11 Years and 7 Months at Elsight: What Made the Journey Matter

More than a decade is a lot to fit into one post.

When I reached ten years at Elsight, I tried to capture ten lessons from the journey. This time, a list did not feel right. This chapter is not only about what I learned. It is about the people, the belief, the difficult moments, the laughter, and the things we built together.

When I joined Elsight, it was a private company with a team small enough to count on one hand.

The scale today would have been hard to imagine when I joined.

Elsight is now listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, its team is roughly ten times larger, and its customers span several continents. As I write this on August 30, 2026, its market value is above A$1 billion.

Along the way, Halo became its flagship platform.

That is a remarkable journey to have shared.

The farewell also had kind words, laughter, hugs, and some very memorable cookies. The cookies deserved their own photo, naturally.

Growing With the Company

I joined Elsight as a junior developer and grew into a senior software engineer as the company changed around me.

At my farewell, I was reminded that one of my first projects involved a smart suitcase. From there, the work moved through desktop software, mobile applications, embedded devices, cloud services, frontend systems, automation, and AI.

I had the opportunity to touch many technologies and many parts of the product. Sometimes we had established tools and clear answers. Often, we had neither. We had to investigate, experiment, debate, and create a solution together.

Some of the code I wrote when I first arrived is apparently still there. At the farewell, I suggested deleting it so nobody has to suffer from it. For the record, I did improve over the years.

Nobody starts with a decade of experience. We grow by doing the work, learning from others, revisiting decisions, and doing better the next time.

More Than Knowing the Code

One comment at the farewell stayed with me. A colleague said that people could ask me not only how something worked, but also why it worked that way.

After enough years, you remember the history behind the system. You remember what came before, what was replaced, which constraints shaped a decision, and why the obvious answer today was not always possible at the time.

That context is easy to lose, but it is valuable. Good engineering is not only about writing code that works now. It is also about helping the next person understand, maintain, and improve it.

One question guided much of my work:

What can I do today that will make life easier for someone who joins one, three, or five years from now?

That could mean clearer code, better automation, useful documentation, a thoughtful review, or simply taking the time to explain the reason behind a decision.

What Kept Me at Elsight

People often asked me what kept me at one company for so long.

My answer was always the same: belief.

That has not changed. I still believe in the company, the people, and the product.

That belief mattered most during the difficult periods, when the outcome was uncertain but the problems still felt worth solving together.

The People Made the Journey

Technology changed many times during those years. The people are what made the journey memorable.

I learned from many colleagues, and I am proud that many people also learned from me. We shared challenging periods, many laughs, and more than a few long investigations.

Most importantly, colleagues became friends.

 

A Chapter Comes to a Close

Today, this chapter comes to a close.

I am grateful for everything I learned, everything we built, and everyone who shared this journey with me.

And the next chapter? More on that when the time and place are right.

Thank you.