About Me

About Me


I'm Martin. I build software, take photos of animals, and I'm currently figuring out how to run a farm.

In January 2026, I moved from Slovakia to Krakow, Poland, to join Google. Currently, I'm a Software Engineer working on Google Messages.

The Engineering Path

Before Google, I spent time at AT&T and Vacuumlabs.

At AT&T, I wore a few hats. As a Lead System Engineer for their MVNO business, I led an international team building external-facing platforms and an internal identity system to manage roles and permissions across multiple customer apps and APIs. Before that, as a Business Unit Project Manager, I ideated and led a project that saved the company over $30M.

At Vacuumlabs, I moved from Product Owner in the finance space to managing a Data Analytics team. I've always liked the intersection of product, data, and engineering—it’s where the most interesting problems live.

Building & Breaking

I'm a builder at heart. Just before joining Google, I launched deadend.ai—a platform for "semantic 404s" (think smart redirects for hallucinated links). I had to shut it down due to a conflict of interest with my current role, which was a bit of a bummer, but the experiment was worth it.

Nowadays, when I'm not at my desk, I'm working on a 2D MMORPG. It's my current "forever project."

The Polish Farm

My girlfriend and I (plus our two dogs) are planning to start a small, self-sustainable farm here in Poland. We're aiming for a bit of a slower life to balance out the high-intensity SWE world. The plan includes goats, lot of gardening, and a lot of learning.

I'm also passionate about wildlife photography. There’s something about waiting hours for the right shot that makes you a better, more patient engineer.

What's this blog about?

Everything mentioned above. I write about software engineering, life in Poland, photography tech, and eventually, the lessons we learn from our goats. It’s a mix of technical deep-dives and reflections on work-life balance for developers.

If you want to see the full timeline, check out my LinkedIn.

Disclaimer: This article is based on my personal experiences and research. The opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not represent those of my employer, or its affiliates.

Martin Dichtler

Martin Dichtler

Software Engineer @ Google, šŸ¦†šŸ Farmer & Builder