Consulting and technical leadership for organizations that want engineering substance over engineering theater.
What we do
From initial prototype to production system. We've built at every scale, from two-person startups to government-grade infrastructure serving hundreds of thousands of users.
Part-time technical leadership for companies that need senior engineering judgment without a full-time executive hire. We've led teams from two to thirty people.
An outside perspective on what you've built, what you're building, and what will become expensive. Includes honest assessments, not comfortable ones.
Technical founders often under-communicate. We help translate engineering substance into the language investors, boards, and procurement committees actually respond to.
We've kept systems running for over fifteen years. We take on maintenance contracts for software that needs to stay alive and secure without constant attention.
For larger builds that need a full team and real coordination, we can staff and lead the engineering effort from specification through delivery.
How we engage
Most projects begin with imperfect specifications and reveal their true shape as the system is built. This is not a failure of planning — it is the nature of the domain. Risk is inherent, and it lives on both sides of any engagement.
We make this explicit from the first conversation. Estimates are hypotheses, not commitments. Scope will evolve. The engagements that work are the ones structured to absorb that honestly — with clear communication, short feedback loops, and a shared understanding of what is known, what is assumed, and what will only become clear by doing.
Clients who expect certainty upfront are not a good fit. Clients who want a partner who will tell them what's actually going on, and adjust with them — those conversations tend to go well.
About
Artilect US is led by Marcus Persson Rydberg — a Swedish engineer, two-time founder, and O-1 visa holder based in Texas. He started writing software professionally in 2003 and has not stopped.
Before Artilect US, he co-founded Luminare, a clinical AI company that built sepsis detection and public health infrastructure for major US health systems and government clients. He spent a decade in clinical settings, navigating the particular discipline required when software failure has real consequences.
Before that, Artilect AB — a data platform serving the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Aid. Before that, a search engine built on a dataset of the entire Swedish population. Before that, KTH.
Artilect US draws on a close network of engineers and former colleagues — many from the Luminare years, and backed in part by Artilect AB in Sweden. For larger engagements or when specific expertise is needed, the right people are available. This is a small group who have built serious things together, not a directory of contractors.
Thinking
In an era of abundant code generation, the bottleneck is no longer writing code — it's verifying, aligning, and interpreting it. The practices worth defending are the ones that conserve human attention and keep feedback loops short.
"In a world of abundant generation, engineering becomes the discipline of verifying, aligning, and interpreting systems — using both technical feedback loops and human judgment to continuously reconstruct truth from multiple imperfect signals."
A working synthesis of twenty years of practice, incorporating Dave Farley, Kent Beck, Andy Grove, Donella Meadows, Nassim Taleb, and others. On what engineering actually is, why feedback loops matter more than frameworks, and how to lead technical teams without burning them down.
Read it →Contact
We're selective about engagements. Before reaching out, it helps to have a sense of scope, timeline, and what a successful outcome looks like for you. We'll respond promptly and honestly, including if we're not the right fit.