2025 Snapshot Agenda

Welcome to Women of Silicon Roundabout 2025! Join us for the official opening and welcome remarks to kick-start your day with inspiration and empowerment!

Our two-day agenda is filled with expert-led sessions focused on our theme, Leading the Digital Revolution; Adapt & Thrive, where you can expect sessions focused on the two key elements to help you survive and thrive in the AI era - strategic awareness of disruptive technology and a plan to build and retain talent and the right skills to be able to develop that technology in your organisation.

Navigating through transformational change requires the ability to respond and adapt to challenges but never losing sight of the ultimate goal. This requires key leadership skills that will not only ensure that digital strategies are consistently progressing but also empower the workforce to drive it forward. In this session, we’ll highlight leadership strategies in a digital era of constant disruption and how to take a values-driven approach to build trust, communicate a vision and create long-lasting positive impact.

Key Takeaways:

• How to communicate a clear vision
• Taking your workforce along the digital journey
• Leading with your values

Speaker to be announced

Session details coming soon...

The success of any organisation has been led by the one crucial element that without it, an organisation wouldn’t exist - its people. Amid an industry-wide skills gap, taking a people-first approach is essential to build and drive an organisation’s tech strategy forward. 

In this session, we’ll explore how a people-first approach can highlight gaps in your workforce, and your tech strategy, while also exploring the connection between tech and HR people leaders and why this has never been more critical to success.

Key Takeaways:

• Why your tech strategy needs to starts with people, and not the tech
• The skills needed to empower a future-forward tech organisation
• Centring human-based skills in a world that is becoming more autonomous

Speaker to be announced

As global geopolitical tensions rise, industry experts are warning of the risks posing public safety, national infrastructure, organisations and local economy. In this fireside chat, we'll explore the growing cyber risk surrounding national security in the UK and how organisations can accelerate work to keep up with the pace of evolving threats. 

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding the cyber threats posing organisations and national security
• Strengthening cyber preparedness and response
• Developing the talent and skills to secure the future of cybersecurity in the UK

As frontend applications scale, traditional monolithic architectures become bottlenecks for team agility, deployment speed, and technology flexibility. This session explores Micro Frontends, a modern approach that enables independent teams to develop, deploy, and maintain features while delivering a unified user experience. We’ll cover real-world examples, key architectural patterns, challenges, and solutions to help teams transition from monolithic frontend systems to a modular, scalable architecture.

Key Takeaways:

• Aligning technical architecture with team structure – Define micro frontend boundaries based on business domains and team ownership.
• Start small and focused – Incrementally migrate, beginning with clear domain separations before expanding.
• Consider trade-offs – While micro frontends improve scalability, they introduce complexity in integration, performance, and state management

This session is for...

• Frontend Engineers & Architects looking to scale applications across multiple teams.
• Engineering Managers & Tech Leads wanting to optimize team autonomy and deployment agility.
• Product Teams evaluating trade-offs in frontend modularization.

Session details coming soon...

Session details coming soon...

Session details coming soon...

Session details coming soon....

Session details coming soon...

AI is changing how software is built, from the skills developers need to the tools they use. In this session, we will explore how modern software development is evolving with AI. I will share practical tools that developers can use today, explain why AI cannot fully replace human developers, and discuss the risks and challenges we need to be aware of. This talk will help you understand how to work with AI, not against it. Developers who keep learning and adapt to new technologies will stay competitive in the future.

Key Takeaways:

• How developers can develop new skills to work with AI tools.
• How to use AI to write code faster and more efficiently.
• Understand the risks of using AI and using human creativity and judgement to minimise it.

This session is for...

• Software Developers.
• Team Leads and Managers.
• Anyone interested in the future of software development and AI
• Professionals who want to use AI tools in their daily work.

Aspiring leaders often shadow managerial roles, but what if they could do it all in a controlled environment with minimum risk. In Daniela’s experience, she stepped into the role of an Engineering Manager for a limited time, allowing her to test the waters as an EM. This two-month experience provided a rollercoaster of challenges testing her limits to the max.
 
Yet within this intensity lies the heart of the story - the irreplaceable hands-on experience, the revelation of the depths of the managerial rabbit hole, and the unique opportunity to manage people, all while maintaining visibility among upper-level peers.
 
Join Daniela as she discovers the complexities of this experience, share main takeaways, and lessons learnt as she caught her first taste of moving into management.
 
Key Takeaways:

• Bootstrapping your experience as an EM
• How to navigate unforeseen challenges in a management position
• How to make an impact in a short period of time as an EM

Session details coming soon... 

In this dynamic fireside chat, we'll explore the evolution of open source tools and technology, and if it can be trusted in building resilient digital infrastructure and advancing public good. We'll explore how open technology can empower organisations to adapt quickly to innovation and contribute to a more inclusive digital future through transparency, interoperability, and community-driven development.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding the strategic values of Open Technology for enterprise and public good
• How Open Technology can support a scalable and secure digital infrastructure
• Collaborating with national and international partners to promote safe and ethical sharing

Innovation in large organisations is often stifled by a risk-averse mindset and the pressure to deliver immediate results over long-term impact. This challenge has become even more pressing in the age of AI and continuous change, where businesses must adapt rapidly to evolving technologies, shifting market dynamics, and new ways of working.
This workshop will explore how corporate innovators can shift the culture to embrace calculated risk-taking and balance short-term wins with long-term vision, ensuring they stay ahead in an era of disruption.
Drawing on real-world case studies and hands-on exercises, participants will learn how to build and empower an intrapreneurial culture, develop innovation resilience, and create an environment where experimentation thrives—even in the face of uncertainty. Attendees will gain practical frameworks to help teams persist through setbacks, reframe failure as learning, and align innovation efforts with both immediate business priorities and long-term growth opportunities.

Key Takeaways:

• Fostering a Risk-Tolerant Culture in Times of Change – How to create psychological safety and empower teams to take smart risks without fear of failure, especially in an environment of AI-driven transformation.
• Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Innovation – Strategies to navigate corporate pressures while sustaining innovation momentum, ensuring businesses stay competitive in a world of constant technological shifts.
• Building Innovation Resilience Amid Disruption – Practical tools to help intrapreneurs persist, experiment, and drive impactful change as organizations face continuous evolution in technology and business models.

Ever wondered what the opposite of a highly distributed, high-load service looks like? My team owned a backend service performing royalty calculations under low load but with heavy memory usage. It was still poor fit for a traditional service architecture so we migrated it to a data pipeline, reducing resource overhead and aligning better with its workload. In this talk, I'll share how we identified the misalignment, the trade-offs we considered, and the benefits of the migration.
 
Key Takeaways:

• What are the differences between backend services and data pipelines
• When should you use them
• Tips and tricks to improve performance 

This session is for... Beginners to backend or data pipelines, engineers with backend services under heavy load, engineers deciding on their new architecture.

Welcome to Day Two of #WoSR25! Join us for the official opening and welcome remarks to kick-start your day with inspiration and empowerment as we continue to explore Leading the Digital Revolution theme!

Last summer saw a global IT crisis impact millions around the world with organisations needing to cease operations almost entirely. This momentous occasion highlighted the flaws in recovery systems and the importance of software testing in a controlled environment before deployment. This session will focus on IT resilience and creating outage protection frameworks ensuring that organisations and tech teams mitigate the financial and reputational risk that comes with potential outages in your tech stack.

Key Takeaways:

• The importance of contingency recovery systems and outage protection frameworks.
• Creating controlled environments to test and phase out software.
• Managing risk, security, and impact in case of an outage.

Speaker to be announced

The GenAI boom of 2024 has leaders grappling with their AI strategy despite wanting to capitalise on the disruptive tech out of risk of falling behind their competitors.  In this session we’ll explore how to create a holistic AI strategy that speaks to the wants and needs of your organisation while also addressing challenges among data and scaling technology.

Key Takeaways:

• Creating an AI model that speaks to the wants and needs of your organisation
• Designing a data strategy as a single source of truth
• Encouraging continuous improvement of AI projects through continuous learning and collaboration between human and technology

Speaker to be announced

Many women enter tech through bootcamps, degrees, and reskilling programmes, yet often find themselves stuck at junior levels without clear pathways to senior or leadership roles. This session will explore why this happens and what we can do about it—covering key skills beyond coding, navigating workplace dynamics, and taking ownership of career growth.

Key Takeaways:

• Why traditional training focuses on junior roles and how to break that cycle.
• The key skills—beyond technical ability—that help secure senior positions.
• Practical steps to position yourself for leadership and progression.

This session is for...

• Women in junior or mid-level tech roles looking to move up.
• Hiring managers and leaders keen to support women in advancing.
• Anyone interested in making career progression in tech more inclusive.

You are money-poor, time-poor, and, let's face it, compliance-poor. You know you need to comply with endless regulations when using data, especially that of your customers and clients. You don't have the time to dig into all of it or the money to employ someone as your legal counsel. And if you don't understand what regulates the data you are working with, you risk fines and losing customer and client trust. Data protection has become an expectation - not a nice to have. I will dispel myths about what regulates the data you work with and show you how to use my framework. This framework aligns with the start-up cycle and allows you to create a foundational and scalable compliance programme that does not hinder growth and innovation.

Key Takeaways:

• Changing the mindset from a compliance checkbox to value-based compliance
• Creating a foundationational and scalable compliance programme

This session is for... Start up founders and senior team members

The UK is home to the second largest community of quantum businesses in the world providing opportunities for the development of new products and tools, yet mass adoption is far from here. As the National Cyber Security Centre warns organisations of future quantum-powered cyber attacks, join this session to learn about the latest developments emerging from Quantum Computing and what can we learn from the AI boom to better prepare infrastructure, businesses, and strategies today.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding the possibilities around the growth of Quantum Computing
• What infrastructure is needed in order to grow and deploy Quantum Computing
• How Quantum Computing is evolving the cybersecurity landscape

In today’s increasingly interconnected world, critical infrastructures like power grids, water systems, healthcare facilities, and transportation networks form the very foundation of our daily lives. However, the Operational Technology (OT) environments supporting our critical infrastructures have become more digitalised and interconnected with IT networks, leading to unprecedented challenges in securing the essential services we rely on every day.
 
Imagine waking up to a world where power grids are failing, transportation networks have been crippled, and thousands of lives have been lost in a devastating cyberattack causing widespread chaos. This the nightmare of a reality the recent Netflix 'Zero Day' series brings to life. If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to check it out. While Zero Day is fictional, it reflects the real vulnerabilities present in today's critical systems, highlighting the devastating effects of cyberattacks on essential services.
 
Recent years have revealed how cyberattacks on OT systems, from energy pipeline shutdowns and water facility breaches to power grid failures, transportation delays, and healthcare breaches, are increasingly causing far-reaching consequences that demand immediate attention.
 
This session will delve into the pivotal role of OT security in safeguarding the backbone of modern society.
 
Key Takeaways:

• Demystify OT Security: Gain a clear understanding of what is the Operational Technology (OT) supporting our critical infrastructures, and how OT security differs from IT security.
• Real-World Threats: Dive into real-world examples of ransomware, supply chain risks, geopolitical threats, and recent cyberattacks that have disrupted critical infrastructures.
• Resilience and Solutions: Explore actionable strategies and best practices for securing OT environments, ensuring the continuity and reliability of essential services.

This session is for... you if you are looking to broaden your understanding of technology and cybersecurity, learning about Operational Technology (OT) and how our critical infrastructures are secured.

Session details coming soon...

The path into tech isn’t always linear—and that’s a good thing. In this talk, Clémence, a Frontend Engineer at JustEat Takeaway (JET), shares her non-traditional journey from high-level track and field athlete to fashion merchandiser, before successfully transitioning into frontend engineering. Clémence will highlight how seemingly unrelated experiences—like the discipline and resilience honed in elite sports, the customer-first mindset developed in fashion, and the ability to adapt and pivot across industries—have all shaped her unique approach to solving problems and delivering value as an engineer.

Beyond technical skills, frontend engineers have a direct hand in shaping product strategy, enhancing user experience and aligning design with business goals—a perspective Clémence has leveraged throughout her career. She’ll show how her journey has given her a competitive edge in collaborating across teams, advocating for users and thinking beyond the code.

Key Takeaways:

• Frontend is more than just code - it’s strategy.
• Tech is always evolving, and so are you.
• How to use curiousity, adaptation and strong communication to grow into roles in leadership, product or beyond.

Technical debt can slow down development, introduce bugs, and make scaling a nightmare. In this talk, we’ll explore practical strategies to refactor legacy code, adopt scalable architectures, and increase settings extensibility. Learn how to strike the right balance between shipping fast and maintaining long-term code health.
 
Key Takeaways:

• Identifying & Prioritising Technical Debt – Learn how to assess technical debt, measure its impact, and develop a strategy to tackle it effectively.
• Best Practices for Extensible Software Design – Discover patterns and principles that make your settings and configurations more adaptable and maintainable.
• Building a Culture of Continuous Refactoring – Understand how to integrate technical debt management into your development workflow without slowing down feature delivery.

This session is for...

• Software Developers & Engineers
• Tech Leads & Architects
• DevOps & Site Reliability Engineers
• Engineering Managers looking to improve code maintainability and scalability

Session details coming soon...

This session is focused on creating smooth, efficient processes that allow teams to focus on what matters most: delivering great products. Join Aruoriwo Catherine as she shares how to turn big ideas into reality with minimal friction, ensuring that your product gets to market faster and with more impact. If you want to know how to make innovation feel effortless and keep your teams working in sync, this is the session for you.

Key Takeaways:

• Maximise impact while minimising complexity
• Practical tools and tips for operational efficiency
• Streamline workflows for faster product execution
• Align cross-functional teams for seamless collaboration
• Turn innovative ideas into tangible products efficiently

This session is for... Product Operations Professionals, Startup Founders, Team Leads and Managers, Entrepreneurs, Product Managers, Operations Specialists

In this session, Maryam Idris, a Microsoft-certified Data Consultant and founder of Data Habitat, will explore the intersection of data, technology, and empowerment. Drawing from her experience as a minority woman in tech and an entrepreneur, Maryam will share actionable strategies for leveraging data to foster innovation, growth, and inclusion. She will also discuss the role of AI, cloud technologies, and data-driven decision-making in shaping the future of tech startups and career growth.

Attendees will gain practical insights on creating scalable data solutions and equip participants with tools for thriving in a data-driven world.

Key Takeaways:

• Actionable strategies for using data to drive innovation and business growth.
• Insights on breaking barriers and excelling in male-dominated industries.
• Practical advice on leveraging AI and cloud technologies for startups and career advancement.

This session is for... all professionals in tech and data.  Entrepreneurs and startup founders.  Individuals interested in leveraging data for personal and professional growth.

Session details coming soon...

Advancements in technology and geopolitical tensions in the past year have proven that organisations cannot ignore or downplay a heightened landscape and must build cybersecurity into every element of their infrastructure. Join this session to explore the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity and the steps needed to enhance your security measures.

Key Takeaways:

• How advancements in AI are driving and impacting cybersecurity in organisations
• Modernising cybersecurity for future tech to protect your infrastructure and data
• Tackling the growing skills gap of cybersecurity professionals

Speaker to be announced

How do you turn systemic challenges into opportunities? In this session, Digitas UK’s Chief Data Officer, Leila Seith-Hassan, shares a transformation of the agency’s Data Science and Analytics team – an approach that redefined team culture, recruitment, and operational strategy. By prioritising inclusivity, integrating global teams, and embedding cutting-edge technology, Digitas demonstrated that diversity isn’t just the right thing to do - it’s a strategic driver of creativity and revenue. 
 
Their approach earned them the 2024 DataIQ Award for Best Data and Analytics Team (Enabler), a testament to how diversity can drive measurable business impact. 
 
From reducing churn by 65% to significant revenue uptick, this session reveals actionable steps to build inclusive, high-performing teams and drive measurable impact. Attendees will leave with practical frameworks for hiring, collaboration, and operational scalability that can transform any organisation, proving that innovation begins with people. 

Key Takeaways:

• Driving measurable impact with diversity
• How to build inclusive, high-performing teams
• Why now is not a time to back down, but to ramp up and stand by values

Session details coming soon... 

Session details coming soon...

Session details coming soon...

2024 saw the GenAI boom become a business imperative for any modern digital transformation strategy. In this session we'll explore how organisations are turning AI hype into scaled real-world production through safe and ethical models with the right talent strategies to support AI growth.

Key Takeaways:

• Moving the needle from AI buzzwords into AI production
• Building trustworthy data foundation models to harness the power of AI
• Rebuilding the skills landscape to support AI growth

Speaker to be announced