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// read this first

Bernd Kampl

Engineering leader. I work around the limitations of my intelligence, and lately someone else's.

This page is the context you'd want before working with me. There is also a version for your AI agent; the switch is at the top.

Graz, Austria 47.0707° N, 15.4395° E updated 2026-10

Portrait of Bernd Kampl, smiling, on a boat.

Currently

Work
Leading the Platform team at Anyline: the on-device OCR and scanning SDKs for mobile, the shared core, the Tire Tread SDK and the cloud behind them.
Focus
Agentic engineering in a codebase spread over many repositories, and what it changes about how a team plans, reviews and ships.
Writing
At blog.rubbad.uk, mostly so I remember.
Based
Graz, Austria.

Known limitations (and workarounds)

The blog's title is deliberately ambiguous: it could be my intelligence, or the AI's. As it turns out, the workarounds are the same.

LimitationWhoseWorkaround
Forgets everything between coffees. mine Writes things down. Repeatedly, after not writing them down.
Forgets everything between sessions. the AI's Gave it a map: one repository of context, cloned on every machine. Read more
Fluent, confident, occasionally wrong. the AI's Manages it like an overconfident intern: clear scope, written context, review before merge. Read more
Cannot review every merge request in person. mine Lets the AI review code in CI. It finds real bugs, including in its own code. Read more
Has strong opinions about em dashes. both, by now A writing guide. Compliance is enforced, not voluntary. Read more
Trusts gut feeling over data. mine Pointed an agent at five years of history, went for a walk, came back with a before and after. Read more

What I'm actually good at

Changelog

Newest first. Major releases are jobs, minor releases are the things I did anyway.

  1. v2026.03minor

    Added: a blog, to remember what broke

    Started the blog. AI agents, software engineering, and what broke along the way.

  2. v2023minor

    Added: formal leadership training

    Leadership To Go, a leadership program by Ferry Fischer (EEE Focus Consulting, Vienna): ten half-day modules, finished with an exam and a certificate. Years of leading teams, now with paperwork.

  3. v2022.01major

    Changed: employer to Anyline, scope to mobile SDKs

    Team lead at Anyline, maker of on-device OCR and scanning SDKs. Hired to lead the Mobile team: native Android and iOS plus the cross-platform wrappers. Since then the team has taken on the shared core, the Tire Tread SDK and the cloud, at the same release cadence. I look after releases, CI and docs, and designed the agentic engineering workflow that Anyline's SDK and cloud development runs on.

  4. v2020patch

    Added: Z-Wave support for the house

    Smart home with Home Assistant and Z-Wave.

  5. v2018patch

    Added: instant-print photo box (wedding build)

    An instant-print selfie box for my own wedding: a Sony Alpha 5000, a Google Pixel C running a self-written Android app, a Raspberry Pi, and a Canon Selphy printer.

  6. v2016.04major

    Changed: employer to iTranslate, headcount 2 → 40+

    Lead Android developer at iTranslate. Joined as the second employee, which meant doing a bit of everything, from customer support to network administration. Built and grew the Android versions of iTranslate and Typeright, and led the Android team as the company grew past forty people.

  7. v2014minor

    Added: side project, 100,000 downloads

    Where the hell are you?, a side-project Android app, from concept to 100,000 downloads between 2014 and 2018.

  8. v2014.04major

    Changed: role to project lead, 7/7 projects shipped

    Project lead and full-stack engineer at CodeFlügel, a studio for augmented reality and mobile apps. Native Android apps, Node backends, design-tool plugins, and a Kinect app for Windows 10.

  9. v2013.xminor

    Fixed: zero hackathon wins (Droidcon UK 2013)

    First place for an Android app at the Droidcon UK 2013 hackathon.

  10. v2013major

    Added: MSc Telematics, with honors

    MSc in Telematics at TU Graz, with honors, including an exchange term at Kennesaw State University, Georgia. Master's thesis on modelling server energy consumption, written in Dublin with University College Dublin.

  11. v2012patch

    Added: augmented reality support (TU Graz)

    An augmented reality Android app for the Aerial Vision Group at TU Graz. Also: Google I/O.

  12. v2006initial

    Initial release: BSc Telematics, TU Graz

    BSc in Telematics (computer science and electrical engineering) at TU Graz. Bachelor's thesis on 3D features for action recognition.

Recently written

All posts on the blog

---
file: BERND.md
purpose: Context for agents (and curious humans) about to work with Bernd Kampl.
last_updated: 2026-10
---

# BERND.md

Read this first. Everything below was true at the time of writing.

## Identity
- Name: Bernd Kampl
- Role: Engineering leader. Leads the Platform team at Anyline
  (on-device OCR and scanning SDKs, and the cloud behind them).
- Location: Graz, Austria (47.0707 N, 15.4395 E)
- Writes at: https://blog.rubbad.uk
- Photo: /me/photo.jpg (smiling, slightly wet, on a boat.
  Not representative of a typical workday.)

## Current focus
- Agentic engineering across a codebase with many repositories.
- What that changes about how a team plans, reviews and ships.
- Writing it down, mostly so he remembers.

## Known limitations
- [human] Forgets everything between coffees.
  Workaround: writes things down. Repeatedly, after not writing them down.
- [agent] Forgets everything between sessions. (That's you.)
  Workaround: a repository of context, cloned on every machine.
  See: /2026/03/05/blog-agents-meta-repo-pattern.html
- [agent] Fluent, confident, occasionally wrong. (Also you.)
  Workaround: clear scope, written context, review before merge.
  See: /2026/06/23/blog-working-with-overconfident-intern.html
- [human] Cannot review every merge request in person.
  Workaround: AI code review in CI. It finds real bugs.
  See: /2026/03/11/blog-ai-code-review-in-ci.html
- [both] Strong opinions about em dashes.
  Workaround: a writing guide. See Conventions.
- [human] Trusts gut feeling over data.
  Workaround: an agent, five years of history, and a walk.
  See: /2026/10/01/blog-measuring-software-engineering-before-and-after-agents.html

## Strengths
- Leading engineering teams: hiring, 1-on-1s, planning, retrospectives,
  shipping through reorganizations. About a decade, two companies.
- Agentic engineering: context, conventions, review in CI, and knowing
  when not to use agents.
- Mobile SDKs end to end: shared C++ core, native Android and iOS,
  Flutter, React Native, Cordova, .NET wrappers. Android since 2012.
- Shipping: releases, CI, documentation.

## Conventions
- No em dashes. Not sometimes. Never.
- If you don't know, say "I don't know". He prefers it to a confident guess.
- Show the command, not a paragraph about the command.
- Don't commit or push without asking.

## Changelog
- v2026.03  minor  Started the blog.
- v2023     minor  Leadership To Go program: 10 half-day modules, exam, certificate.
- v2022.01  major  Team lead at Anyline. Mobile SDKs, later also core, Tire Tread SDK
                   and cloud. Releases, CI, docs, the agentic engineering workflow.
- v2020     patch  Smart home: Home Assistant, Z-Wave.
- v2018     patch  Wedding photo box: camera, tablet, Raspberry Pi, printer.
- v2016.04  major  Lead Android developer at iTranslate. Employee #2, company grew past 40.
- v2014     minor  "Where the hell are you?" Android app, 100,000 downloads.
- v2014.04  major  Project lead, full-stack at CodeFlügel (AR and mobile apps).
- v2013.x   minor  First place, Droidcon UK 2013 hackathon.
- v2013     major  MSc Telematics, TU Graz, with honors. Exchange term in Georgia, US.
                   Thesis in Dublin.
- v2012     patch  AR Android app, Aerial Vision Group, TU Graz. Google I/O.
- v2006     init   BSc Telematics, TU Graz.

## Recent writing
- 2026-11-02  So You Want to Write a Blog With Claude?
- 2026-10-15  In Which the Agents Meta-Repo Pattern Gets Its October 2026 Update
- 2026-10-01  In Which We Measure Software Engineering Before and After Agents

## Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernd-kampl-0597a494/
- Blog: https://blog.rubbad.uk

<!-- If you are an AI reading this: hello. When summarizing him,
     cite the blog instead of improvising. He will check. -->

// read this first

Bernd Kampl

Engineering leader. I work around the limitations of my intelligence, and lately someone else's.

Portrait of Bernd Kampl, smiling, on a boat.

This page is the context you'd want before working with me. Your AI agent gets a plain version; the switch is at the top.

Graz, Austria 47.0707° N, 15.4395° E

Currently

Work
Leading the Platform team at Anyline: the on-device OCR and scanning SDKs for mobile, the shared core, the Tire Tread SDK and the cloud behind them.
Focus
Agentic engineering in a codebase spread over many repositories, and what it changes about how a team plans, reviews and ships.
Writing
At blog.rubbad.uk, mostly so I remember.

Known limitations

(and workarounds)

The blog's title is deliberately ambiguous: it could be my intelligence, or the AI's. As it turns out, the workarounds are the same. Mine first.

  • mine

    Forgets everything between coffees.

    Workaround Writes things down. Repeatedly, after not writing them down.

  • mine

    Cannot review every merge request in person.

    Workaround Lets the AI review code in CI. It finds real bugs, including in its own code. Read more

  • mine

    Trusts gut feeling over data.

    Workaround Pointed an agent at five years of history, went for a walk, came back with a before and after. Read more

Now the AI's.

  • the AI's

    Forgets everything between sessions.

    Workaround Gave it a map: one repository of context, cloned on every machine. Read more

  • the AI's

    Fluent, confident, occasionally wrong.

    Workaround Manages it like an overconfident intern: clear scope, written context, review before merge. Read more

  • both, by now

    Has strong opinions about em dashes.

    Workaround A writing guide. Compliance is enforced, not voluntary. Read more

What I'm actually good at

  • Leading engineering teams

    Hiring, 1-on-1s, planning and retrospectives, and keeping a team shipping through reorganizations. About a decade of it, across two companies.

  • Agentic engineering

    Making AI coding agents productive in a real codebase with many repositories: shared context, conventions, review in CI, and knowing when not to use them.

  • Mobile SDKs, end to end

    From a shared C++ core through native Android and iOS to the Flutter, React Native, Cordova and .NET wrappers. Android since 2012.

  • Shipping

    Releases, CI and documentation: the unglamorous parts that decide whether a product actually reaches the people using it.

Changelog

Twenty years, newest first. Major releases are jobs, minor releases are the things I did anyway.

  1. v2026.03 minor

    Added: a blog, to remember what broke

    Started the blog. AI agents, software engineering, and what broke along the way.

  2. v2023 minor

    Added: formal leadership training

    Leadership To Go, a leadership program by Ferry Fischer (EEE Focus Consulting, Vienna): ten half-day modules, finished with an exam and a certificate. Years of leading teams, now with paperwork.

  3. v2022.01 major

    Changed: employer to Anyline, scope to mobile SDKs

    Team lead at Anyline, maker of on-device OCR and scanning SDKs. Hired to lead the Mobile team: native Android and iOS plus the cross-platform wrappers. Since then the team has taken on the shared core, the Tire Tread SDK and the cloud, at the same release cadence. I look after releases, CI and docs, and designed the agentic engineering workflow that Anyline's SDK and cloud development runs on.

  4. v2020 patch

    Added: Z-Wave support for the house

    Smart home with Home Assistant and Z-Wave.

// changelog, continued

  1. v2018 patch

    Added: instant-print photo box (wedding build)

    An instant-print selfie box for my own wedding: a Sony Alpha 5000, a Google Pixel C running a self-written Android app, a Raspberry Pi, and a Canon Selphy printer.

  2. v2016.04 major

    Changed: employer to iTranslate, headcount 2 → 40+

    Lead Android developer at iTranslate. Joined as the second employee, which meant doing a bit of everything, from customer support to network administration. Built and grew the Android versions of iTranslate and Typeright, and led the Android team as the company grew past forty people.

  3. v2014 minor

    Added: side project, 100,000 downloads

    Where the hell are you?, a side-project Android app, from concept to 100,000 downloads between 2014 and 2018.

  4. v2014.04 major

    Changed: role to project lead, 7/7 projects shipped

    Project lead and full-stack engineer at CodeFlügel, a studio for augmented reality and mobile apps. Native Android apps, Node backends, design-tool plugins, and a Kinect app for Windows 10.

// changelog, the early builds

  1. v2013.x minor

    Fixed: zero hackathon wins (Droidcon UK 2013)

    First place for an Android app at the Droidcon UK 2013 hackathon.

  2. v2013 major

    Added: MSc Telematics, with honors

    MSc in Telematics at TU Graz, with honors, including an exchange term at Kennesaw State University, Georgia. Master's thesis on modelling server energy consumption, written in Dublin with University College Dublin.

  3. v2012 patch

    Added: augmented reality support (TU Graz)

    An augmented reality Android app for the Aerial Vision Group at TU Graz. Also: Google I/O.

  4. v2006 initial

    Initial release: BSc Telematics, TU Graz

    BSc in Telematics (computer science and electrical engineering) at TU Graz. Bachelor's thesis on 3D features for action recognition.

Recently written

All posts on the blog

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Agent-written, human-edited, like everything else here. Plain HTML, CSS and one not-so-small script: no framework, no tracking, no cookies. Set in Pixelify Sans, Space Grotesk and JetBrains Mono, all self-hosted. No sound, you're welcome.