Martin
Westphal
Building with AI since AlexNet.
Independent consultant working on AI agents and platform strategy. Previously CTO at Join the Crew, host at code.talks, full-stack at About You. Concurrent roles are not a bug — they're the architecture.
The career, as a repo.
Every role is a branch. Concurrent roles overlap. Branches merge back into main when the chapter closes.
Left alphalist / code.talks
Agentic Coding Integration
Help teams adopt agent-first coding workflows. Tooling selection, prompting patterns, CI integration.
Tech Brand Building
Develop technical-audience brand from scratch: voice, channels, content calendar.
Book a call →Tech Events & Program Curation
Curate tracks and programs for technical conferences. Speaker acquisition, CFP review, stage direction.
Book a call →Interim CTO
Short-term CTO placements: architecture review, hiring stack, tech strategy, exec alignment.
Book a call →Developer 2.0: Neue Rollen in der agentischen Ära
Independent Consultant @ Freelance (§18 EStG)
Full-time AI-agents consulting and build engagements.
re:publica 2026 — submitted
"If productivity determines our worth, we better use AI; right?"
AI Agents Trainer · Community Concept @ hackers & wizards
Agentic-era curriculum; community programming across Hamburg + Munich.
codetalks.com from scratch
Refocus signal
"The tech I was excited for is taking off without me — time to refocus full-time."
Host · Lead Technology & Community @ alphalist / code.talks
Built codetalks.com from scratch: Nuxt 3, Vue, TypeScript, Postgres, DigitalOcean. CFP system + Slackbot with Claude integration. Stage moderation for 2.5k attendees.
Left Join the Crew
First GPT-3 app on a bus in Kyushu
Japan trip; ship-it energy; this was when the shift became undeniable.
Akira joined the family
CTO @ Join the Crew
Scaled engineering team from 4 → 88. Platform architecture for concurrent multi-product operator model. Hiring, strategy, exec comms.
Left About You
AlphaStar live match
GPT-1/2 and DALL·E demos
First public AI talk
Tech Evangelist & Tech Events @ About You
Medium articles; meetups; hackathons; code.talks Head of Program; external tech-brand presence.
Left About You
About You Business Intelligence framework
Musk + Ilya → OpenAI
Full-Stack Software Developer @ About You
Full-stack Laravel + Vue. Worked in BI on a data consolidation framework; shipped UI for generic data validation.
Left About You
B.Sc. Medieninformatik — graduated
Left Freelance
Software Developer (Working Student) @ About You
AlphaGo vs Lee Sedol (live)
Left P&M Consulting
Software Developer (Intern) @ P&M Consulting
Started reading OpenAI / DeepMind press releases
Left OOPS GmbH
OOPS localization Android app
Web & Android Development @ Freelance
Software Developer (Working Student) @ OOPS GmbH
Built an Android app for localization tracking with server comms and a web UI.
AlexNet encounter
Took an AI course expecting deep learning; got expert systems. Prof said DL was "decades away." Filed that one away.
Left Zaechel AG
Event hostess @ Zaechel AG
Enrolled at FH Wedel (B.Sc. Medieninformatik)
Left US exchange (host org)
Formal dance instructor @ US exchange (host org)
Left Local pizzeria
Pizza delivery @ Local pizzeria
Left REWE
Aushilfe @ REWE
- 2026-04 — job: Left alphalist / code.talks
- 2026-04 — expertise: Agentic Coding Integration · Help teams adopt agent-first coding workflows. Tooling selection, prompting patterns, CI integration.
- 2026-04 — expertise: Tech Brand Building · Develop technical-audience brand from scratch: voice, channels, content calendar.
- 2026-04 — expertise: Tech Events & Program Curation · Curate tracks and programs for technical conferences. Speaker acquisition, CFP review, stage direction.
- 2026-04 — expertise: Interim CTO · Short-term CTO placements: architecture review, hiring stack, tech strategy, exec alignment.
- 2026-03 — talk: Developer 2.0: Neue Rollen in der agentischen Ära
- 2026-01 — job: Independent Consultant @ Freelance (§18 EStG) · Full-time AI-agents consulting and build engagements.
- 2026-01 — talk: re:publica 2026 — submitted · "If productivity determines our worth, we better use AI; right?"
- 2025-12 — job: AI Agents Trainer · Community Concept @ hackers & wizards · Agentic-era curriculum; community programming across Hamburg + Munich.
- 2024-06 — project: codetalks.com from scratch
- 2024-06 — signal: Refocus signal · "The tech I was excited for is taking off without me — time to refocus full-time."
- 2023-12 — job: Host · Lead Technology & Community @ alphalist / code.talks · Built codetalks.com from scratch: Nuxt 3, Vue, TypeScript, Postgres, DigitalOcean. CFP system + Slackbot with Claude integration. Stage moderation for 2.5k attendees.
- 2023-11 — job: Left Join the Crew
- 2023-02 — project: First GPT-3 app on a bus in Kyushu · Japan trip; ship-it energy; this was when the shift became undeniable.
- 2022-06 — milestone: Akira joined the family
- 2020-03 — job: CTO @ Join the Crew · Scaled engineering team from 4 → 88. Platform architecture for concurrent multi-product operator model. Hiring, strategy, exec comms.
- 2020-02 — job: Left About You
- 2019-10 — signal: AlphaStar live match
- 2018-11 — signal: GPT-1/2 and DALL·E demos
- 2018-10 — talk: First public AI talk
- 2018-09 — job: Tech Evangelist & Tech Events @ About You · Medium articles; meetups; hackathons; code.talks Head of Program; external tech-brand presence.
- 2018-08 — job: Left About You
- 2017-06 — project: About You Business Intelligence framework
- 2017-04 — signal: Musk + Ilya → OpenAI
- 2016-10 — job: Full-Stack Software Developer @ About You · Full-stack Laravel + Vue. Worked in BI on a data consolidation framework; shipped UI for generic data validation.
- 2016-09 — job: Left About You
- 2016-08 — milestone: B.Sc. Medieninformatik — graduated
- 2016-07 — job: Left Freelance
- 2016-04 — job: Software Developer (Working Student) @ About You
- 2016-03 — signal: AlphaGo vs Lee Sedol (live)
- 2016-01 — job: Left P&M Consulting
- 2015-10 — job: Software Developer (Intern) @ P&M Consulting
- 2015-07 — signal: Started reading OpenAI / DeepMind press releases
- 2014-04 — job: Left OOPS GmbH
- 2013-09 — project: OOPS localization Android app
- 2013-05 — job: Web & Android Development @ Freelance
- 2013-03 — job: Software Developer (Working Student) @ OOPS GmbH · Built an Android app for localization tracking with server comms and a web UI.
- 2012-10 — milestone: AlexNet encounter · Took an AI course expecting deep learning; got expert systems. Prof said DL was "decades away." Filed that one away.
- 2012-09 — job: Left Zaechel AG
- 2011-10 — job: Event hostess @ Zaechel AG
- 2011-09 — milestone: Enrolled at FH Wedel (B.Sc. Medieninformatik)
- 2011-07 — job: Left US exchange (host org)
- 2010-08 — job: Formal dance instructor @ US exchange (host org)
- 2010-06 — job: Left Local pizzeria
- 2009-06 — job: Pizza delivery @ Local pizzeria
- 2009-03 — job: Left REWE
- 2008-09 — job: Aushilfe @ REWE
Let's build something
unreasonable together.
Available for consulting, AI-agents engagements, security audits, and unreasonably opinionated architecture reviews. Based in Hamburg; remote-fluent across EU and beyond.