Elixir in the Enterprise: Lessons from Maersk By Erik Mejer Hansen

Erik Mejer Hansen shares how Maersk adopted Elixir and Extreme Programming practices to build their Energy Transition platform quickly and reliably.

How do you choose the right technology when the stakes are high and the clock is ticking? At Maersk, our Energy Transition platform is building systems to help the company achieve its ambitious goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. That means moving fast and delivering impactful solutions at a pace more often associated with startups than global enterprises. In this talk, I’ll share how our teams became among the first at Maersk to adopt Elixir — a functional programming language that might seem like an unusual choice in a large enterprise. I’ll explain why Elixir fit our needs for speed, reliability, and developer happiness, and how practices like Extreme Programming shaped our decision. Along the way, I’ll reflect on my personal journey with Elixir, from discovering it in 2013 to bringing it back years later to help launch a new platform and deliver value quickly. Finally, I’ll cover the organisational hurdles we faced—questions about hiring, security, and tooling—and what it really takes to introduce a new technology in a company like Maersk. If you’re curious about how to balance innovation with pragmatism in a corporate setting, this session is for you. === Erik Mejer Hansen === Erik Mejer Hansen is a senior engineering leader with a background in software development and a passion for building strong, collaborative teams. With over 15 years of hands-on coding experience and close to a decade in leadership roles, he focuses on creating environments where developers thrive and deliver great software. Today, he leads two teams on Maersk’s Energy Transition platform, supporting the company’s ambition to reach net-zero emissions by 2040. linkedin.com/in/erikmejerhansen/ === Video sponsor – Ada Beat === adabeat.com === Merch === If you want to spread functional programming and support the channel, buy something from the shop: funcprogsweden.myspreadshop.net/ Chapters: 00:00 Introduction by Magnus Sedlacek 01:06 Thanks Ada Beat for sponsoring the video stream 02:59 Elixir in the Enterprise: Lessons from Maersk 04:19 My Elixir Voyage 06:21 Maersk’s climate commitments validate by the Science Based Targets Initiative 07:34 Why Even Think About Elixir 09:21 Why Elixir? Developer Productivity, Reliability, and Fit 11:33 Technology + Methodology: Extreme Programming and Elixir 14:00 Listening Before Leaping 16:06 Hiring 23:32 Security & Training 28:15 Tooling & Maintenance 32:10 Where Expectations Didn’t Play Out 35:58 Q&A #funcprogsweden