AI DevSummit 2025 + DeveloperWeek Leadership 2025

Fabricio Buzeto, Brex, Engineering Manager

As a company grows, the tendency to divide and conquer can nurture siloed goals that do not align with the company. Impeding the ability to deliver constant and meaningful improvements. The natural tendency is to increase bureaucracy and control, which usually only hinders the results. Companies like Airbnb and Brex have been in the headlines for trying the opposite. Reducing layers and bureaucracy while bringing alignment and increasing velocity. Let me tell you about what I learned while living in such a reality. 

Sankalp Kumar, Apple, Software Engineer

In an era where data breaches and cyber threats are on the rise, it’s no longer enough to simply code and test for functionality - security must be woven into every stage of software design. Our Secure Software Design Principles session equips developers, architects, and team leads with the critical know-how to identify risks early, minimize vulnerabilities, and build robust systems from the ground up. Attendees will learn how to integrate best practices - like least privilege, defense in depth, and threat modeling - into their daily workflows, setting a foundation for resilient and trusted applications. Ultimately, this workshop isn’t just about avoiding pitfalls, it’s about proactively shaping software that is both high-performing and secure by design. 

Andrew Park, Edensoft Labs, Founder

Imagine an engineering culture where teams move faster, stay aligned with product goals, and take ownership—without sacrificing technical excellence. Product-Oriented Software Engineering (POSE) redefines engineering’s role by transforming software engineers into Product Engineers who take ownership of both technical execution and strategic product alignment.

Traditional development models often struggle with misalignment, inefficiencies, and process-heavy workflows. Engineers can find themselves in reactive cycles, managing handoffs, resolving miscommunications, and navigating product decisions without full visibility into the bigger picture. POSE eliminates these inefficiencies by embedding product awareness into engineering teams and introducing the Flex Engineer role—a key enabler of real-time collaboration and technical alignment.

By acting as a bridge between product and engineering, the Flex Engineer ensures smooth execution, prevents bottlenecks, and provides timely insights based on continuous awareness of engineering progress. This role, combined with real-time collaboration, deep product understanding, and technical ownership, enables engineering teams to operate with greater autonomy, efficiency, and strategic impact—while maintaining seamless alignment with product vision.

Why POSE Matters to Engineering Leaders
• Faster Execution: Engineers make informed decisions without constant Product Manager input.
• Less Rework, More Impact: Product Engineers align with business goals, reducing misalignment and wasted effort.
• Optimized Engineering Flow: Fewer meetings, less Jira overhead, and more time for deep work.
• Stronger Technical Voice: Engineers influence product strategy early, ensuring smarter technical trade-offs.
• Real-Time Alignment: The Flex Engineer bridges product and engineering, preventing miscommunication.

This approach isn’t theoretical—it’s a proven methodology that has been implemented and refined over nearly two decades at G3 Technologies. POSE has been refined over nearly two decades at G3 Technologies, enabling teams to ship faster, smarter, and with greater autonomy.

Join this session to explore how POSE enables engineering teams to move faster, stay aligned with product goals, and take ownership of both execution and strategic impact. Learn how this approach enhances collaboration, reduces misalignment, and empowers engineers to deliver high-quality products with confidence.

Ethan Ferdosi, AWS Startup, Solutions Architect Leader

Amazon’s approach to innovation has remained consistent since the company first launched—start with the customer and work backward. In this session, gain valuable insights into Amazon’s cultural mechanisms and our innovation journey. Walk away with lessons learned and best practices that you can apply to your own business. 

Sudha Viswanathan, ByteDance, Data Architect

Effective team connection, communication, and collaboration across all levels stems from strong interpersonal dynamics. This is a fundamental element of achieving exceptional team performance. Just as with any art, interpersonal skills are cultivated through learning, practice, and refinement. A team mastering both technical expertise and these vital interpersonal skills gains a significant competitive advantage, becoming a truly formidable force. This talk explores common interpersonal challenges encountered in the workplace and provides attendees with a valuable mind map, a practical tool for navigating and resolving these challenges. 

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM Welcome + Networking (Breakfast) 

9:30 AM - 10:20 AM - Panel 1: Be Where the Developers Are
Developers often rely on one another to help evaluate new technologies, dev tooling, and programming ideas. How can marketing teams engage in these conversations without being perceived as invading their space? Our panelists will discuss their tactics for finding where developers share their knowledge and their tactics for supporting and informing these conversations.

1. Michael Ortega, Head of Marketing @ Predibase
2. Yolande Poirier, Senior Manager, Developer Community @ Neo4j
3. Bo English-Wiczling, Senior Director @ Oracle
Moderator: Ziwei Chen, Senior Developer Marketing Strategist @ Catchy


10:20 AM - 10:30 AM - Break

10:30 AM - 11:20 AM - Panel 2: Building a Developer Community
We often speak of the “Developer community” as if it’s a homogenous group of technical experts. In reality, it’s a collection of various communities consisting of unique individuals with differing experiences and skillsets - some of whom never cross paths with one another. Dev marketing teams dream of tapping into these communities by building a subset of developers devoted to their products and services, but often struggle to break through. Our panelists will explore how they have encouraged community among their developer audiences, the benefits it has brought for their organization, and the support these communities provide to the technical practitioners who belong to and engage deeply with them.
1. Ojus Save, Developer Advocate @ Zoom
2, Pat Patterson, Chief Technical Evangelist @ BackBlaze
3. Stephen Chin, VP of Developer Relations @ Neo4j
4. Anthony Lusardi, Developer Relations Engineer @ LibLab
Moderator: Ziwei Chen, Senior Developer Marketing Strategist @ Catchy

11:20 AM - 12:00 PM Expo Tour + Networking

Hazel Weakly, Nivenly Foundation, Fellow

I see you want to hire a developer to work on platform engineering, internal developer tooling, developer experience, and the overall generally intangible but admirable goal of "making life better for devs". That’s awesome; you've got one hell of a challenge ahead of you. This role is extremely difficult to hire for. In my opinion, and in my experience, it’s been the most difficult role in the company outside of senior leadership, and the most likely to fail; if there ever was a role that burns people out, it’s this one.

Come with Hazel as we draw on her experiences building platform teams and organizations in order to talk about making this platform engineering thing a reality. In doing so, we'll end up discussing topics such as

- The hiring pipeline and interview loop
- Timing, politics, and the meta strategies
- Getting to zero from negative
- Avoiding pitfalls
 

More details coming soon!

Fabricio Buzeto, Brex, Engineering Manager

As a company grows, the tendency to divide and conquer can nurture siloed goals that do not align with the company. Impeding the ability to deliver constant and meaningful improvements. The natural tendency is to increase bureaucracy and control, which usually only hinders the results. Companies like Airbnb and Brex have been in the headlines for trying the opposite. Reducing layers and bureaucracy while bringing alignment and increasing velocity. Let me tell you about what I learned while living in such a reality. 

Sankalp Kumar, Apple, Software Engineer

In an era where data breaches and cyber threats are on the rise, it’s no longer enough to simply code and test for functionality - security must be woven into every stage of software design. Our Secure Software Design Principles session equips developers, architects, and team leads with the critical know-how to identify risks early, minimize vulnerabilities, and build robust systems from the ground up. Attendees will learn how to integrate best practices - like least privilege, defense in depth, and threat modeling - into their daily workflows, setting a foundation for resilient and trusted applications. Ultimately, this workshop isn’t just about avoiding pitfalls, it’s about proactively shaping software that is both high-performing and secure by design. 

Andrew Park, Edensoft Labs, Founder

Imagine an engineering culture where teams move faster, stay aligned with product goals, and take ownership—without sacrificing technical excellence. Product-Oriented Software Engineering (POSE) redefines engineering’s role by transforming software engineers into Product Engineers who take ownership of both technical execution and strategic product alignment.

Traditional development models often struggle with misalignment, inefficiencies, and process-heavy workflows. Engineers can find themselves in reactive cycles, managing handoffs, resolving miscommunications, and navigating product decisions without full visibility into the bigger picture. POSE eliminates these inefficiencies by embedding product awareness into engineering teams and introducing the Flex Engineer role—a key enabler of real-time collaboration and technical alignment.

By acting as a bridge between product and engineering, the Flex Engineer ensures smooth execution, prevents bottlenecks, and provides timely insights based on continuous awareness of engineering progress. This role, combined with real-time collaboration, deep product understanding, and technical ownership, enables engineering teams to operate with greater autonomy, efficiency, and strategic impact—while maintaining seamless alignment with product vision.

Why POSE Matters to Engineering Leaders
• Faster Execution: Engineers make informed decisions without constant Product Manager input.
• Less Rework, More Impact: Product Engineers align with business goals, reducing misalignment and wasted effort.
• Optimized Engineering Flow: Fewer meetings, less Jira overhead, and more time for deep work.
• Stronger Technical Voice: Engineers influence product strategy early, ensuring smarter technical trade-offs.
• Real-Time Alignment: The Flex Engineer bridges product and engineering, preventing miscommunication.

This approach isn’t theoretical—it’s a proven methodology that has been implemented and refined over nearly two decades at G3 Technologies. POSE has been refined over nearly two decades at G3 Technologies, enabling teams to ship faster, smarter, and with greater autonomy.

Join this session to explore how POSE enables engineering teams to move faster, stay aligned with product goals, and take ownership of both execution and strategic impact. Learn how this approach enhances collaboration, reduces misalignment, and empowers engineers to deliver high-quality products with confidence.

Ethan Ferdosi, AWS Startup, Solutions Architect Leader

Amazon’s approach to innovation has remained consistent since the company first launched—start with the customer and work backward. In this session, gain valuable insights into Amazon’s cultural mechanisms and our innovation journey. Walk away with lessons learned and best practices that you can apply to your own business. 

Sudha Viswanathan, ByteDance, Data Architect

Effective team connection, communication, and collaboration across all levels stems from strong interpersonal dynamics. This is a fundamental element of achieving exceptional team performance. Just as with any art, interpersonal skills are cultivated through learning, practice, and refinement. A team mastering both technical expertise and these vital interpersonal skills gains a significant competitive advantage, becoming a truly formidable force. This talk explores common interpersonal challenges encountered in the workplace and provides attendees with a valuable mind map, a practical tool for navigating and resolving these challenges. 

Hazel Weakly, Nivenly Foundation, Fellow

I see you want to hire a developer to work on platform engineering, internal developer tooling, developer experience, and the overall generally intangible but admirable goal of "making life better for devs". That’s awesome; you've got one hell of a challenge ahead of you. This role is extremely difficult to hire for. In my opinion, and in my experience, it’s been the most difficult role in the company outside of senior leadership, and the most likely to fail; if there ever was a role that burns people out, it’s this one.

Come with Hazel as we draw on her experiences building platform teams and organizations in order to talk about making this platform engineering thing a reality. In doing so, we'll end up discussing topics such as

- The hiring pipeline and interview loop
- Timing, politics, and the meta strategies
- Getting to zero from negative
- Avoiding pitfalls