# Co-creator of Open Policy Agent

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

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## Bio

Tim Hinrichs co-created Open Policy Agent with Torin Sandall and Teemu Koponen, and co-founded Styra, where he was CTO. OPA entered the CNCF sandbox in 2018 and is now a graduated project.

Profile built from public project, foundation, and company records.

## Where their work shows up

OPA made a specific argument that stuck: authorization should be a decision a general-purpose policy engine makes from declarative rules, not a pile of conditionals scattered through application code. Rego is the language for those rules, and the same engine now decides Kubernetes admission, API authorization, and infrastructure policy. See [RBAC vs ABAC vs ReBAC](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/rbac-vs-abac-vs-rebac/), the [Styra and OPA profile](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/authorization/styra-opa/), and the [best authorization tools](https://startwithidentity.com/rankings/best-authorization-tools/) ranking.