Keystone Profile – Erling Sung Sletta
Erling Sung Sletta – From Coding to Contribution
When Erling Sung Sletta decided to take a year off during his master’s degree in “Algorithms and Computers” at NTNU, he was looking for practical experience. A chance to apply his passion for programming in a real-world setting, which led him to Keystone, where he joined the development team full-time in 2023.
During his gap year, Erling worked primarily on SmartHub, Keystone’s central platform for storing and transferring data between applications. Though it operates quietly in the background, SmartHub plays a vital role in many of Keystone’s software solutions. Erling’s contributions were focused on supporting AkerBP by helping adapt and improve SmartHub’s backend infrastructure to meet their operational needs.
Working out of the Stavanger office, Erling found himself quickly immersed in meaningful and challenging tasks. He particularly enjoyed seeing his backend work surface in user-facing tools like Report View, a dashboard used on offshore rigs.
“Seeing my code show up in Report View, something people actually use offshore, gave me a different kind of motivation. It reminded me that my job is not just about writing clean code, it’s about building something useful.”
At the same time, his work at Keystone offered new learning curves, such as picking up PHP, a programming language he hadn’t worked with before. Adapting to a new language and framework pushed him to think differently and boosted his confidence as a developer.
“Learning PHP really expanded how I think about solving problems. It challenged me to see patterns in new ways and made me a more flexible programmer.”
The supportive environment in Stavanger made a big difference too, offering both a welcoming culture and plenty of opportunities to grow. Erling recalls his time there as formative, both personally and professionally.
Though he returned to Trondheim in August 2024 to resume his studies, he continues to work part-time for Keystone while completing his master’s. Balancing academic theory with hands-on development gives him a broader perspective, even if his coursework doesn’t directly align with his day-to-day work at Keystone. His thesis, however, will bridge that gap, as he plans to focus it on the collaboration between Keystone and AkerBP.
“Even if my studies are more theoretical, it’s great to be able to apply my skills in a real project with real users. It will be fun!”
From being a full-time team member in Stavanger to now working as a remote contributor in Trondheim, Erling represents the next generation of developers: curious, adaptable, and eager to turn theory into impact — one line of code at a time!
