The software engineers worth following aren't always the loudest voices—they're the ones sharing hard-won insights that sharpen your thinking. I've rounded up the engineers actively influencing how we build, scale, and secure modern systems. Whether you're chasing better architecture decisions or staying ahead of emerging practices, these are the voices you'll want in your feed.
Top 25 Software Engineers
Below are the profiles of the top software engineers, covering who they are and the impact they've made in this space.
Linus Torvalds
Linux & Git Creator
Portland, United States
Focus area:
#Linux#Open source#Operating systems#Version control#Systems engineering
Linus Torvalds created the Linux kernel and Git and remains the Linux kernel’s lead maintainer. He is also a Linux Foundation fellow whose work has shaped open source software development worldwide.
His…
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Anders Hejlsberg
Technical Fellow & TypeScript Architect at Microsoft
Redmond, United States
Focus area:
#Programming languages#TypeScript#CSharp#Compiler design#Developer tools
Anders Hejlsberg is a Microsoft Technical Fellow and lead architect of TypeScript. He also designed C#, Delphi, and Turbo Pascal, shaping several generations of modern programming tools.
Hejlsberg’s career connects language design…
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Martin Fowler
Chief Scientist at Thoughtworks
Massachusetts, United States
Focus area:
#Software architecture#Refactoring#Agile development#Enterprise software#Software design
Martin Fowler is Chief Scientist at Thoughtworks, an author, and a long-time voice in software design. His books include Refactoring and Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture.
Fowler has helped define practices…
Kent Beck
Software Design Pioneer & Author
United States
Focus area:
#Software design#Extreme Programming#Test-driven development#Agile development#AI-assisted coding
Kent Beck is a software design pioneer, author, and creator of Extreme Programming and test-driven development. His Tidy First? series explores incremental approaches to software design.
Beck’s ideas changed how developers approach…
Addy Osmani
Member of Technical Staff at Anthropic
San Francisco Bay Area, United States
Focus area:
#Developer tools#AI-assisted engineering#Web performance#Developer experience#JavaScript
Addy Osmani is a Member of Technical Staff at Anthropic working on Claude Code. He previously spent more than 14 years at Google leading developer experience across Chrome and Cloud AI.
His…
Charity Majors
Co-founder & CTO at Honeycomb
San Francisco, United States
Focus area:
#Observability#Production engineering#Distributed systems#Reliability#Engineering leadership
Charity Majors is co-founder and CTO of Honeycomb, where she works on observability and production engineering. Her background includes infrastructure roles at Parse, Facebook, and Linden Lab.
Majors is a leading advocate…
Mitchell Hashimoto
Co-founder at Superlogical
Manhattan Beach, United States
Focus area:
#Developer tools#Infrastructure automation#Terminal software#Open source#Systems engineering
Mitchell Hashimoto is co-founder of Superlogical and the co-founder of HashiCorp. He created developer tools including Vagrant and Ghostty, spanning infrastructure automation and terminal software.
Hashimoto has repeatedly built tools around difficult…
Bjarne Stroustrup
C++ Creator & Computer Science Professor
New York City, United States
Focus area:
#C++#Programming languages#Software design#Type safety#Programming techniques
Bjarne Stroustrup designed and originally implemented C++ and is a computer science professor at Columbia University. He has spent decades advancing programming languages, tools, and software design.
C++ brought object-oriented and generic…
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Patrick Wendell
Co-founder & VP Engineering at Databricks
San Francisco, United States
Focus area:
#Data infrastructure#Apache Spark#Distributed systems#Data engineering#Machine learning
Patrick Wendell is a co-founder and VP of Engineering at Databricks and was a founding committer of Apache Spark. His work includes data infrastructure, analytics, machine learning, and engineering.
Wendell helped turn…
David Heinemeier Hansson
Co-owner & CTO at 37signals
United States
Focus area:
#Ruby on Rails#Web development#Software design#Developer productivity#Technical leadership
David Heinemeier Hansson is co-owner and CTO of 37signals and the creator of Ruby on Rails. A programmer and author, he has shaped web development through Rails and 37signals’ software products.
Ruby…
Angie Jones
VP Developer Experience at Agentic AI Foundation
New Orleans, United States
Focus area:
#Developer experience#Agentic AI#Software engineering#Open standards#Technical education
Angie Jones is VP of Developer Experience at the Agentic AI Foundation, where she works on practical adoption of agentic systems. She is also an educator, speaker, and prolific software inventor.
Jones…
Gergely Orosz
Software Engineering Author & Educator
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Focus area:
#Software engineering#Engineering careers#Engineering management#Big Tech#Developer productivity
Gergely Orosz is the founder and author of The Pragmatic Engineer and author of The Software Engineer’s Guidebook. His earlier engineering career included Uber, Microsoft/Skype, and Skyscanner.
Orosz uses his engineering…
Julia Austin
Software Engineering Executive & Educator
United States
Focus area:
#Engineering leadership#Software organizations#Technical strategy#Startups#Engineering management
Julia Austin is an experienced software engineering executive, investor, and educator whose career has included senior technical and leadership roles across technology companies and startups.
Austin combines hands-on technology leadership with experience…
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Sarah Wells
Technology Consultant & Engineering Leader
London, United Kingdom
Focus area:
#Platform engineering#Microservices#Engineering effectiveness#DevOps#Technical strategy
Sarah Wells is an independent technology consultant and speaker with over 20 years in software. Her background include development, principal engineering, tech direction, SRE, DevOps, and platforms.
Wells brings more than a…
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Michael Nygard
Software Architect & Author
United States
Focus area:
#Software architecture#Distributed systems#Production systems#Reliability#Technical strategy
Michael Nygard is a software architect, advisor, and author of Release It!, a widely read guide to production-ready systems. He advises technology leaders on architecture and software delivery.
Nygard’s work focuses…
Vaidehi Joshi
Engineering Leader & Technical Educator
Focus area:
#Computer science#Distributed systems#Engineering leadership#Technical education#Software architecture
Vaidehi Joshi is an engineering leader, writer, and speaker with more than a decade in software. She created BaseCS and BaseDS to make computer science and distributed systems concepts accessible.
Joshi combines…
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Juan Pablo Buriticá
Chief Product & Technology Officer at Convergint
New York City, United States
Focus area:
#Engineering leadership#Distributed teams#Developer communities#Remote work#Software organizations
Juan Pablo Buriticá is Chief Product & Technology Officer at Convergint and a longtime software engineering leader. He has spent more than a decade building and leading distributed engineering organizations.
Buriticá’s work…
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Cate Huston
Engineering Leadership Author & Fractional CTO
Focus area:
#Engineering leadership#Engineering management#Career development#AI-assisted engineering#Organizational design
Cate Huston is an engineering leadership author, fractional CTO at Twill, and coach. Her career includes leadership roles at DuckDuckGo and Automattic, plus writing on engineering management.
Huston views engineering leadership as…
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Oren Ellenbogen
SVP of Engineering at Forter
Tel Aviv, Israel
Focus area:
#Engineering leadership#Engineering culture#Team building#Developer learning#Software delivery
Oren Ellenbogen is an senior vice president of engineering at Forter and the creator of Software Lead Weekly. He also wrote Leading Snowflakes, a practical handbook for people moving into engineering…
Eduards Sizovs
Software Engineer & Technical Educator
Focus area:
#Software engineering#Technical leadership#Engineering careers#Developer education#Software craftsmanship
Eduards Sizovs is a software engineer, educator, and founder of Principal.dev. His work centers on senior engineering growth, technical leadership, and the craft of effective software development.
Through Principal.dev, Sizovs teaches developers…
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Polina Giralt
Software Engineer
Focus area:
#Data engineering#Full-stack development#Software systems#Engineering practice
Polina Giralt is a software engineer whose work at Squarespace has included product data engineering. Her background spans full-stack development, data systems, and building software across the stack.
Giralt’s engineering path reflects…
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Lara Hogan
Engineering Leadership Coach & Author
Focus area:
#Engineering leadership#Management coaching#Web performance#Organizational development#Technical management
Lara Hogan is an engineering leadership coach, author, and co-founder of Wherewithall. She previously served as VP of Engineering at Kickstarter and Engineering Director at Etsy.
Hogan combines technical leadership with a…
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James Stanier
Engineering Leader & Author
United Kingdom
Focus area:
#Engineering management#Technical leadership#Remote work#Software organizations#Team development
James Stanier is an engineering leader, author, and speaker whose work focuses on building and running software organizations. His books cover engineering management, leadership, and remote work.
Stanier writes about the problems…
Anton Zaides
Engineering Leader & Author
Focus area:
#Engineering management#Team leadership#Platform engineering#Technical decision-making#Business alignment
Anton Zaides is an engineering leader and author of the Manager.dev newsletter. His work helps managers build teams, make better decisions, and connect software delivery to business impact.
Zaides writes specifically for…
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Randall Koutnik
Product Engineer at Linear
Boston, United States
Focus area:
#Product engineering#Software design#Developer tools#Web development
Randall Koutnik is a product engineer at Linear with experience across product engineering and developer-facing systems. His career includes startups and technology companies in the United States.
Koutnik’s work focuses on the…
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Selection Methodology
I selected the leaders on this list based on their relevance, demonstrated expertise and impact, professional credibility, and ongoing contributions to the field.
I look for evidence such as leading meaningful initiatives or delivering notable results within their organizations, developing influential ideas or practices, publishing research or educational resources, speaking or teaching, and other contributions that demonstrate impact within their work or the broader field.
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