# Creator of authentik, CTO of Authentik Security

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/experts/jens-langhammer/
Last updated: 2026-09-20
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

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## Bio

Jens Langhammer started authentik in Hamburg in November 2018 as a personal project and grew it into a self-hosted identity provider covering single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, provisioning, and access control. Authentik Security, the public benefit company built around it, followed in 2022.

Profile built from public project and company records.

## Where their work shows up

authentik's distinguishing idea is the configurable flow: login, enrollment, recovery, and consent are stages a deployment composes rather than fixed screens, which is what homelabs and enterprises both end up needing for different reasons. It is one of the few projects that made the jump from one person's side project to production infrastructure for organizations that could have bought a commercial product. See the [authentik profile](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/open-source/authentik/) and the [open-source identity vendors](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/open-source/).