Hello World!

I’m thrilled to share with you that starting in January 2025, I will be embarking on a new chapter in my professional journey as a freelancer. After years of working at Gradle Inc., I’ve decided to take the leap and use my experience and expertise to help businesses, teams, and individuals thrive in the ever-evolving world of software development and infrastructure.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to lead and contribute to exciting projects, work with brilliant teams, and drive innovations that have shaped the way software is built, deployed, and maintained. As I take this next step, I’m excited to offer a range of services that will help companies scale their engineering practices, optimize their build systems, and grow more efficiently.

My Services

I’m offering consulting and coaching services across several areas where I have deep expertise. These services are designed to empower teams and organizations to enhance their workflows, improve their development processes, and build better software with confidence. Head over to the services page to learn more about my offering.

Here’s a summary of the services I’ll be providing:

1. Developer Productivity Engineering (DPE)

Developer Productivity Engineering is the next frontier after DevOps, focusing on optimizing the developer experience to remove bottlenecks and improve efficiency. As a former leader of the Developer Productivity team at Gradle Inc., I bring unparalleled experience in optimizing workflows, toolchains, and CI/CD pipelines. Services include:

  • Developer workflow optimization
  • Toolchain improvements
  • CI/CD pipeline efficiency
  • Metrics-driven productivity improvements
  • Developer onboarding and experience
  • Custom DPE product solutions
  • Tailored DPE training to help your team adopt best practices

Read more about my DPE services here.

2. Engineering Growth

Every business is a software business, and as companies grow, so must their engineering teams. I’ve seen firsthand how an engineering team can scale effectively. At Gradle Inc., I helped grow the team from 30 to over 100 engineers, all working remotely and efficiently delivering impactful features. I can help your organization scale its engineering efforts to meet the demands of growth. Services include:

  • Team structure and scaling
  • Process optimization
  • Remote team management
  • Onboarding and knowledge sharing
  • Engineering culture development
  • Tooling and automation for growth
  • Hiring top engineering talent

Read more about my engineering growth services here.

3. Gradle Build Tool Consulting

Gradle is an incredibly powerful and flexible build system that enables teams to streamline their workflows, increase productivity, and ensure consistent builds. With over 5 years of experience at Gradle Inc., I have the knowledge and skills to help you optimize your Gradle builds. Services include:

  • Build performance optimizations
  • Build migrations (Groovy DSL to Kotlin DSL)
  • Gradle Build Tool version upgrades
  • Build tool migrations from Apache Maven™ and Apache Ant™ to Gradle
  • Advanced dependency management
  • Build refactoring
  • Custom plugin development
  • Gradle training and adoption support tailored to your team’s needs

Read more about my Gradle Build Tool consulting services here.

4. NixOS Consulting

NixOS is a unique Linux distribution focused on declarative configuration, reproducibility, and powerful package management. With my hands-on experience and contributions to the nixpkgs repository, I help teams adopt NixOS and Nix tooling to streamline their server management, development environments, and deployments. Services include:

  • Nix packaging
  • NixOS module implementations
  • Server management with Nix tooling
  • Reproducible development environments using development shells
  • Custom NixOS training tailored to your team’s needs

Read more about my NixOS consulting services here.

Why I Made the Leap

Having had the privilege of being a part of Gradle Inc., I’ve learned invaluable lessons on scaling engineering practices, optimizing developer productivity, and building strong, high-performing teams. I want to bring this experience to you, helping organizations and teams unlock their full potential by providing tailored, expert advice and solutions.

I believe there’s a huge opportunity for businesses to improve how they build software, manage infrastructure, and develop their teams, and I’m excited to help you on that journey.

Let’s Work Together

If you’re looking to optimize your build systems, scale your engineering teams, or improve developer productivity, I’d love to chat. Whether it’s a short-term project or long-term partnership, I’m here to help your organization grow and thrive.

Feel free to reach out to discuss how I can assist you and your team in 2025 and beyond! Currently the best way to get in touch with me is to message me at LinkedIn.

© 2025 Benedikt Ritter. All Rights Reserved.