Harald Solaas
I started meditating at 15, teaching at 16, and writing code at 20. I haven’t stopped doing any of them.
I build things that outlive me.
50 volunteers, 500+ lives touched
Led 50 volunteers as part of a team to teach 500+ people in a Buenos Aires slum. Built the volunteer infrastructure, then stepped away. The program continues to this day without him.
A basketball team from nothing
Created a basketball team at age 29 because he was too old to join one. Built it from nothing, played for two years, then left due to injury. The team kept playing for two more years.
From 14 prod crashes to near-zero
At Cruise (autonomous vehicles, Silicon Valley), inherited a codebase with 20% test coverage and 14 crashes/month. Left it at 70%+ coverage with 0.3 crashes/month. The testing infrastructure he built became the team’s foundation.
I see the humans behind the system.
A psychologist’s son
Father was a psychologist and organizational consultant. From childhood, Hari learned to see systems as collections of people — their motivations, rewards, and sense of belonging.
Youngest trauma relief teacher in Latin America
At 15, became the youngest Art of Living trauma relief teacher in Latin America. Worked with people who lost homes in Villa La Angostura. Worked with orphans, rehab youth, and past criminals. Learned that behind every difficult exterior, there’s a story and there’s love.
The bridge between engineering and people
At Carewell, rebuilt a healthcare platform so exhausted family caregivers could find what they need faster. At Estée Lauder, a React component library serving 200+ ecommerce sites wasn’t about code — it was about the person trying to buy a product. At every company, ended up as the bridge between engineering and product — because he sees the humans, not just the code.
I go to the last percentile.
Autonomous vehicle analytics
Built the analytics platform used by executives and operations staff across the company. Reduced execution time by 90% on critical components.
$21M healthcare platform rebuild
I was a key member of a team of four engineers that rebuilt a $21M healthcare ecommerce platform using React, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, and GraphQL. The site loads instantly, works without JavaScript, and achieves exceptional SEO scores. It launched on time, with increased engagement and sales.
200+ brand sites globally
Built flexible, reusable components serving 200+ brand sites globally. Reduced time to first interaction. Multi-tenancy at the extreme — every deployment matters when hundreds of thousands of users depend on it daily.
“Not leaving anything for later. Going to the one percentile of making the user experience awesome. Optimizing as much as it makes sense, as much as it adds value.”
Technology should serve people, not replace them.
Streaming platform for wellbeing
Built gamification for the Art of Living Foundation's streaming platform with thousands of monthly users, deepening engagement with meditation and wellbeing content.
Tools that build the future
Built tools that helped car engineers, testers, and data scientists visualize hundreds of thousands of data points from autonomous drives. Building the tools that build the future of transportation.
Technology for vulnerable moments
Making healthcare supplies accessible to families caring for aging loved ones. Technology that reduces friction in a moment of vulnerability.
Financial access for 50,000+
Gave 50,000+ Latin Americans easier access to their PayPal funds — international transfers, withdrawals, credit card management.
Inspired by Muhammad Yunus
Inspired by the “Banker to the Poor” — the idea that systems (financial, technological, organizational) can be designed to serve people who have been forgotten.
“I want to make technology your ally, your friend — not a threat.”
I bring joy to the work.
Too old to join, so he built one
Too old to join a team at 29, so he created one. Joined an amateur league. It became its own living thing.
Three years in a slum
Teaching teenagers breathing techniques, human values, how to be kids again. Helping adolescents leave crime. Showing that there’s another way.
Teacher since 2022
Teaching courses, building community on social media, learning to sell with authenticity, networking, building volunteer groups rooted in ethics.
9 years of daily practice
9 years of daily Sudarshan Kriya breathing practice and meditation. Joy isn’t accidental — it’s a discipline.
“Having fun while we do the things that need to be done. Celebrating our victories, learning from our defeats and keeping our chin up.”