As a curious and motivated self-learner, Kelsey Hightower gained an interest in computing at a young age and started his IT career by opening a small consulting shop 20 years ago. From those beginnings his career progressed quickly, eventually passing through the halls of Google, Puppet Labs, New Relic, and CoreOS.

Hightower is a system administrator by trade, a programmer by necessity, but a problem-solver at heart. With a passion for helping others, many successful speaking and teaching engagements under his belt, and a proven track record of getting things done and enabling others, he hopes to solve the many problems facing IT culture by equipping people with the mental and computational software they need to succeed in the competitive world of technology.