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Thor Henning Hetland

Software architect. AI development pioneer. Community builder.

30 years building software, communities, and organizations. Co-founder of JavaZone and founder of eXOReaction. Java Champion since 2005. Based in Oslo.

These days I'm focused on what happens when experienced architects work with AI -- not just alongside it.

Read the blog About me

Thor Henning Hetland

Recent writing

  • Who Describes You to AI?

    My personal website was wrong about me. Fixing it led to a question I hadn't thought about: when AI systems describe you to people, what are they reading?

    February 24, 2026

  • Six Pillars: 200,000 Lines in 11 Days

    The question we got most was "How?" Not which model. Not which IDE. The answer is six practices we have codified as Skill-Driven Development.

    February 13, 2026

  • Three Decades of Architecture: What AI Actually Changes

    I have watched four technology waves. Each changed something real. Each left something important unchanged. The unchanged thing determined who succeeded.

    February 1, 2026

All posts

What I'm working on

  • Skill-Driven Development

    A methodology for structured AI collaboration that compounds daily. Six pillars. Proven 25--66x productivity gains across manufacturing, finance, energy, and security.

    About eXOReaction

  • Synthesis

    Local-first knowledge infrastructure. Indexes hundreds of files per second, sub-second search, cross-repo dependency graphs -- zero cloud dependency. Built to manage the output explosion that SDD creates.

    Open Source

  • lib-pcb

    A complete PCB design file processing library in Java. 8 format parsers, 28 validators, 17 auto-fixers, manufacturing-ready Gerber output. The project that proved SDD at scale -- 197,831 lines in 11 days.

    Open Source

  • Xorcery AAA

    Temporal analytics and DevSecOps intelligence platform built on the Xorcery reactive framework. Tracks vulnerability lifecycles, answers "why did this break?", and automates compliance -- without cloud lock-in.

    Open Source

  • Quadim

    A competence management SaaS platform. Helps organisations map, develop, and visualise the skills of their people. Built with the same AI-augmented methodology as lib-pcb.

    quadim.ai

  • Workshops & Training

    Hands-on SDD workshops for development teams. From full-day intensives to multi-week mentoring programs. Real code, real methodology, real results.

    Get in touch

  • JavaZone & Community

    Co-founded JavaZone in 2001 -- now Scandinavia's largest developer conference with ~3,000 attendees. Communities are where real knowledge transfer happens.

    Organizations

The proof

In January 2026, I built lib-pcb -- a complete PCB design library in Java.
197,831 lines of Java
7,461 tests (99.8% pass)
11 days total build time
10--18 months industry standard

8 format parsers. 28 validators. 17 auto-fixers. Manufacturing-ready Gerber output. Zero AI-induced production bugs.

This was not magic. It was methodology -- Skill-Driven Development applied systematically with Claude Code. The kind of thing I write about and teach in workshops.

Speaking

Conference talks on architecture, productivity, and development methodology. JavaZone, JavaOne, NDC, and more.

All presentations