diff --git a/smocore/CMakeLists.txt b/smocore/CMakeLists.txt
index 297d0e2..c4c7358 100644
--- a/smocore/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/smocore/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ target_include_directories(smocore PUBLIC
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include
 )
 
+# Link against pthread for CPU affinity functions
+find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
+target_link_libraries(smocore PRIVATE Threads::Threads)
+
 add_subdirectory(marionette)
 add_subdirectory(deviceManager)
 add_subdirectory(senseApis)
diff --git a/smocore/componentThread.cpp b/smocore/componentThread.cpp
index d684675..9b5c8f3 100644
--- a/smocore/componentThread.cpp
+++ b/smocore/componentThread.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <componentThread.h>
 #include <boost/asio.hpp>
+#include <pthread.h>
+#include <sched.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 namespace smo {
 
@@ -382,4 +385,72 @@ void ComponentThread::exceptionInd(ComponentThread& thread)
 	});
 }
 
+// CPU management method implementations
+int ComponentThread::getAvailableCpuCount()
+{
+	int cpuCount = sysconf(_SC_NPROCESSORS_ONLN);
+	if (cpuCount <= 0)
+	{
+		throw std::runtime_error(std::string(__func__)
+			+ ": Failed to determine CPU count");
+	}
+
+	// Check if std::thread::hardware_concurrency() matches sysconf result
+	unsigned int hwConcurrency = std::thread::hardware_concurrency();
+	if (hwConcurrency != static_cast<unsigned int>(cpuCount))
+	{
+		std::cerr << "Warning: CPU count mismatch - "
+			"std::thread::hardware_concurrency() = "
+			<< hwConcurrency << ", sysconf(_SC_NPROCESSORS_ONLN) = "
+			<< cpuCount << "\n";
+	}
+
+	return cpuCount;
+}
+
+void ComponentThread::pinToCpu(int cpuId)
+{
+	if (cpuId < 0)
+	{
+		throw std::runtime_error(std::string(__func__)
+			+ ": Invalid CPU ID: " + std::to_string(cpuId));
+	}
+
+	cpu_set_t cpuset;
+	CPU_ZERO(&cpuset);
+	CPU_SET(cpuId, &cpuset);
+
+	int result = pthread_setaffinity_np(
+		thread.native_handle(), sizeof(cpu_set_t), &cpuset);
+	if (result != 0)
+	{
+		throw std::runtime_error(std::string(__func__)
+			+ ": Failed to pin thread to CPU " + std::to_string(cpuId)
+			+ ": " + std::strerror(result));
+	}
+
+	pinnedCpuId = cpuId;
+	std::cout << name << ": Pinned to CPU " << cpuId << "\n";
+}
+
+void ComponentThread::distributeAndPinThreadsAcrossCpus()
+{
+	int cpuCount = getAvailableCpuCount();
+	std::cout << "Available CPUs: " << cpuCount << "\n";
+
+	// Skip the marionette thread (MRNTT) as it's the control thread
+	int threadIndex = 0;
+	for (auto& thread : componentThreads)
+	{
+		if (thread->id == MRNTT) { continue; }
+
+		int targetCpu = threadIndex % cpuCount;
+		thread->pinToCpu(targetCpu);
+		++threadIndex;
+	}
+
+	std::cout << "Distributed " << (threadIndex) << " threads across "
+		<< cpuCount << " CPUs\n";
+}
+
 } // namespace smo
diff --git a/smocore/include/componentThread.h b/smocore/include/componentThread.h
index e676334..0e0ca19 100644
--- a/smocore/include/componentThread.h
+++ b/smocore/include/componentThread.h
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <queue>
 #include <functional>
+#include <pthread.h>
+#include <sched.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 namespace smo {
 
@@ -29,6 +32,7 @@ public:
 	ComponentThread(ThreadId id)
     :   id(id), name(getThreadName(id)),
         work(io_service), pause_work(pause_io_service),
+        pinnedCpuId(-1),
         thread(
 			((id == MRNTT) ? marionetteMain : main),
 			std::ref(*this))
@@ -87,6 +91,11 @@ public:
 	static void exitAllMindThreadsReq(std::function<void()> callback = nullptr);
 	static void joltAllMindThreadsReq(std::function<void()> callback = nullptr);
 
+	// CPU management methods
+	static int getAvailableCpuCount();
+	void pinToCpu(int cpuId);
+	static void distributeAndPinThreadsAcrossCpus();
+
 	enum class ThreadOp
 	{
 		START,
@@ -110,6 +119,7 @@ public:
 	boost::asio::io_service pause_io_service;
 	boost::asio::io_service::work pause_work;
 	std::atomic<bool> keepLooping;
+	int pinnedCpuId;
 
     /* Always ensure that this is last so that the thread is spawned after
      * everything else is constructed.
diff --git a/smocore/mind.cpp b/smocore/mind.cpp
index da1eca9..4bf686b 100644
--- a/smocore/mind.cpp
+++ b/smocore/mind.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,18 @@ namespace smo {
 
 void Mind::initialize()
 {
+    /* Distribute threads across available CPUs */
+    try
+    {
+        ComponentThread::distributeAndPinThreadsAcrossCpus();
+    }
+    catch (const std::exception& e)
+    {
+        std::cerr << "Salmanoff couldn't distribute the mind threads across "
+            "the CPUs, so performance may be suboptimal.\n"
+            "Error: " << e.what() << "\n";
+    }
+
     /* Jolt the threads, then start them */
     ComponentThread::joltAllMindThreadsReq(
         []()