Allen Holub

Software Architect, Agile Coach, Author

Allen Holub will show you how to break through organizational resistance and get leadership buy-in for innovation. Then in his hands-on masterclass, you'll learn how to design flexible domain-driven architectures that welcome change using incremental development, Domain-Driven Design and event-driven patterns. Expect real-world strategies, practical exercises and insights that will transform both how you build software and how you get your team on board.

Talks at GOTO Copenhagen 2025

Masterclasses at GOTO Copenhagen 2025

Allen Holub has been writing software since dinosaurs roamed the earth, starting in high school on an IBM 360/65 enthroned in its air-conditioned glass-walled room and fed punch cards by white-clad priests. Since then, he's written two operating systems and several compilers and contributed to several commercial and open-source products, all without punch cards. He's been a CTO for early-stage startups and a Principal Architect for a medium-sized one. He's authored a gazillion articles and a dozen books, some used as texts at U.C. Berkeley, MIT, Cal Tech, and IIT. He was a contributing editor at Dr. Dobb’s Journal and JavaWorld.

Allen has an international reputation in practical software development processes and software architecture. He has worked as an independent consultant for decades, helping companies become more effective at writing software and working with all levels of the organization, from the CEO to sitting down and mobbing with the teams. He also teaches classes on software architecture and effective development practices. He was the Chan-Norris Distinguished (no less) Professor of Computer Science at Mills College.

Allen plays the piano, rides a bicycle, and flies small airplanes, but not at the same time.

Warm up with his conversation about software with Uncle Bob: A Path to Better Programming • Robert "Uncle Bob" Martin & Allen Holub