about
About me – Kjell Otto, software developer and architect
I'll specialize in whatever it takes to solve your problem.
I'm Kjell Otto, a freelance software developer and software architect based in the Hamburg and Rotenburg (Wümme) area of Germany. For 19 years I've been building software that works in daily use – today with a particular focus on integrating AI sensibly into existing systems.
- Education
- M.Sc. Computer Science, HAW Hamburg
- Experience
- 19+ years
- Projects
- 20+
- Languages
- German, English
- Working mode
- Start on-site, deliver remotely
What drives me
I love the moment when software solves a real problem: when a team suddenly ships faster, when a tedious routine task disappears, or when knowledge that used to live in people’s heads and folders becomes accessible to everyone. That takes good craft – sound architecture, thoughtful code and tests – but above all an understanding of the people and processes we build for.
Developer and architect in one
I deliberately move between both roles. As an architect I think in systems, interfaces and the long-term consequences of decisions. As a developer I know how those decisions feel in the code. This combination helps find solutions that convince on the whiteboard and hold up in daily work.
Why AI integration?
Large language models have changed what software can do. At the same time, many AI initiatives fail not because of the technology but because of integration, data quality, missing metrics and unresolved data protection. That’s exactly where my experience as a developer and architect makes the biggest difference: building AI in so that it works reliably, transparently and economically.
At home between Hamburg and Bremen
I live and work in the Hamburg and Rotenburg (Wümme) area. For companies in the region I can be on-site quickly; for teams across Germany, Austria and Switzerland I start with a personal onboarding and then work mostly remotely.
Education
- M.Sc. Computer Science – Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften (HAW) HamburgThesis:
Aktuelle Entwicklungskonzepte zur Projektintegration in einem Smart Home anhand von Maven, OSGi und Drools Fusion
- Bachelor of Computer Science – Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften (HAW) HamburgThesis:
Evaluation und VHDL-Implementierung einer SNR-basierten Echtzeit-Segmentierung von Leistungsdichtespektren
values
How I work
Pragmatic, not dogmatic
I choose the simplest solution that reliably meets your requirements – and explain why.
Measured, not guessed
Performance, quality or AI answers – we define criteria and measure them.
Knowledge stays with you
Pairing, reviews and documentation make sure your team can take over.
Honest and direct
If something doesn't make sense – AI included – I'll say so.
skills
Skills & technologies
Honest tiers instead of percentage bars: core skills I use daily, strong skills regularly in projects, familiar topics well enough to integrate them sensibly.
- Core
- Strong
- Familiar
AI integration
9
- AI agents & tool use – Core
- LLM APIs (Claude, OpenAI) – Core
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) – Core
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) – Core
- Evals & quality measurement – Strong
- Cost & latency optimisation – Strong
- Vector search (pgvector) – Strong
- Fine-tuning – Familiar
- Self-hosted / on-prem models – Familiar
Web & product
8
- Next.js – Core
- Node.js – Core
- React – Core
- TypeScript – Core
- REST & GraphQL API design – Strong
- Astro – Strong
- Testing (Vitest, Playwright) – Strong
- React Native – Familiar
Cloud & platform
8
- Google Cloud (GCP) – Core
- Kubernetes – Core
- Terraform / IaC – Core
- AWS – Strong
- CI/CD – Strong
- Observability – Strong
- Azure – Familiar
- VMware vSphere (SDK) – Familiar
Architecture & backend
8
- Software architecture – Core
- Domain-Driven Design – Core
- Microservices – Core
- Legacy modernisation – Core
- .NET / C# – Strong
- Go – Strong
- Java / Spring – Strong
- Event streaming (Kafka) – Familiar
contact
Let's talk about your project.
Tell me briefly what it's about – I'll get back to you within 1–2 business days.