About — Johnny Chadda

Hi there,

I’m glad you found my corner of the web. This blog has been here for over 25 years and has seen plenty of technological shifts and personal interests come and go.

These days, I work on AI infrastructure at Opper AI with a small but stellar team. Outside work, I enjoy motorcycles and a bit of gaming, like Minecraft with the kids or an immersive game on my Meta Quest 3. But let’s rewind.

Way back

My interest in computers started over 35 years ago, when I first got my hands on an Amiga 500. The games were amazing for their time, but I was curious about what else it could do. I learned all I could about the Amiga Shell and started writing scripts to help me get things done.

By the mid-1990s, PCs and PC magazines were everywhere. I came across one with a CD-ROM featuring a peculiar-looking penguin. It contained Slackware Linux 2-something. When I first installed it, around 1994–1996, a whole new world opened up. It felt very different from Windows 95, and I was drawn to it.

Network gaming was a big part of that era for us, too. We started with Doom, then Duke Nukem 3D, followed by competitive gaming in QuakeWorld. What started with two computers connected by a coax cable in a shed grew into a network stretching between houses in our childhood neighbourhood.

We went on to arrange smaller LAN parties with friends, borrowing or renting spaces and holding tournaments for QuakeWorld, StarCraft and many other games that have now slipped my mind. Eventually, we created a non-profit to organize bigger LAN parties for several hundred people in schools and other venues.

A few years later, I was at university with a ThinkPad running Linux. Networks were wireless by now. I still remember the joy of being able to do “anything” on those machines.

Getting it

After university, I came across David Allen’s Getting Things Done. It took years to really “get it”, but it has shaped the way I work ever since. Having a trusted system for my commitments has helped me with everything from household chores to managing a team of highly skilled engineers.

One of the best analogies I’ve heard for GTD is the calendar. Most people treat their calendar as a trusted system: they trust it to bring up meetings and events at the right time, so they don’t have to keep track of them in their heads. GTD does the same for all of life’s commitments. It’s a trusted system for your next actions, projects, responsibilities, goals, values, hopes and dreams.

Away from the keyboard

Computers were a big part of growing up, and so were motocross, dirt bikes and, later, motorcycles. I’ve always enjoyed driving in all forms, and roaring down a motocross track was the ultimate expression of that at the time. When I was old enough to take the test for a motorcycle license, I didn’t wait. I’ve been riding ever since.

Photography was another interest, combining technology with light, color and form. I’ve done portraits, travel photography, events of all sorts, and city photowalks with many great people. The most fun, though, was photographing the Stockholm Zombie Walk for a few years. People created amazing costumes and decorations, and there was a real sense of community. It was great fun being a small part of that.

And now

We’re now in the middle of another shift with AI. It’s already changing how software is built, and I believe that’s only the beginning.

Working close to technology, in all its changing forms, still brings me joy, even though technology looks very different from what it did 30 years ago.

Get in touch

Contact me.