exactly why no one funds the rewrite. The job isn't to replace everything. It's to modernize in a way that pays off at every stage instead of asking leadership to bet on a multi-year rewrite with no return until the end.
I had the opportunity to work closely with John during some of the most challenging and fast-moving initiatives at Metrc, including the Retail ID program. He consistently brought a strong combination of technical depth, ownership, and steady leadership to the table. …
Chief Product Officer - Retired, Metrc, LLC
Worked with John at Metrc · May 2026
I had the opportunity to work with John and always appreciated his willingness to engage, learn, and push through challenges. He brings a strong work ethic and a thoughtful approach to his responsibilities, consistently showing up ready to contribute and improve. …
Chief Technology Officer, MedSuite
John Reported to James at Ministry Brands · April 2026
I’ve known John Tolar professionally for about 30 years. He’s just a solid guy one who’ll step into a tough situation and stay with it until it’s handled right. He’s smart and easy to work with, and people trust him. I’ve always respected how he handles being in charge. …
A routine "update our GraphQL libraries" request revealed 2+ years of accumulated debt, active CVEs in production, and architectural coupling so deep that updating one library required redesigning the WebSocket subscription system, the file upload pipeline, and the authentication integration. The most important decision was reframing the scope before anyone estimated it — then presenting leadership with two paths so they could make a real tradeoff decision.
Lead Software Engineer, Metrc, LLC
Reported directly to John at Metrc · April 2026