Ken Auer

Chief Software Consultant

If you know anything about the current state of the software world, you'll know that object-oriented programming and thought has become the state of the art. Ken is one of the few people in the world that has been building systems with object-oriented tools since the mid 1980s. He has mentored hundreds of software developers in the use of object-oriented thought and practice and has been a pioneer in many of the movements that has advanced the craft. He spends a lot of his time as the interface to potential clients, helping clients figure out the best approach to their needs, putting together the teams to meet client needs, making sure projects are running smoothly, and overseeing the development of the members of the team. His hands have heavily been in dozens of projects, and he still gets his hands dirty on a semi-regular basis to stay in touch with the craft and the other craftsmen.

Though he spends most of his energy in the practice of the craft, he has been known to speak, write an occasional article or chapter contribution to leading edge books, and even author a couple of books. He was recently asked to give the opening keynote at the first Software Craftsmanship North America conference on August 26, 2009 in Chicago.

Ken's first book (co-authored with colleague Roy Miller), "Extreme Programming Applied: Playing to Win!" received excellent reviews as he explained how to practically apply the principles of Extreme Programming in the real world by relating his own thoughts and experiences as well as contributions from other pioneers. After seven years, he is in the process of co-authoring a new book based on his experience mentoring developers who were taught some programming but never learned the craft of building object-oriented systems with the working title, "The Craft of Object-Oriented Software Development (Make it run! Make it right!)".

Although he cut his teeth on Unix and C, Ken was blessed to be on one of the first attempts to use Smalltalk and Objective-C on a large software system in the mid-80s at Paradyne. Taking the leap to become a software consultant in the late-80s with what became a premiere Smalltalk services shop (Knowledge Systems Corporation), he became well-known as one of the leading Smalltalk practitioners in the world. Then he decided to challenge himself to become a Java expert in the late 90s. After a lot of success with Java, he's also been developing with Ruby.

What domains has Ken worked in? Network management, report creation, software developer tools, manufacturing process consulting support, financial trading, object-relational database mapping, order management systems, semiconductor manufacturing control, statistical analysis, lab data management, process configuration, administrative tools, automotive diagnostic tools, electronic medical records, e-commerce, and more.

Outside of software and entrepreneurship, Ken has interest and experience in history, family and church reformation, musical theatre, audio/video production of live events, construction, education, coaching, and maybe a few other things that he's not thinking about right now. This diversity of interests and experience has enhanced his ability to quickly grasp the needs of his clients' business and help coach them in cultivating their innovative concepts.

Ken's been married to his wonderful wife, Carol, since 1985, and has three children in very different stages of life. As a homeschooling family, they all help in various ways to enhance the business.