HAYVALLEY

Who I Am

Christian Ott

Software Developer & Consultant

Hey, I'm Christian, Software Developer, Consultant, Allround-Nerd, REWORKer, Cyclist, Minimalist, Climate advocate, Father of two girls. I love solving problems, building great software, and making the world a little better along the way.

Diploma in Computer Science with over 30 years of project experience in the IT business. Freelance developer and consultant since 2010. Speaker, author, and experienced project manager with product responsibility for healthcare software used nationwide in Germany.

I work AI-first, remote-first, pragmatic, and test-driven. Open-source enthusiast and active community contributor. AI can write code. I bring what it cannot: 30 years of experience and an eye for architecture that scales, is secure, and built to last.

When I'm not coding, I'm outdoors, bicycle touring. I prefer trains over planes and care deeply about climate, renewable energy, and greener ways to get around. Sponsor at Plan International Germany and board member of Bürgerrunde Heuweiler e.V.

When we are exploring the world from a place of discomfort, that is usually when we will be learning the most.
The Minimalists

Background

Where I've Been

Education

1985 – 1990

Computer Science Studies

University of Applied Sciences Wedel

Degree: Diplom-Informatiker (equivalent to M.Sc.)

Experience

2010 – Present

Consultant, Developer, Cloud Architect, Speaker

Freelance

Strategy, fullstack development, cloud migration, hosting, content management, mobile web applications, AI

2011 – Present

Head of Software Development

Carl Group, Hamburg

Concept design, UI/UX, fullstack development, hosting, security, social media APIs, payment integration, bots, mobile web applications, monitoring, AI

2009 – 2013

Head of Infrastructure, Hosting & Security

Digital District GmbH / razorish Healthcare, Düsseldorf

Strategy, fullstack development, hosting, content management, mobile web applications

2005 – 2017

CTO / CISO, Consultant, Architect, Developer

EDIT GmbH, Hamburg

Strategy, security analysis, forensics, hosting, cloud migration, custom development, third-level support, content management, monitoring

1994 – 2009

CEO & Partner

OTT | BENDER | PARTNER, Hamburg

Executive management, project and team leadership, concept development, marketing, software development, support. Company sold, exited in 2009.

Expertise

How I Can Help

Software Development

Full-stack web applications built to last. 15+ years with Ruby on Rails, backed by JavaScript and Python. Database design, APIs, testing, deployment — from first commit to production.

Cloud & DevOps

Cloud migration, high-availability hosting, and infrastructure automation. Docker, AWS, DigitalOcean, Hetzner, CI/CD — designed to scale and easy to operate.

Security

Secure-by-design development with hands-on CISO experience. Security architecture, vulnerability assessments, forensics, and compliance — built into the process, not bolted on.

AI & Automation

LLM-powered applications, intelligent workflows, and chatbots. From API integration and MCP to local inference, n8n, and custom AI pipelines.

API & Integration

Connecting systems that need to talk. REST, GraphQL, OAuth, payment processing, social media APIs, messaging services — millions of transactions processed.

Consulting & Architecture

Remote-first consulting for teams that need a senior perspective. Technical strategy, architecture decisions, code reviews, and hands-on problem solving. I work AI-native with Claude Code and help teams adopt AI-powered development workflows.

0+

Years in IT

0

Healthcare Software Customers

0+

CMS Pages Managed

0+

Years Ruby/Rails

0+

Years Cloud

0+

Open Source Projects

0

Team Members Led

0+

Social Media Messages via APIs

Trust

Companies I've Worked With

Airbus, Asklepios Clinics, Badgepoint, Bauer Verlag, Bayer, Bechtle, Beiersdorf, Bellicon, DNV GL, Dortmund Municipal Clinics, E.ON, ECE, ESN, Experian, Fielmann, Financescout24, GlaxoSmithKline, Grone Schule, Hamburg Port Authority, HighCoordination, Hoechst, IBM csg, Krüss Optronic, LANXESS, Lehnkering, Lippold, MAN Ferrostaal, SAP, Shell, Social Media Week, Thalia, TUI, University Hospitals Münster & Hannover, Wein Wolf

Work

Built & Shipped

E.ON required a system for tracking and monitoring concession contracts (electricity, gas, water) and their associated obligations. Thousands of contractual commitments are aggregated daily and visualized in user-specific dashboards or exported as PDFs.

Client: E.ON / SH NETZ
Duration: 3 years
Tech: Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, GitLab CI, Docker/Kubernetes, Azure, REST, Ping Identity/OAuth, TDD, SCRUM

KARLA Contract Monitoring

SendOnScreen Multi-channel Communication — Development

Cloud-based SaaS software for participant engagement at conferences and events. Interactive platform for receiving and presenting audience messages via hashtags, SMS, WhatsApp, and email — including optional photo and video content. Includes a real-time editorial interface for content moderation and control.

Client: Carl Group
Duration: 7 years
Tech: Ruby, Sinatra, Redis, AWS/Heroku, Social Media APIs, Twilio, Stripe, Bootstrap, REST, Microservices, TDD

SendOnScreen Multi-channel Communication

WinCIDS was a market-leading software solution for educational centers in healthcare across Germany. By 2009, over 280 schools successfully used WinCIDS with approximately 900 licenses, including some of the largest German educational university centers for healthcare professions.

Client: OTT BENDER PARTNER
Duration: 8 years
Tech: Windows, Delphi, SQLServer, Oracle, mySQL, VMWare, Citrix, IIS, VBA

WinCIDS School Management

AI-powered event technology suite for one of Europe's largest Microsoft partner conferences. Includes an MCP-based Event Navigator Chatbot, an AI Mediathek with automated talk summaries via Whisper transcription, AI-generated mini podcasts with cloned voices, and real-time audience feedback via CrowdPulse. Serving 2,000+ participants per event.

Client: Bechtle
Duration: 2 years
Tech: Ruby on Rails, MCP, Azure OpenAI, Whisper, TTS, REST APIs, Docker

Bechtle Microsoft World

Real-time event feedback and analysis platform. Participants submit reactions via clean URLs, while administrators get AI-powered summaries and live dashboards. Features include AI safety moderation, interactive timelines, WebSocket updates, and multi-tenant organization management.

Client: HAYVALLEY
Duration: Ongoing
Tech: Ruby on Rails 8, SQLite, Hotwire/Turbo, Stimulus, OpenAI, Solid Queue, Docker

CrowdPulse Event Feedback

One of the world's largest TYPO3 installations. Over 150,000 pages and hundreds of domains across multiple languages and business units.

Client: LANXESS, EDIT GmbH
Duration: 3 years
Tech: Debian/Ubuntu Linux, AWS, TYPO3, PHP, MySQL, Varnish, Apache

LANXESS Website

Feedback

What Clients Say

Christian played various project roles and focused on tasks for the product KARLA with maximum competence. In technical conception, he acted as the sole mastermind (Backend, Frontend, Database, Deployment, Security, Testing, Automation). In both conception and implementation, we greatly benefited from his ability to effortlessly switch between the developer, architect, customer, and user perspectives – always getting straight to the point. For the PO and project management, his methodological and technical expertise was a real asset!

Fabian Hager

Digital Domain Lead, E.KUNDENSERVICE Netz GmbH, Landshut

For one of our larger clients, we were looking for a highly experienced and technically skilled senior developer with strong consulting expertise. We are extremely satisfied to have started a very fruitful and relaxed, yet highly efficient collaboration with Christian. The agile project ran very smoothly across the entire team and was significantly strengthened by Christian's exceptional communication skills and his many years of technical experience.

André Wehrhahn

Product Manager, ESN EnergieSysteme Nord GmbH, Schwentinental

Christian re-implemented our outdated project management and invoicing system based on the latest web technologies. Besides the professional development in terms of time, budget, and quality, his customer-oriented consulting stands out, as he designed an optimal and tailored solution for us. Moreover, the project was really fun – thank you for that!

Peter Ellerau

Managing Director, HighCoordination GmbH, Radolfzell

We have been working very well and trustfully together for years. Christian is well-versed in all the latest trends and topics in software development and DevOps. You can have great discussions with him about new ideas and their feasibility.

Johannes Heimann

Managing Director, Carl Group, Hamburg

Christian is a calm, logically reasoning, and pleasant conversation partner who understands how to efficiently and effectively translate customer needs into technical/digital solutions.

Michael Niemeier

Marketing Manager, DNV GL SE, Essen

Christian is motivated, curious, and enthusiastic. He constantly familiarizes himself with new technologies to offer them to his clients.

More than just code.

I'm Christian Ott|