About
Hi, I'm César[1]—a technologist who's spent years in the trenches of software development, wearing enough hats to know that the interesting questions aren't about what's technically possible, but what we're trading away to get there.
I've worked as a software engineer across projects spanning multiple countries, as a computer scientist doing academic research, and as a technology advisor helping clients spot patterns before they become problems. These days, I'm particularly interested in how our tools shape us as much as we shape them.
What I Think About
The relationship between human craft and automation. The second-order effects of technology adoption. What we lose when we optimize only for efficiency. How institutional knowledge disappears when we don't build systems that preserve it.
My Approach
Every tool we adopt changes how we think and work. The interesting questions aren't about capabilities—they're about trade-offs. What skills atrophy when we automate? What knowledge disappears when we optimize for speed? What parts of the craft are worth preserving even when they're inefficient?
I explore these tensions in my writing, not to celebrate or condemn progress, but to examine what we're actually trading away while everyone else is focused on what we're gaining.
Personal Operating Principles
- Learn from anyone about anything under any circumstances (humility is a prerequisite for wisdom)
- Attitude gets you further than credentials
- Produce more than you consume
- Note everything down—napkins, journals, scrapbooks, all fair game
- Be useful to others when you can
Currently
Building a stealth platform for creating professional-grade software for service businesses. Most professional services share identical workflows regardless of industry; we're making it easier to build quality systems without reinventing everything from scratch. Part of that means figuring out where AI actually helps and where human judgment and domain knowledge still matters.
Hardware projects and theoretical computer science keep me grounded in fundamentals. Regular tech sabbaths because distance creates clarity.
For more detail on what I'm working on, check my Now page.
Find me on most networks as @cdvel—always happy to discuss ideas that don't fit neatly into 280 characters.