When building digital products and enhancing user experiences through AI, gathering user feedback is crucial. However, traditional methods such as surveys often aren’t enough to generate explicit feedback. In this session, Amplitude's Shadi Rostami and Dusty Pierce will explore the important role that user behavior tools play in effectively capturing user feedback and improving AI models. The audience will walk away with an understanding of the challenges associated with gathering user feedback, how user behavior data can better inform our AI models, and how organizational shifts can also be an effective tool in orienting a company around CX. In this fireside conversation, Shadi and Dusty can also share practical insights and strategies for integrating user behavior tools into the development process.

Generative AI is the "it" productivity tool of the moment, but we're still at the very early stages of incorporating it into everyday workflows. In this session, Shailesh Kumar, SVP of Engineering at ClickUp, and Kelly Ehret, Latitude, will contemplate how engineering teams can take advantage of the "Era of AI" and use it to optimize and accelerate their work. Specifically, Shailesh can share his own experience as an engineering lead at ClickUp, offering anecdotes and advice on how generative AI has helped his team work more collaboratively across departments. He will also share his perspective on encouraging more AI adoption across teams and how to measure success. Listeners will walk away from this session with a tactical understanding of how to motivate engineers to use AI in their day-to-day to achieve meaningful productivity gains.

We all want to unlock innovation in our companies, and a powerful way to fuel your company’s innovation engine is by cultivating a “startup within a startup” culture! But how does this work? And how do you operationalize this culture into norms, behaviors, and habits to produce greater innovation? Naveen Kondapalli shares his perspective on staying ahead through a culture of innovation, how to build smaller teams with autonomy, how to spin up multiple products, quickly spin down bets that didn’t work, and validate your hypothesis in areas beyond your expertise. Plus how to navigate the innovator’s dilemma while not losing focus on the core business.

The generative AI moment is turning traditional software development on its head, and coding as we know it today may look as obsolete as punch cards in a few short years. This session is an invitation to wild speculation: what will the work of software engineering and software project management look like in 10 or 20 years? This panel brings together seasoned technology practitioners who’ve weathered past paradigm shifts in the industry. They’ll explore other questions like: How, and how long, will humans be in the coding / testing / debugging loop? What will be the core skills for building technology (and managing technologists? What should a college freshman study next year if they aspire to be a software engineer? Will there ever be a new programming language again?

Scaling beyond early market fit presents unique challenges - Where’s the highest leverage? How do you build things that scale & avoid getting stuck with 1000+ MVPs? How do you manage increasing orders of complexity in your teams and product? Where are the greatest opportunities for real vs. perceived velocity? In this session, Marck Robinson, VP of Engineering @ Brex, will unpack strategies for sustaining velocity and efficiency, offering a roadmap to fuel your organization's journey to enterprise scale. Marck shares actionable insights from his experiences operating at massive scale at places like Microsoft Azure, New Relic, and now, Brex.

In an era where technological advancements hold immense promise, the disconnect between innovation and implementation has become increasingly apparent. Delving into the implications of this disconnect spanning industries and societies, the conversation will also investigate the emergence of a platform company model as a strategic solution - and how Autodesk has been able to successfully transform into that model. Fostering motivation and a sense of purpose within teams involves providing them with data that illuminates their impact. This data-driven approach also aids in identifying areas where teams require support and improvement. Simultaneously, the discussion centers on strategies for alleviating burdensome tasks and streamlining workflows, raising the question of how to effectively eliminate toilsome work from team responsibilities.

Generative AI is changing the way we work and will disrupt most industries. This means that technology leaders need to be prepared for change and develop new skills and competencies in order to lead their organizations through (and beyond) this disruption. In this session, I will discuss what the likely changes are, what new requirements leaders will have, and how you can start developing the competencies you need to lead in this next generation of technology leaders.

Why should you stay in startup companies your entire career? How do you identify, evaluate, and decide on the right startup opportunity? How do you navigate and endure the tumultuous operating environment? This fireside chat between serial startup engineering leader Claire Hough (CTO @ Getlabs) and Ali Irturk (VPE @ CommerceHub) covers why and how Claire stayed in startup companies for her long-standing career - we’re talking at 12+ startups! Learn how to keep the excitement, engagement, and resilience through the ups and downs of startups. Plus how to set the right goals for yourself, ask the right questions, and find the right role that enriches you throughout your career.