Top 25 Software Engineers to Follow for Insights in 2026
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
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…
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 work supports two essential tools in modern software development: Linux, which powers servers, infrastructure, and devices, and Git, a widely used version-control system. He also continues to guide Linux kernel development, one of the world’s largest collaborative software projects.
Anders Hejlsberg
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…
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 with the everyday developer experience. From Turbo Pascal and Delphi through C# and TypeScript, his work has influenced type systems, compilers, tooling, and how developers build applications across major software ecosystems.
Martin Fowler
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…
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 for improving existing code and building software that is easier to maintain. He also signed the Manifesto for Agile Software Development and continues to write about architecture, software delivery, refactoring, and changing development practices.
Kent Beck
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…
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 testing, feedback, small improvements, and software design. His recent work explores AI-assisted coding and ways developers can improve software design while building new features.
Addy Osmani
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…
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 work includes web performance, JavaScript architecture, developer tooling, engineering leadership, and AI-assisted development. After helping shape Chrome, Lighthouse, Core Web Vitals, and Google’s developer experience, he is now applying that background to AI coding tools.
Charity Majors
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…
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 for observability, which helps engineers understand how software behaves in real-world use instead of simply monitoring it. Her work covers distributed systems, reliability, developer feedback, team practices, and running software in production.
Mitchell Hashimoto
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…
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 developer workflows, from reproducible environments and infrastructure automation to terminal software. His engineering combines open-source development, systems programming, product design, and deep attention to developer experience.
Bjarne Stroustrup
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…
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 programming techniques into performance-sensitive mainstream development. Stroustrup remains involved in C++ standardization and research spanning programming techniques, distributed systems, language design, tools, and safer modern C++.
Patrick Wendell
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…
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 research on large-scale data processing into widely used technology. At Databricks, he works on key parts of its data platform, drawing on his experience with Apache Spark and distributed systems.
David Heinemeier Hansson
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…
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 on Rails popularized an opinionated approach to web application development centered on convention, programmer productivity, and integrated tooling. Hansson’s work at 37signals also explores small teams, technical simplicity, asynchronous work, and hands-on engineering leadership.
Angie Jones
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…
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 works across software engineering, developer education, and AI agents. At AAIF, she helps developers adopt AI agent technologies that work together. Her background also includes engineering leadership, teaching, and several patented inventions.
Gergely Orosz
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…
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 and management experience to explain how software teams work. He writes about engineering practices, careers, team structures, developer productivity, technology companies, and changes in software development.
Julia Austin
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…
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 building engineering organizations. She teaches and advises technology leaders and founders on scaling teams, developing leaders, and connecting technical work with business strategy.
Sarah Wells
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…
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 decade of experience from the Financial Times, where she helped engineering teams adopt greater independence, microservices, containers, DevOps, and faster releases. Her work now focuses on engineering performance, platform strategy, incident management, workflows, and lasting technical improvements.
Michael Nygard
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…
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 on what happens when software meets production reality: failures, stability, architecture, distributed systems, and organizational constraints. Release It! helped popularize patterns for designing systems that survive real-world load and failure rather than only working in development.
Vaidehi Joshi
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…
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 engineering experience with a talent for explaining technical basics clearly. Through BaseCS, BaseDS, the Base.cs Podcast, and videos, she teaches core concepts to developers. She also writes about management, technical decisions, and leading engineering teams.
Juan Pablo Buriticá
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…
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 spans engineering leadership, distributed organizations, developer communities, and building technology teams across borders. He also contributed his experience to The Holloway Guide to Remote Work, connecting software delivery with the practical mechanics of distributed teams.
Cate Huston
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…
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 a way to build systems that help teams succeed over time. Her recent work explores how AI changes the roles of developers and managers, with a focus on automation, processes, accountability, and technical leadership.
Oren Ellenbogen
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…
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 management.
Ellenbogen combines organizational leadership with ongoing software-engineering education. Software Lead Weekly curates technical and leadership material for practitioners, while his writing explores management systems, culture, mentoring, on-call practices, team building, and effective engineering organizations.
Eduards Sizovs
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…
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 how to become more effective senior engineers. His work covers technical skills, ownership, communication, decision-making, career growth, and the wider responsibilities that come with senior roles.
Polina Giralt
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…
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 broad technical range rather than a single specialty. Her public writing about her work at Squarespace describes experience across full-stack programming and data engineering, grounded in a long-running interest in learning new systems, languages, and technologies.
Lara Hogan
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…
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 focus on people and workplace culture. She coaches managers on feedback, expectations, mentoring, employee support, and organizational change. Her earlier engineering work and book, Designing for Performance, also helped improve web performance practices.
James Stanier
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…
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 that emerge as engineering responsibilities expand beyond individual coding: managing people, structuring organizations, developing leaders, and working effectively across locations. His combination of operating experience and practical writing makes those lessons accessible to software teams.
Anton Zaides
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…
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 engineering managers, covering team performance, platform and product engineering, leadership systems, decision-making, and business context. His work emphasizes that stronger engineering leadership requires understanding not only how software ships, but why the organization is building it.
Randall Koutnik
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…
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 practical challenges of building and improving software products. His experience covers web technologies, product features, developer tools, and creating user-friendly software that is easy to maintain.
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.
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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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