About Me
Martin Dichtler

Martin Dichtler

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

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 engineeringā€”itā€™s where the most interesting problems live.

Building & Breaking

I'm a builder at heart. Just before joining Google, I launched deadend.aiā€”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. Thereā€™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. Itā€™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.