Brad Hinkel
Product leader. Builder. Photographer. Curious human.
I’ve spent more than thirty years building software, at companies whose products you’ve probably used today. What’s held my interest the whole time is the place where technology touches the real world — where it helps people with actual goals and actual problems, not technology for its own sake. I’m a tinkerer at heart, and these days that means AI side projects at my computer desk: a D&D character generator, an Arduino weather station, an app that plans dinner for two now that the kids are off at college, a photo upscaler I built mostly to see if I could. That last one is no accident — I’m also a photographer, published and exhibited, with a stint teaching and an artist residency at the Oregon College of Art & Craft. When I’m not at a keyboard, I’m in the garden or on a hike somewhere. Home has been the Seattle area since 1985, so I’ve watched a lot of technology waves roll through this town. Right now, is the most fun it’s ever been. For the formal version of all this, my resume has the particulars.
Writing
Thoughts on leadership, product craft, and building technology that earns trust by getting out of the way.
Projects
Live code experiments — from hyperlocal weather prediction to AI-powered D&D content generation.
Currently: Helping teams adapt to the age of AI without losing the foundations that make products trustworthy.