Veit Heller—Technologist at Large
Nice to meet you! I’m Veit, a technologist at large in Erlangen. I help companies, investors, and technical teams understand, build, secure, and assess complex software systems.
I also run cyberwitchery, a small product and consulting company where we build our own tools and help others with difficult engineering problems.
Technologist at large [tek-ˈnä-lə-jist ət ˈlärj]
noun
one who is able to design, conceptualize, build, shape, or in any other way influence computer systems, not bound to any particular employer.
See also: Consultant, Contractor, Freelancer.
What I am doing right now
I’m currently in Erlangen, Germany, trying to understand how to take care of new, tiny human beings. It’s more challenging and engaging than any of my other projects.
Professionally, a lot has changed recently. After spending several years working independently, I've started cyberwitchery, where I get to work on interesting problems with other people and build products of our own.
We're currently working on alembic, a tool for moving data between network systems, and divinate, which collects technical evidence for security reviews. We also work with clients on security, network automation, technical due diligence, and systems software.
Things I like working on
I've worked in quite a few different areas over the years, and I've never been especially interested in narrowing them down to one specialty, to the chagrin of recruiters everywhere.
There are a few things I keep bumping into, though:
- Programming languages and compilers: I like type systems, macros, Lisps & Smalltalks, and finding different ways of expressing computation.
- Developer tooling: I've spent years thinking about how programmers understand and interact with software. Our tools could be a lot better than they are!
- Systems and infrastructure: Networks, automation, data models, and the (oftentimes) considerable distance between how we think a system works and what it's actually doing.
- Security and software architecture: Understanding complicated systems, figuring out where their problems are, and finding practical ways to improve them.
I also enjoy writing and giving talks about things I've learned.
If you'd rather look at code, there's plenty on GitHub. And if you're particularly curious about my professional history, here's my résumé.
Working with me
Most of my commercial work now happens through cyberwitchery. We take on consulting projects, build software, review systems, and maintain products of our own.
I’m still directly involved in the engineering work, but the company allows us to take on projects together and build things that don’t depend on just one person. And I get to work with friends!
One thing hasn't changed: my goal is always to make myself replaceable. I want you to be able to take over control whenever the time has come, and to pick up exactly where I stopped. I don’t want you to become dependent on me, and neither do you.
If you're interested in the nitty-gritty of working together, such as rates or offerings, take a look at the website.
How you can contact me
I love hearing from people who want to share something interesting, ask a question, or just have a chat! I've also written an open invitation about some of the things I particularly enjoy talking about.
You can always send me an email. My PGP key is available, but its use is not mandatory.
For business inquiries, you can also contact us directly through cyberwitchery.