Hi, I’m Ron Veen — a lifelong software developer with a soft spot for clean code and curious ideas.
My career began back in the IBM midrange days, wrangling systems like the S/36, S/38, and what we now know as the AS/400 (iSeries, i5—you name it). That’s where I first cut my teeth on Cobol and RPG, in all their glorious formats.
As the tech landscape evolved, so did I. From Clipper experiments to a long-standing focus on Java, my journey has always been about staying curious and adapting with purpose.Along the way, I’ve written a few books (you can find them here) and eventually found my way onto conference stages—sharing thoughts on Java, software architecture, and more recently, AI (because who can resist?). Below, you’ll find my official conference bio—because if you’re like me, you might want the short version and the long one.
Ron is a seasoned software engineer with extensive experience ranging from Microservices to mainframes. His passion for software engineering and architecture has been his guiding force throughout his career. With over 20 years of expertise in the JVM and the Java ecosystem, Ron is an Oracle Certified Java Programmer (OCP) and a certified Sun Business Component Developer (SCBCD/OCPBCD).
A dedicated Java enthusiast, Ron also has a keen interest in alternative JVM languages, particularly Kotlin. At Team Rockstars IT, he serves as a Special Agent and lead developer, frequently speaking at international conferences. Ron is the author of books on Java Cloud-native migrations with Jakarta EE and on Virtual Threads, Structured Concurrency, and Scoped Values. He has also co-written a book on Kotlin.