About — Brad van Elsen

Four Decades of
Breaking & Building Machines

Most people discover technology. Brad grew up inside it. From hand-typing BASIC into a Commodore 64 as a kid to reverse-engineering Amiga 500 systems before most people had heard of the internet — he's been pulling hardware and software apart since before it was cool.

When Linux arrived in 1998, everything changed. What started as curiosity became an obsession, then a career, then a way of life. For over 25 years, Brad has lived at the intersection of open-source systems, networking infrastructure, and software engineering — building, automating, and architecting solutions across every layer of the stack.

The Journey

1980s

Commodore 64

Started programming in BASIC on the legendary C64. While other kids were playing games, Brad was writing them — hand-typing code from magazines and modifying programs line by line. The foundation of a systems thinker.

Early 90s

Amiga 500 Hacking

Graduated to the Amiga 500 and dove deep into the demoscene culture — pushing hardware beyond its documented limits. Custom boot sequences, memory manipulation, disk crackers. Learning how machines really work by making them do things they weren't supposed to.

1998

Linux & The Internet

Discovered Linux and the open-source movement. Set up his first servers, fell in love with the command line, and never looked back. From that point forward, every personal machine, every server, every project ran on Linux. Still does.

2000s

Networking & Infrastructure

Earned the Cisco CCNA certification and spent years designing and managing network infrastructure. Enterprise routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs — understanding the plumbing that makes the internet work from the ground up.

2010s

Full-Stack Engineering

Completed a Bachelor of Information Technology and transitioned into full-stack software development. TypeScript, React, Node.js, PostgreSQL, cloud architecture — building production systems at scale with the deep infrastructure knowledge that most developers never acquire.

Now

Van Elsen AI

Currently pursuing a Master of Information Technology while running Van Elsen AI — building bespoke AI-powered applications and complete automation systems for businesses. The rare combination of hardware roots, network engineering, full-stack development, and AI integration — all in one person.

Philosophy

"I've spent my life understanding how machines think.
Now I make them think for you."

Brad isn't a developer who learned some AI tools. He's a lifelong systems engineer who understands computing from the bare metal up — transistors to TCP/IP to TypeScript to transformers. That depth means Van Elsen AI doesn't just bolt AI onto your business. We architect it into the foundation.

Credentials & Expertise

B.IT

Bachelor of Information Technology

Formal foundation in software engineering, systems architecture, database design, and computer science fundamentals.

M.IT

Master of IT (In Progress)

Advanced study in AI systems, machine learning, enterprise architecture, and emerging technology — because the learning never stops.

CCNA

Cisco Certified Network Associate

Enterprise networking, routing & switching, network security. Understanding infrastructure at the packet level.

25+

Years with Linux

Server administration, shell scripting, system automation, containerisation. Linux isn't just a tool — it's home.

40+

Years Writing Code

From Commodore BASIC to TypeScript. Four decades of solving problems with code across every paradigm and platform.

12+

Platform Integrations

Stripe, Twilio, Supabase, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, Mailgun — proven ability to orchestrate complex multi-vendor systems.

Brad van Elsen, B.IT, CCNA

Four Decades of
Breaking & Building Machines

Commodore 64

Amiga 500 Hacking

Linux & The Internet

Networking & Infrastructure

Full-Stack Engineering

Van Elsen AI

Bachelor of Information Technology

Master of IT (In Progress)

Cisco Certified Network Associate

Years with Linux

Years Writing Code

Platform Integrations

Let's Build Something
That Runs Itself

Brad van Elsen, B.IT, CCNA

Four Decades ofBreaking & Building Machines

Commodore 64

Amiga 500 Hacking

Linux & The Internet

Networking & Infrastructure

Full-Stack Engineering

Van Elsen AI

Bachelor of Information Technology

Master of IT (In Progress)

Cisco Certified Network Associate

Years with Linux

Years Writing Code

Platform Integrations

Let's Build SomethingThat Runs Itself

Four Decades of
Breaking & Building Machines

Let's Build Something
That Runs Itself