Thomas Keitel, also known as hctom on the Web, started with computers as a kid using an Amiga 500 for his first graphic designs. When technology evolved, he became more and more interested in learning how to program and design for the Web. He completed his training as a digital media designer in 2003, focusing on a combination of development and design. Being more of a self-learner, he taught himself several web programming languages before finally settling for PHP. This got him started with Drupal in 2007. Over the years, he built a wide range of Drupal sites from small corporate sites to big community and content portals.

In August 2014, he started working for undpaul, one of Germany's oldest Drupal-only digital agencies.