Arttu Viljakainen
Software development consultant
I love solving complex problems and working collaboratively with teams to achieve great outcomes. With close to 15 years of experience in the field, I'm a generalist who enjoys taking on a variety of challenges and constantly learning new things.
My focus is on hands-on software development, and I pride myself on writing high-quality code that meets the needs of the business.
However, I believe that the performance of a team is more critical than any individual's skills, and that's why I am also passionate about studying and improving teamwork and shared leadership. I'm always seeking ways to help teams work more effectively together without relying on traditional command and control structures.
I believe that diverse teams collaborating and working together with a shared purpose are key to achieving the best outcomes. It's not something that happens automatically - it needs to be fostered and nurtured.
I find meaning in doing work that matters and being committed to achieving positive outcomes. I love an environment in which teams have a high degree of autonomy and they can self-organise to meet the challenge at hand. Titles don't define what you can (or are allowed) to do - what matters is making good things happen.
I’m still learning how to combine all my interests in an optimal way to get the best outcomes.
I expect that learning path to take the rest of my career.
Humans as collaborative digital tool makers is an interesting viewpoint.
You can find me on Mastodon or LinkedIn.
If you'd like to work with me or just network, approaching on LinkedIn is a good idea. Roles in which I can coach teams or improve my (peer) leadership skills are interesting to me.
I also write to Developer Collective.
CV
Technical skills
I have been building cloud native systems, applications for custom Android tablets and desktop applications for consumers, public sector and defence.
My roles have varied from senior software developer to team lead, scrum master and usability specialist.
I have worked with various technologies, including:
- JVM (Java, Kotlin) (10+ years)
- Databases (PostgreSQL, MariaDB, ElasticSearch)
- Web technologies (React, Node, TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML/CSS)
- Cloud (Kubernetes, AWS, Containers)
- GoLang, Delphi, Swing, Android, Jetpack Compose
Hard skills
Coaching teams to be autonomous and share leadership is especially close to my heart. Some examples how I have spent time improving my teamwork, people and process skills:
- Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSM)
- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
- Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
- Certified SAFe 5 Practitioner
- Reaktor Team Builder Academy (2021)
- Reaktor Leading Teams -training (2 days, 2021)
Other activities
- 2025: Introduction to intelligence (2cr, University of Jyväskylä, online courses)
- 2022: Interview as a means of data generation (Tampere University)
- 2022: Research data management, interviews (Tampere University)
- 2019: Fraktio: Finland’s most intensive UI/UX course
- 2018: Ideo: Design Kit: The course for human-centred design
- 2017: Lemanse: Tailored React/Redux course
- 2017: FastDevCo: Node.js intro
Studies
Master of Science from the University of Eastern Finland (graduated in 2012).
- Major: Computer Science, software engineering track
- Minors: psychology, cognitive science and business economics
I'm enrolled for PhD studies in Tampere University, but my research activities are mostly on hold for now.
- I intend to research teamwork in software development
Languages
- Finnish (native)
- English (advaned)
- Swedish (basics)
My work history
I'm full time employed at Reaktor, and at the same time try to find my point of view to study teamwork.
Reaktor is a software consultancy company, so I have been working as a consultant.
Software development consultant describes my role well: development work, and everything related.
My roles have varied from senior full-stack developer to team lead, scrum master and agile coach.
At Insta, I worked as a senior software engineer, team lead & scrum master, and an usability specialist.
Delphi application developer.
Programmer in a large SAP PI integration project doing transformatios in Java and XSLT.
I was a Java developer trainee for 3 monts in summer 2008.
I started programming somewhere around 1999. My first language was QBasic and I later switched to Turbo Pascal, which I really liked.
This was the time I probably enjoyed programming the most: I had no idea what I was doing, and I was learning this alone.
I spent a lot of time at library trying to find relevant books or online resources for programming. I built ASCII games using IF-ELSE technology, because I knew of nothing else.
The spark of programming stayed and I never really thought of doing anything else for a living.