Martijn Veldkamp
Enterprise Architect · Virtual CTO · Farmer · Sarcastic Realist
Cutting Through the Hype
I spend my days architecting large-scale solutions for the complex organisations and my evenings staring at the horizon on a farm in North Holland. It’s a contrast that keeps me sane: cutting-edge AI and cloud architecture by day, and things that actually work like gravity, old Volvos, and slow-drip coffee from my Mocca Master.
My philosophy is borrowed from Colin Chapman: “Simplify, then add lightness.”
In a world obsessed with adding more “features” (and currently, throwing “AI” at problems like it’s magic dust), I focus on strategic architecture, Conway’s Law in action, and maintaining a healthy scepticism for the current AI gold rush. To me, most Generative AI is a very expensive, very advanced autocomplete. It’s a tool, not a saviour.
Latest Articles
Thoughts on architecture, AI strategy, governance, and the art of building systems that last.
- What I would tell the BoardI have given many board updates on technology. I have been honest in all of them. I have also, in all of them, chosen which honest things to… Read more: What I would tell the Board
- Why Agents are Slowing Us Down (and Why That’s Okay)
I’ve seen more posts then I care for where someone proudly presents a dashboard tracking “tokens consumed” as the team’s primary AI productivity metric. Not bugs fixed. Not… Read more: Why Agents are Slowing Us Down (and Why That’s Okay) - AI Coding Tools: a bit of a time machine
I think that most people can relate. Over time my career and role shifted. Less time building things directly, more time designing systems, reviewing architectures, and guiding teams.… Read more: AI Coding Tools: a bit of a time machine - The Second Opinion that wasn’t
You asked ChatGPT whether your strategy made sense. It gave you five well-reasoned paragraphs explaining why it did. You felt better. That feeling is the problem. We have… Read more: The Second Opinion that wasn’t - Why Single-Lens thinking is harming your Architecture Decisions
# Why Single-Lens thinking is harming your Architecture Decisions During summer when the mosquitos were swarming around our farm, a dragonfly hovered right in front of me. Just… Read more: Why Single-Lens thinking is harming your Architecture Decisions - The Slow Death of the Developer Who Knows Why Things WorkI’ve spent the last few weeks navigating two different kinds of grief. One is personal. The other is professional: watching the slow, agonizing death of the “Developer Who… Read more: The Slow Death of the Developer Who Knows Why Things Work
Work With Me
I help organisations cut through complexity — whether that means designing an AI strategy that isn’t just a vendor pitch, untangling technical debt, or providing Virtual CTO leadership for teams that need strategic direction without the permanent headcount.
What I bring: Strategic architecture, data & AI governance, digital transformation leadership, and the pragmatism to tell you when the emperor has no clothes.
Reach out on LinkedIn or drop me an email.