Pete Isensee

Tantalon Consulting

Software training, advice, and solutions

Is your team up to date on modern C++ best practices? Are your interviews consistently identifying great hires? Do you need advice on shipping an SDK? Do you want to improve your software leadership skills? Need help identifying performance bottlenecks? Are you using AI for software development effectively? Could your code be more readable?

I work with organizations worldwide to improve software and the people who build software. Engagements are tailored to each client and project, and typically include:

• Analysis: What's the core issue? This typically involves conversations, surveys, code reviews and so forth.
• Audit: What does the data show? Where are the bottlenecks? Where are the opportunities? How does solving the problem improve your business? We collaborate to uncover the truth.
• Recommendation: What should you do? What are the pros and cons of the options? What do next steps look like? I provide a detailed report.
• Implementation: Depending on the project, your needs, and my skillset, I may do the work outright, provide training, host workshops, give presentations, review code, help with sourcing, or recommend third party solutions.
• Follow Through: My goal is that you never need my services on the same issue twice. We work together to implement a culture of self-sufficiency.

Principles

My guiding principles:

• Custom Solutions: Every project and team is different. There's not a one size fits all approach. I dedicate time to understand your vision and needs, and then craft solutions that fit your actual challenges. You get practical, tailored solutions, not theoretical advice from a textbook or AI.
• Deep Partnerships: Real impact comes from spending time with your team, understanding your goals, and being engaged throughout the implementation. I commit to providing honest feedback, technical guidance and collaborative problem-solving. I'm dedicated to your long-term success, and the best path to success is through relationships.
• Direct Connections: There's no substitute for being in the room. While remote work has its place, the most effective consulting and retained learning happens face-to-face. Interactive lectures, whiteboard sessions, impromptu conversations, and high bandwidth Q&A create breakthroughs that video calls can't replicate.
• Educational Culture: I want your team to be stronger and more self-sufficient. If I become indispensable, then I've failed. I teach while doing, and help encourage your team to do the same. When our engagement ends, you're not left dependent on an external expert, but your team has new capabilities, better practices, and the confidence to tackle future challenges on your own.

Specialties

My technical specialties are:

• Modern C++
• High Performance Code
• Code Readability
• Software that Endures

I love helping teams who build systems where every millisecond and megabyte counts. I love training software experts on the latest performance best practices. I have relevant experience in:

• Game Development
• AR and VR
• Embedded Systems
• AI and Machine Learning
• SDK Delivery
• Developer Ecosystems

My people focused specialties include:

• Cultivating Engineering Leaders
• Improving Technical Interviews
• Crafting Hiring Assessment Systems
• Coaching and Mentorship
• Performance Management Processes

About Me

I'm a software engineer and people leader based in Kirkland, WA. I started writing code during the desktop era and had a front seat for the web, mobile, spatial/XR, and AI waves. Along the way I've made video games, shipped three generations of Xbox consoles at Microsoft, created VR experiences at HBO, led the creation of advanced AR/VR technologies at Meta, published dozens of technical articles, and taught C++ tips & tricks to developers worldwide. I love optimizing code. My hobbies include backpacking, wine tasting, and listening to yacht rock.

Full resume.

Spoken

I speak at conferences and events worldwide. Here are some recent public presentations.

• Evolution of a Median Algorithm at CppCon 2023.
• Destructor Case Studies: Best Practices for Safe and Efficient Teardown at CppCon 2019.

If you need an expert to speak at your team retreat, or an independent third party to present to your leadership team, I'm happy to craft the right presentation for you.

Written

Back in the day, I wrote magazine articles and contributed to the Game Programming Gems book series. Now I post code to Github, short musings on LinkedIn, and longer posts to my blog.

My Story

When I was a teenager, desktop computers were still a novelty. It was the age of Apple IIs and Commodore 64s. My dad, an accountant, thought a home computer might be useful. He could create things called spreadsheets and write documents without needing whiteout. I thought playing computer games would be cool.

So we took an overnight train to San Francisco. It was my first visit to a big city, my first time riding in a taxi or eating at a fancy restaurant. We attended Applefest. It was overwhelming, with thousands of vendors selling products in a huge underground space. My eyes bugged out of my head.

Dad picked out an Apple computer, monitor, floppy drives, and VisiCalc. I tested out video games and brought home Choplifter and Wizardry. I still have Wizardry in my home office.

That trip changed my life. I fell in love with computers and programming. I transcribed source code listings from Byte magazine. I learned about data structures and algorithms. I wrote software for a local lumber company and got paid for it. After college, I got a real job in the software industry, then later on in the video game industry.

Which leads to the second part of my story. In 1996, I attended the Computer Game Developers Conference, witnessing a mind melting technical postmortem of Quake by Michael Abrash. Near the end of the talk, he emphasized the importance of knowledge sharing. The final transparency—they weren’t called slides then—said: "Sharing knowledge makes the world a better place," and Michael's exact quote was "sharing information is cool."

Before that moment, I was a software engineer. At that moment, I realized my calling to be an educator and advocate, helping other software engineers improve. I started mentoring, speaking at conferences, writing articles, posting blogs, and hosting educational events.

In 2025, I formed Tantalon Consulting to give back to the software community. If I can bring some software insight and improvement to your venture, it would be my honor, because sharing knowledge does indeed make the world a better place.

Contact

To initiate a discussion, ask a question, tell me about your favorite wine, or suggest a great hiking destination, shoot me an email.

Our first meeting is free. Rate sheet available on request. Rate discounts for schools, small companies and startups.

Email Pete