Chairperson Opening
Welcome to Women of Silicon Roundabout. 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 designed to help you learn how to start putting in the building blocks toward the future and securing your position as a futurist leader in tech and strategy.
IQ Is dead. Long Live LQ: Is The Ability To Learn The Most Important Type Of Intelligence?
The only kind of intelligence anyone is talking about these days is AI. But perhaps our real focus should be LQ – learning quotient – the most important form of human intelligence in this new era.
At Makers we know you can teach people tech – but that the thing that really transforms people’s lives is being good at learning. And we know that LQ can be taught. In this talk we discuss why LQ is more important than ever in the AI era – and how to build it.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Why LQ matters now more than any other form of intelligence
How to build it - The critical role of emotional wellbeing and resilience in enabling LQ
This session is for...anyone thinking about how to build the skills and capabilities needed to thrive in the exponential age.
Empowering Progress: The Role Of Digitalisation, Diversity And Inclusivity In Advancing Organisations
The only constant is change. Companies are constantly going through transformations, and it’s not always easy to accept and respond, either as an individual or company. That’s why strength, adaptability and innovative thinking are key attributes of a successful change. If companies harness their collective strengths and visibly prioritise diversity and inclusion alongside digitalisation, then they will attract the right talent to bring different perspectives to the table and inspire breakthrough ideas to complement transformations.
Laura explores why diversity and inclusivity are key values to uphold in all parts of a company, whether: departments, individual teams, local employee networks or on wider strategic scales, through personal stories and real-life examples from Shell’s own Powering Progress transformation journey.
Join Laura’s inspiring keynote for real-life examples and personal insights about how:
- Innovative digital technologies are key to accelerating a company’s transformation
- Creativity, inclusion and ethics play critical roles across organisations
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives can shape inclusive and accessible environments, unlocking problem-solving and innovation
Unleashing Digital Empathy: Women Pioneering AI & Spatial Tech
A new era of disruption has arrived, the convergence of generative AI and spatial computing is reshaping our landscape, creating new opportunities previously unimagined. It is our purpose to ensure that our market advancements in emerging technologies create equitable bridges across our societal digital divide for citizens who have access in our society and for those who do not.
The keynote will focus on digital empathy: how can we leverage disruptive technology to create compassionate, inclusive human-centred design experiences, and how can we empower each other to unleash our inner superpowers. The session will also showcase some of the most inspiring examples of women who have made a significant impact in this space but are often overlooked.
Digital empathy means:
Unleashing new, creativity
Unleashing new, insights
Unleashing new, potential
Unleashing new, opportunities
This session is for you if…you’re interested in learning about digital empathy, our position on disruptive technologies, and how to leverage them positively to amplify your voice and enable you to be bold.
Technology At The Forefront Of The Energy Transition
The world’s carbon budget is finite and running out, requiring action on a magnitude and urgency far greater than ever before. The world needs new, innovative tech like never before – offering smart solutions for secure, affordable, sustainable energy, to help the world get to net zero.
Session Key Takeaways:
Leigh-Ann explores the opportunities technology could deliver to help reduce carbon emissions, including:
- Digital solutions to help the industry safely transform at pace and scale to meet its net zero ambitions
- Accelerating agility and responsiveness to tackle new challenges and solve problems
- Using technology to enhance our operations and delight our customers
- To reimagine energy for people and the planet
This session is for you if…you are helping provide the energy the world needs today, while helping to build increasingly sustainable energy solutions for the future.
Networking Break
Grab a coffee and connect with attendees, share your thoughts on the first sessions of the day!
How AI & ChatGPT Is Accelerating Front-End Development
Front-end development is always about creating engaging visualised UI that users integrate with. But is a front-end engineer’s career in danger due to the rise of AI and the powerful tool of ChatGPT? Explore what ChatGPT can do and what it can not do for front-end development.
In this workshop you’ll demo the process of making a front-end application using ChatGPT, experiencing how it assists developers in creating code in a more efficient way, and how we can code smarter using AI tools. You’ll question the concerns and drawbacks and explore how front-end engineering should evolve to adapt to new tools and accelerate our day-to-day life.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Demo the process to create a front-end project using ChatGPT
- Understand how AI can accelerate the project development and release process
- What are the key areas that AI cannot provide nowadays, and what should developers adapt to use the AI tool in the most effective way
This session is for you if…
- You are a Front-end Engineer
- You are a Project Manager
- You are a Student who is learning AI
- You are a Software Engineer
Unlock The Secrets To High-Performing Teams
Elevate your team’s performance and dive into the three game-changing elements that have propelled the highest-rated colleague team in Asda Technology to unparalleled heights of success. Gain actionable insights that will empower your team to excel in the competitive world of technology.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Master strategies for building high-performing teams amidst complex transformations
- Boost effective collaboration between business and tech partners
- Drive enhanced results and efficiency through improved team dynamics
Disrupting With Data
In this session, we will discuss how Bloom & Wild have leveraged data to create significant commercial impact. We will delve into how B&W have effectively harnessed data to make informed decisions that benefit their customers. Throughout this session, we will provide practical insights drawn from the valuable lessons acquired from the initial stages all the way to successfully scaling this function.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Understanding where to begin
- Balancing startup resource to drive impact
- Navigating an organisational structure to effect change
- Scaling capabilities
- Devising successful hiring strategies to build a great team
- Understanding and measuring success
This session is for you if…you are keen on shaping business strategy using data, encompassing commercial, marketing, and overall business leaders, alongside analysts embarking on their career journey.
The Power Of Transferable & Human Skills In The World Of AI
Our industries / careers are changing, and whilst there is increasing opportunity for those working in technology and with technical skills, we must remember the power of human connection to drive sustainable change in our world. Having different experiences and backgrounds in decision making drives better outcomes for companies, customers, and society. Increasing focus on transferable skills increases the likelihood of diverse teams and therefore successful outcomes. For individuals, it opens up a plethora of opportunities outside the traditional ladder career path, so people can find purpose and meaning in their work.
Whilst predictions vary on whether we’ll all be replaced by robots (with Goldman Sachs predicting 300 million jobs lost and Accenture saying 40% of work tasks will be affected by large language models), one common theme across research is that the type of work we do as humans will change. In an ever-changing world, a focus on building strong human skills, such as empathy and vulnerability, and exploring how they can be transferred across careers will be essential to career progression.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Why there’s nothing soft about human skills
- Why human skills will be critical in future, especially for leaders
- What you can do to recognise your build transferable skills and build on them
This session is for you if…you want to know more about skills development, career switching, the power of strong human skills and need some tips on where to start.
How To Be The Role Model You Wish You’d Had
“If you can see it, you can be it.”
Many studies have shown the importance of role models in increasing gender diversity in the tech industry. Discover how to become the role model you wish you’d had when you were younger, to inspire the next generation to follow in your footsteps and help close the gender gap while raising your profile, developing your skills and progressing your career.
We have a huge digital skills gap, which is estimated to cost the UK economy £60 Billion a year. On top of that, we have a gender gap in the industry, with only 26% of tech workers identifying as female. And there’s a pipeline problem: less than 20% of tech students at any level identify as female and only 3% of women say a career in tech would be their first choice.
With the recent boom in AI revealing the many biases in the industry, we need to make it more representative to ensure that the technology that’s designed and built is fit – and safe – for girls and women to use.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Why you should become a role model
- How to become a (good) role model
- How Next Tech Girls can support you on your role model journey
This session is for you if...you work in the tech industry! Your gender and stage of your career doesn’t matter. Everyone can become a role model to the next generation to ensure that more young people are inspired to develop the technical skills we need in our future workforce. If you’re part of a group that’s underrepresented in the industry, even better.
Elevate Your Career With These 3 Steps
If you’ve been thinking about your next career move – whether that’s sideways, climbing the career ladder or making the jump to a new organisation, this workshop is for you!
In this interactive 60 minute workshop we will cover the top three things you should be putting time and energy into in order to excel in your career…
Session Key Takeaways:
- Network like a pro – identify your cheerleaders and the benefits of having a mentor or sponsor
- Identify your strengths – and build your own personal brand around it
- Blow your own trumpet – know how fabulous you are and how you can utilise your achievements to help you shine
Post It To Prototype
Join this live ideation session where we deep dive into how to create interesting concepts for complex challenges. Immerse yourself in the dynamic world of design thinking as you experience this transformative process first-hand. During this interactive session, you’ll have the opportunity to uncover the tools and methods that drive successful projects. Discover how to ignite your curiosity and embrace the boundless possibilities of creativity.
Leadership – Always In style?
Do you want to explore different leadership styles and reflect on inspirational leaders? Do you want to learn more about your own leadership style? Do you want to interact with other leaders in a dynamic and engaging workshop? Come along to this 60-minute workshop to find out more.
There are so many articles around at the moment that tell us what good leadership and bad leadership look like, and the impact this has on workplace culture but we rarely take the time to reflect and think about how our natural preferences can lend themselves to particular situations or industries and what this might mean for our careers.
With many organisations still working remotely, at least some of the time, modern leaders need to adapt to the challenges and opportunities that remote working brings; working with distributed teams, communicating clearly and succinctly, keeping their teams motivated and building high trust environments.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Learn how to embrace your natural leadership style and lead with authenticity
- Share ideas with other leaders, understand their styles and how they can complement yours
- Reflect on your learning and make one pledge to build on your leadership skills
This session is for…those new to leadership roles or those wishing to put a renewed focus on their leadership skills. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, grow, and network with other leaders. We look forward to seeing you there!
It’s Getting Hot In Here: How Code Effects Our Planet
How can developers help lower the carbon emissions of the world? With the average person in the UK spending over 6 hours on the internet each day, imagine the amount of data that is being transferred across the world at any moment in time.
This all comes at a cost, in this talk I will look at the carbon cost of that data and the effects on our planet and how we can improve that by making some small and big changes to the way we code and the way we architect digital solutions.
As a senior software developer at Sky I have had a lot of experience when it comes to building software and how the small changes can have the biggest effects. I’ve influenced my team to think differently about how we code and am having a positive impact on the carbon usage of our websites.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Analyse how the tech world is effecting our planet
- Explore the changes we can make to improve our carbon emissions. How to take instant action with helping our planet
- Discover best practices for green software development
This session is for you if…you are technical and non-technical and interested in enhancing your knowledge of green software development.
How Your Data Fuels The Open Internet And Why it Matters
Imagine a world, or even a day without the internet. We know we need the internet, but do we really know how it works? A cookieless future, streaming wars and concerns around data, privacy, and freedom of speech are changing the internet as we know it. As daily users of the web, what do we need to know about how the internet works and what the future holds?
This session will explore how data and digital advertising fuel the internet, as we hear from a panel of inspirational women who are helping to shape the future of the open web. Join The Trade Desk’s Ilona Lubojemska as she moderates a discussion about the links between data, advertising, and the internet while reflecting on the path to ensuring a better and more transparent internet for all.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Understand the Internet’s Backbone: Gain a deep understanding of how data and digital advertising serve as the lifeblood of the internet, enabling the vast array of services we use daily.
- Future of the Web: Dive into the implications of a cookieless future, the rise of streaming wars, and how concerns over data privacy and freedom of speech are reshaping the digital landscape.
- The Role of Transparency: Learn about the importance of transparency in digital advertising and the ongoing efforts to create a more open and user-centric web, ensuring that it remains a force for good in society.
Managing Conflicting Priorities In Today’s Workforce
The interconnected nature of today’s society requires excellent in identifying priorities and managing perceived conflicts. In recognising a congruent world, the importance for organisations and leaders to bring together joint priorities and speed of delivery in establishing and growing market leading businesses. Whilst relevant in all industries this is particularly evident in the fintech space.
Market leading businesses understand their purpose and prioritise with tremendous accuracy and pace. Why now? Today’s interconnected world is accelerating the pace of conversation and top quartile organizations must own their space with precision and impeccable prioritization of action.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Know your business, your business model and create and nurture the prioritisation conversation
- Equip your people to prioritise with precision and pace
- Focus on the system of prioritisation decision rather than a single decision point
This session is for you if...you want to lead your business with leadership clarity, building your leadership team competency and seize the market and societal advantage.
Simplification & Innovation: How IT leaders Are Achieving Both In A Complex World
With the opportunity to enhance operational efficiency and increase the digital acceleration of the business, IT leaders find themselves at the intersection of enabling positive organisational change. However, the pressure to optimise costs, manage multiple applications, and capitalise on a rapidly changing technology environment fuels the complexity challenge. Join Workday and experts from AstraZeneca and Sky to hear how IT leaders are taking steps to simplify and release innovation, while also fostering diversity, equity and inclusion.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Optimising Amidst Complexity: Learn strategies IT leaders employ to manage costs and streamline multiple applications without compromising on performance in a dynamic business environment
- Harnessing New Innovations Potential: Delve into how top industry players are adapting to and capitalising on the evolving technology landscape, ensuring their organisations stay at the forefront of innovation
- Balancing Simplification with Progress: Discover the art of marrying simplification with forward-thinking innovations, ensuring both operational efficiency and cutting-edge advancements coexist in the IT realm
Play Has No Limits And Neither Do We
How tech can help remove barriers, not just for play, but also by empowering us for equitable opportunity and inclusion at work.
This is not a speech about how, as women, we can “have it all”. I want us to be empowered, to decide for ourselves, what that “all” is. I will discuss how technology helps remove barriers, not just for play but also empowers for equity and inclusion at work.
I could have talked about our beautiful products, and how tech has facilitated our innovation. What I have really noticed though, as a female senior leader at PlayStation, is that tech has proven itself vital for enabling our values.
Session Key Takeaways:
Technology can have an important role in equity. Not just for women but for all. We can use it to enable a level playing field, opportunities for learning, for playing, for collaborating, for flexibility, and advancement in careers.
This session is for you if…you are an aspiring trailblazer, interested in using technology to create new better paths to equitable leadership opportunities, and leave road signs for others!
Cyber Security: Preparing For The Threat Now And In The Future
Cyber security is a growing issue in all organisations, large and small, public and private sector. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is the UK’s Technical Authority for cyber security. In this session Felicity Oswald, the Chief Operating Officer of the NCSC, will take us through the NCSC’s view of the cyber security challenges of 2023 and beyond and how UK organisations can build resilience to cyber threats of the future.
Session Key Takeaways:
- The biggest cyber threats of today
- How threats will evolve
- How diversity in the cyber profession is critical for the future
This session is for you if…you want to learn more about cyber security and why it is relevant to you, or you are a cyber security professional keen to hear from one of the Government’s key cyber agencies.
Building Talks With React (using Reveal.js)
Using a popular library called Reveal.js, we can create slide desks with React. This presentation (about making presentations!) will include the basics of setting up and using the Reveal.js framework and the ways in which you can incorporate all your possible existing knowledge like React, CSS, animations and more. We’ll also talk through the pros and cons of writing your talks this way!
Just like code can be re-used, so can slides created with code! Once set-up, slides can be made quickly and accessibly for your audience.
Session Key Takeaways:
- How to set-up and use the Reveal.js framework
- A demonstration of some features of the framework
- Overview of the pros and cons of creating presentations this way
This is for you if…You have a working knowledge of HTML (React knowledge is a bonus, but not required) and to see some cool ways you can use it!
Embedding Intersectional Thinking Into The Sustainability Strategy
Companies are grappling with very complex societal and environmental system level issues that require a different and more inclusive ways of thinking and addressing these issues.
Intersectionality describes the way in which the different layers and systems of inequality ‘intersect’ to create unique experiences, dynamics, and effects. A concept originating in social studies but is very much relevant to how businesses today need to think about their role in society and towards the planet. This fireside chat looks at how to incorporate intersectional thinking in the implementation of the Better Connections Plan, the company’s sustainability strategy.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Embracing Multifaceted Identities: Acknowledge that individuals embody multiple aspects of identity that influence their life experiences and leadership styles.
- Intersectionality in Leadership: Understand the importance for leaders to embrace intersectionality, recognizing the complexities of diverse identities in a rapidly changing world.
- Benefits of Intersectional Thinking for Companies: Learn how companies can gain by incorporating intersectional thinking, which includes recognising ‘blind spots’ and identifying previously overlooked market segments.
The session is for you if…you’d like to learn about how to incorporate intersectionality in a business context.
Considering The ‘H’ In Human Centred Design: Being Human In A Tele-Everything World
Technology has entered a new frontier, and in this ‘tele-everything’ world, our societies, and the lives of unique individuals are changing fast. The opportunities and potential are incredibly exciting, yet there are challenges and critical questions about how people access and interact in a world that is increasingly digital.
This session will explore two important questions. As humanity enters this New Frontier, are we remembering who we are, and can everyone access the technology that is taking us there?
Everyone who is curious about the intersection of humanity and technology in an era of AI has something to gain from this keynote speech. Attendees will be challenged to examine their definition of what ‘being human’ means, and take away the encouragement to think deeply, and be motivated to:
- Understand more about why living in a ‘tele-everything’ world poses important questions about accessibility and inclusion
- Discover why accessible technology is crucial
- Consider what it means to be human-centred and how to design for all
- Develop a deeper understanding of how people’s relationships with technology is evolving
- Explore how popular culture has influenced questions of Human Centred Design and Inclusion
Human Connection In An Increasingly AI World
With AI taking center stage in our lives, what will the future of how we interact with the digital world look like. What role does human connection play and how is this connection facilitated? Join Anne Carrigy, CIO of Logitech and Art O’Gnimh, GM at Logitech to hear their thoughts on human connection in an AI world.
Session Key Takeaways:
- AI’s Pervasive Presence: Understand the accelerating role of AI in shaping our digital interactions
- Balancing Tech and Touch: Insights into preserving genuine human interactions amidst rising AI interfaces
- Future Interaction Landscapes: Predictions and projections of how AI and human relationships will co-evolve in the coming years
- Best Practices from Industry Leaders: Glean insights from Logitech’s strategies in fostering human connection in their AI-driven products and services
Triad Of Resilience: Cyber, Operational & Personal: A Holistic Approach
Resilience is more than bounce-back ability, during this session we will look at what resilience is, how it is relevant to everything we do & how to build resilience so you can anticipate, prevent, adapt, respond to, recover, and learn from incidents and disruption.
In an era where disruptions are frequent and technology is at the heart of operations, resilience becomes paramount. Join Sarah as she navigates the intertwined realms of cyber, operational, and personal resilience, drawing from experience at the helm of tech leadership. Attendees will be taken on a transformative journey that goes beyond just the bits and bytes, delving into the heart of sustainable tech and human-centric resilience strategies
Session Key Takeaways:
- Cyber Resilience: Understand the latest strategies to protect and recover digital assets, ensuring the continuity of business operations even in the face of sophisticated cyber threats.
- Operational Resilience: Dive into robust frameworks that empower organisations to anticipate, prevent, adapt, respond to, recover, and learn from operational disruptions.
- Personal Resilience: In a sector notorious for burnouts and rapid changes, explore tactics and mindfulness practices that fortify mental well-being, fostering a resilient mindset in tech professionals.
- Managing the Triad: Learn how to weave together cyber, operational, and personal resilience, creating a comprehensive toolkit that not only safeguards the business but also nurtures its most important asset – its people.
Driving Positive Change In A World Of Data, Analytics & Gen AI
How can AI be leveraged to change the way we live and work? How can Data and AI be used to improve lives – from healthcare to sport – as well as for those of us who are neurodiverse?
Join us at this session, as we embark on an inspiring journey into the heart of data and analytics, exploring the boundless possibilities of placing data at the centre of business and the use of techniques such as generative AI. In a world where technology evolves at lightning speed, women are at the forefront of innovation, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and driving positive change.
Session Key Takeaways:
- The role women have played, and will continue to play, in Analytics, AI and driving positive change
- How AI will play a critical role in enhancing all of our decision making as we move forward, changing the way we live and work
- How we can inspire the next generation through sport and technology
This session is for you if…you are a seasoned data scientist, a forward-thinking AI enthusiast or simply curious about the future of IT. This session is your opportunity to see what Oracle are bringing to the community, market and enabling businesses for the future.
Shattering The Glass Ceiling: Women Leading In The Digital Future Of 2040
Learn about the latest digital innovations and their impact on gender equality and leadership. Witness how women are using technology to create a more equitable world and empower yourself to be a part of this transformation.
Join a dynamic exploration of how women are leading the charge in a people-powered digital future. Discover how emerging technologies like AI, Quantum Computing, and Brain Computer Interfaces are enabling women to shape a future that’s inclusive and empowering for all.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Gender Equality in Tech Leadership: Gain insights into the current state of gender equality in tech and the challenges that remain
- Exploring Cutting-Edge Technologies: Understand the potential of groundbreaking technologies set to redefine our world by 2040
- Empowering Women in Tech: Learn how women can use these technologies to break barriers and lead the way towards a more inclusive future
This session is for...
- Aspiring changemakers and leaders passionate about using technology for positive global change.
- Tech enthusiasts and professionals interested in the latest technological advancements and their applications.
- Advocates for social responsibility and sustainability, keen on using technology for societal and environmental betterment.
Reducing Your Cybersecurity Headache Without Blowing Your Budget
In times of economic crisis and the need to improve security as more and more companies face bigger breaches and bigger fines businesses need to focus on getting the most out of our existing assets. Our staff are our most important resource.
In this session we’ll look at how to empower all of our staff to achieve business security goals.
Session Key Takeaways:
- A deeper understanding of how team alignment can change the productivity of your security team
- How to empower all of our staff to become security advocates
- Understanding the importance of cyber and how/why it impacts everyone within tech organisations and not just the security team
This session is for you if…
- You lead or work in a cybersecurity team
- You lead or work in teams that need to keep security in mind
What It Takes To Make A Smart TV In 2023
In the competitive world of smart TVs, it’s not enough to simply offer cutting-edge technology at an attractive price point. Consumers demand a seamless and enjoyable user experience, one that is both accessible and feature-rich and the operating system that powers the TV is now as important as the hardware.
In this session, Andrea Monge, Technical Program Manager at Roku takes you through the journey to uncover how software plays a pivotal role in fulfilling system and commercial requirements to deliver the defining elements of a compelling Smart TV experience in 2023
Session Key Takeaways:
- Discover how software engineering plays a pivotal role in shaping the user experience of smart TVs
- Gain insight into the cross functional product development process required to deliver a delightful TV user experience
- Learn about how machine learning and experimentation can fuel a continuous improvement cycle, keeping products perpetually user centric
This session is for…software engineers interested in building complex systems and anyone interested in the smart TV market such as product managers, designers, content providers and marketing professionals.
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Career Transformation
For many, feeling like an outsider isn’t an illusion. Do you find yourself consistently experiencing self-doubt, even in areas you typically excel or dealing with constant change? In this workshop we will introduce you to identify the signs to recognise Imposter syndrome, key techniques to overcome and why it is important to conquer this to drive your career aspirations. This will also help to make positive impact in dealing with constant change.
Session Key Takeaways:
- How to indentify Imposter syndrome
- Discover techniques to deal with Imposter syndrome
- How to conquer it and transform your career
This session is for you if…you would like an insight about yourself and want to also thrive in your career.
How To Create A Culture Of Belonging In The Workplace
Creating a sense of belonging in the workplace is crucial for retaining diverse talent. Research shows that it can reduce attrition by up to 50%. As technology teams continue to grow and evolve, it’s more important than ever to foster an inclusive culture that values each team member’s unique perspectives and contributions.
This session will explore how technology and new approaches can increase the impact of cultural changes to create a sense of belonging. You’ll discover what it takes to attract and retain diverse talent, even as teams spread out geographically and the pace of change for tech skills accelerates.
Session Key Takeaways:
- What can create belonging?
- Key factors that contribute to a sense of belonging in the workplace, including how new technologies can help
- Gain insights into practical changes you can make in your organisation to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion
This session is for you if…you lead technology teams, are responsible for D&I or ESG strategy, are facing regretted attrition in key roles and teams, or are starting a career in technology and want to be an agent of change in your organisational culture.
Revolutionising The Power Of Technology For Finance With GenAI
AI is changing the way we live and work! This session will help you prepare to address opportunities and risks given the rapid advancements in generative AI over the past year.
Keiko will walk through a practitioner view of how to integrate GenAI into an enterprise platform – hitting on the governance, technical and strategic.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Learn GenAI adoption
- Learn potential impacts of GenAI for the financial industry
- Learn how diverse skill sets contribute to the GenAI adoption
This session is for you if…you want to learn about practical ways to integrate GenAI into your tech platform.
How To Deliver Value From Generative AI Without Causing Chaos
Generative AI is one of the hottest topics around, with hours of fun to be had from asking ChatGPT to summarise nuclear fission in the style of Chaucer, or Midjourney to depict a sports stadium inhabited by lemurs in the style of van Gogh. But how can we put it to work to really generate value? And how do we make sure that we can mitigate these technologies’ well-reported issues (information leakage, hallucination, bias, privacy violations…)?
The Why: Attendees of this workshop will get insights/learnings on how to harness the power of Generative AI in their organisations, while ensure that it is used safely.
Session Key Takeaways:
- How to address the fear caused by new technology advances.
- How to address the risks to reap the benefits of Generative AI.
- How Generative AI can be adopted safely across a wide range of use cases.
This session is for you if…you are interested in using Generative AI ethically/safely in your organisation, including business leaders, data scientists and any IT professionals.
Inclusive Technical Design
Dive deep into the world of Inclusive Technical Design in this transformative workshop. As the tech landscape evolves, it’s paramount that our designs and practices embrace and reflect the diverse tapestry of experiences and identities. This session will guide you through actionable strategies to weave inclusivity into every layer of your technical projects and team dynamics.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Foundational Understanding: Grasp the nuances of how diverse experiences and identities shape technical design
- Practical Strategies: Acquire hands-on techniques to embed inclusivity within your design processes
- Elevated Team Practices: Learn actionable insights to foster a culture of inclusivity within your team dynamics
- Real-world Applications: Case studies highlighting successful inclusive technical designs and their impactful outcomes
Mastering Middle Management: Strategic Skills For Success
Are you ready to take your career to the next level? Join us for an enlightening session on mastering the art of middle management. Explore the strategic skills and insights that are essential for success in this critical role. From effective team leadership to navigating complex organisational challenges, this session will equip you with the tools and knowledge needed to excel. Learn from experienced middle managers who have successfully navigated their careers and gain valuable insights that will empower you to make a significant impact in your organisation.
Don’t miss this opportunity to become a standout middle manager and drive your team to new heights.
- umbrellas
- mentors
- C. I. N.S.C
How To Pitch An Idea And Get A ‘Yes’
Too many brilliant ideas fail because decision-makers just don’t ‘get it’. Why? Because the presenter didn’t share the key information in the first 60 seconds. This masterclass changes all that.
This masterclass is a game-changer! Too often brilliant technical and scientific minds fail to get their ideas past the decision-makers in their organisation because business leaders don’t understand the benefit. In this session, you will discover the secrets of speaking to the top of any organisation. You will walk away with a model that ensures the business listens when you talk tech.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Understand the mindset of business leaders
- Know the 4 key elements to include in the first minute of your talk
- Learn a proven model that ensures the business listens
This session is for you if…you are a Mid-to-Senior manager seeking approval or funding from decision-makers.
How To Build A Fulfilling, High Performance Career
This session is for anyone who wants to achieve the best of both worlds: to build an impactful career and to take a meaningful journey towards that goal. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Let’s bust some myths and learn the science & psychology of how to set yourself up for success, regardless of career stage or company.
Many of us work in male-dominated environments, where there aren’t enough role models who look like us or can show us how to be authentic, fulfilled AND successful. This session is for anyone who wants to achieve the best of both worlds: to build an impactful career and to take a meaningful journey towards that goal. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Let’s bust some myths and learn the science & psychology of how to set yourself up for success, regardless of career stage or company.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Why Meaning Matters: What the data tells us
- The Science & Psychology that links Fulfilment and Performance
- What actions I can take to supercharge my career
This session is for you if…you are an ambitious or passionate person who wants to have an impact on your company or community and have been feeling a little stuck or uninspired.
Collaborative Intelligence: ML Models With Human Decision Making In Mind
We make countless decisions on a daily basis, from choosing between the new
Mexican restaurant in town or your go-to Chinese restaurant around the corner, to big career decisions such as moving onto a tech manager role or staying as a senior engineer. Fortunately, we’re living in a time where we’re able to leverage technology to assist us in making better, more informed decisions.
Achieving this requires better understanding of factors that influence human decision making, such as context, available actions, and objectives. This session will explore and discuss machine learning models that take human decision making into consideration, and why they could have a bright future in assisting us with some of our daily decisions.
Session Key Takeaways:
- How to formulate the problem when designing machine learning models to assist
human decision making - How to work with human’s seemingly biassed decisions, rather than against them
- How to model human decision making as more than just big data
Leading With Purpose: Career Strategies For Women In Tech
Join a transformative session that bridges attendees with seasoned female executives and recruitment specialists. Engage in candid discussions about career challenges specific to senior women in the tech industry. Receive tailored advice from recruiters who’ve successfully placed countless women in top-tier IT roles across global tech giants.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Strategies to identify employers who genuinely champion your professional growth
- Proven techniques to enhance your visibility and success rate in job interviews
- Guidance on crafting a career trajectory that resonates with both your professional aspirations and personal objectives
This session is for you if…you’re contemplating the next pivotal move in your tech career or yearning for a role that align with your personal goals, this session is crafted just for you. Join us to unlock the path to a more fulfilling professional journey.
But Will It Scale? How To Build Trust In A Distributed Team
- How to scale your culture
- How to scale your community
- How to build connections
Panel: Engineering Journeys – From Engineer To Tech Director
This candid conversation is aimed to kindle inspiration and empower you, offering guidance for navigating your own path to technology leadership.
Join us for enlightening fireside chats with engineering leaders from the BBC, as they share their career trajectories and gain valuable insight from their experience and learnings. Discover the pivotal moments that shaped them and their careers. This candid conversation is aimed to kindle inspiration and empower you, offering guidance for navigating your own path to technology leadership.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Diverse Career Pathways: You will discover that there is no one-size-fits-all journey in technology leadership. The panellists’ diverse career paths will highlight that success in technology leadership can be achieved through a variety of routes, showcasing the importance of adaptability and perseverance.
- Overcoming Challenges: Learning how some have overcome challenges and barriers in a traditionally male-dominated field. From navigating imposter syndrome to managing conflict, you will gain insights into strategies and how to build resilience, when pursuing leadership roles in technology.
- Preparing for Opportunity: Through continuous learning, building strong networks and relationships and seeking out mentors, learn how to ready yourself to make the most of opportunities that come your way.
This session is for you if…you aspire to thrive in engineering leadership and want to learn from experiences of successful women leaders who are forging their path to the top.
Why You Should Care About Green Tech, Even If You’re Not An Energy Nerd
Did you enjoy another unseasonably warm September? Did you feel a sense of panic about the impending doom of the planet? Climate change can be difficult to navigate, with many people feeling anxious and helpless about the future, explore how innovative technology is unlocking a greener energy system.
Learn more about how innovative tech is driving the transition to renewable energies, plus we will also touch on questions such as ‘does it make any difference if I forget to use my reusable coffee cup again’, and what the green revolution means for your energy bills.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Why you have a role to play in the energy system
- How collaboration is needed across technology, policy and business to save our planet
- Raise awareness of opportunities to build your career in the green tech industry
This session is for you if…you care about supporting net zero and are interested in the role that technology has to play.
Building Resilience In The Fast-Changing World Of Technology
In the fast-paced tech domain, resilience is more than a catchphrase; it’s the cornerstone of sustained success. Beyond just staying updated with trends, thriving means having the inner strength to navigate change, shine as a leader, and turn challenges into opportunities.
Dive into this engaging session as we dissect the essence of resilience. Uncover the challenges that test our mettle, pinpoint what might weaken our determination, and learn ways to bolster our resilience muscles.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Resilience Revealed: Delve into its core components and their role in tech.
Overcoming Roadblocks: Spot and tackle factors that can dent your resilience - Crafting Your Strategy: Design a personalized approach to elevate resilience and fast-track your career growth.
This session is for….From tech newcomers to seasoned leaders, this session is a goldmine for anyone eager to harness resilience in the tech tornado. Join us and unlock your resilient potential!
The CFO’s Quantum Leap: From Goalkeeper To Attacking Midfielder
Our world is being shaped by global mega trends, from climate change, to rapid urbanisation, to geo-political turbulence, to emerging technology. The traditional foundations upon which businesses were built are also subject to seismic shifts, and back-office operations must come out from the between the goal posts.
The CFO’s office has to become more agile and play an active role in helping the business to outpace quickening competitors, with data at the core of this new tactic. Precious company information is brought together by the CFO’s office, which can be leveraged more effectively to identify key opportunities and risks.
Digital technology is enabling CFOs to carry out this new, offensive role, equipping their organisations to take more strategic, targeted action. The successful CFO office of the future will be seen as a quality controller, and a forward-looking planner seeking to score goals for the business.
This topic is a gateway to understanding the crucial balance between autonomy and centralisation that will characterise the winning businesses of tomorrow. Mastering this concept is the key that will untap immense value locked in the data used by your finance function, and improve it’s effectiveness and efficiency overall.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Finance tends to be the key entry point to large scale transformations, and it must evolve accordingly
- Finance is critical to creating value, particularly in strategic transactions like IPOs, acquisitions, and divestitures
- Transformation is not linear; the starting line is different for each company
This session is for you if…you are looking to become more innovative, efficient, competitive and agile by taking your CFO’s office to the next level.
Compassionate Refactoring
Within coding, the desire to consistently refactor and improve code is a common aspiration yet frequently remains unfulfilled. This session delves into the often-overlooked barriers that impede this process, with a special focus on the constraints of time and, more crucially, the lack of compassion in the coding environment. The discussion extends beyond external pressures to address the self-criticism that developers often face when dealing with imperfect code.
In an industry where perfection is highly prized, this talk highlights the importance of acknowledging and accepting the initial phase of writing suboptimal code as a necessary step towards mastery. It emphasises the transformative power of kindness and forgiveness in the coding process, proposing that embracing our coding flaws can paradoxically lead to the development of superior code. Join us for an insightful exploration of how fostering a culture of empathy and understanding in coding can unlock greater potential for innovation and excellence.
AI Governance: Crafting A Revolution In Human Progress
To create a better working world for tomorrow, it’s imperative to grasp the intricacies of AI governance today. Getting AI governance right is not just about compliance; it’s about shaping the trajectory of innovations to benefit humanity at large.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Explore what organisations can do to assure their technology?
- Discover the do’s and don’ts of governance
- Examples of good practice and where it has gone wrong
This session is for you if…you’re an AI enthusiast, a professional integrating AI into business operations, or simply someone curious about the future of technology, this session holds valuable insights for you. If AI will touch any part of your life or work (and it will!), this session is for you.
Be The Spider, Not the Fly: Spinning Your Own Career Web Toward Leadership
Modern careers are not linear, which makes it challenging to know how to navigate…let alone plan. Preparing for leadership roles requires experience, but also personal strengths and qualities which can be developed.
Developing a career in leadership means building up transferable skills, being a skilled networker, and being flexible and open to new opportunities. Sure, there are career ladders around, but a more common route to leadership (and, arguably, one that better prepares you) is by following a career spider web full of lateral moves and leaps of faith.
Rebecca’s career in tech is far from ‘standard’ – in fact, it wasn’t at all intended. What’s more, she never imagined taking on a leadership role, but now wouldn’t have it any other way. She’ll describe what a leadership role involves, share her own career spider web (aka CV), as well as some of the lessons she’s learnt along the way.
Session Key Takeaways:
- If you’re not following a ‘standard’ career path, you’re not alone!
- What are the key ingredients to spinning a career spider web
- How you can develop your transferable skills for leadership
This session is for you if…
- You’re trying to weave your career history into a coherent, purposeful story
- You want to know more about developing leadership skills
Paying Attention To Payments: Secrets To Grow Your Business In A Complex World
Unlock the power of payments in this session which reveals the secrets to supercharging your business in a complex environment. In an era of economic uncertainty and reduced consumer spending, we’ll explore how harnessing the latest payment tools can both boost your revenue and streamline your costs.
No matter where you work, payments are paramount to the ultimate success of your business. When you finish the hard work of acquiring and convincing a customer to buy, you don’t want to fall at the final hurdle. And with fierce competition, that first failed payment can mean a customer moves to a competitor for life. But with so much complexity, regulation, diverse local market dynamics and constant evolution, payments can feel complex and overwhelming.
This session is your gateway to unravelling the latest payment trends and their practical application in powering your business.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Conversion Mastery: Learn how to boost your conversion rates through Network Tokens, Strong Customer Authentication optimisation, and expanding your payment methods arsenal.
- Cost Efficiency: Discover the cost-saving potential of local payment methods, Rapid Dispute Resolution and Network Tokens, making your payment processes lean and cost-effective.
- Security and Growth: Find out how to enhance fraud detection to safeguard your business, while also exploring the opportunities presented by embedded finance to diversify your revenue streams.
This session is for you if…
- Your company relies on getting paid (and let’s face it, that’s all of us).
- You’re involved in building or optimising the user journey and checkout experience.
Building Future Digital Leaders: A Blueprint For Success
As leaders, we have an important role to play in nurturing the next generation of digital leadership. But what does tomorrow’s digital leader look like? And with an ever-changing technology landscape, how do we create opportunities for them to build resilience, remain adaptable and thrive?
Drawing on the experience of launching over 2000 digital careers, this session will provide you with the tools to identify capability, support development and set the pathway to success.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Understand the evergreen skills needed for resilient digital leadership
- Discover a blueprint for applied learning that works for the next generation
- Learn about the real-world impact of early investment in emerging talent
So What Does A Product Manager Do, Exactly?
You might have experience working on a product in some capacity, and with a product manager… but what do they do, exactly? The life of a product manager isn’t all glamorous strategy documents and customer meetings. (It’s also spreadsheets… a lot of spreadsheets.)
Discover what the responsibilities of a product manager are, and what the typical day to day looks like. We’ll delve into what a typical product needs to bridge the gap between customer needs and engineering solutions. We’ll talk through real-world anecdotes on what that looks like in practice.
We’ll also talk about how to work well across functions in a traditional engineering organisation, to get product and engineering — but also design, support, research, marketing, and sales — all working together for the same customer goal. Lastly, we’ll discuss how to decide whether a career in product management aligns with your passions and ambitions. Whether you’re an industry veteran or a newcomer, you’ll come away with a better sense of how to work as or with a product manager.
Session Key Takeaways:
- A product manager’s role is not to ship products, but to unblock customers. You don’t always need to ship a product to meet customers’ needs
- A product manager is the glue that holds the organization together, and fills the gaps where particular roles might be missing. You need to be flexible and adapt to your organization’s current situation
- There is no one product manager role, they’re all different! A product management role might be exciting for you if you’re good at understanding, synthesising, and communicating ideas, detail oriented, and enjoy juggling many balls at the same time
What High Performing Teams Do Differently
5 strategies women leaders in tech can implement in the next 90 days to transform their teams into a collaborative innovation engine for growth.
Leading a team has never been as complex: The hybrid work setup, generational and cultural differences, language barriers, evolving technologies, quiet quitting, and a heightened emphasis on employee wellbeing and productivity are just some of the myriad factors that are putting considerable pressure on managers today.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Why your ability to build trust quickly is your key differentiating factor to success in today’s complex business environment
- 5 simple, low-cost, easy-to-implement strategies to increase your team’s performance in the next 90 days
- 6 elements that must be part of every single team charter to create a sense of purpose and belonging, and drive innovation and collaboration in your team
This sessions is for you if…
- You have created a new business- critical team and need to maximise team effectiveness straight out of the gate
- You have recently been promoted to lead a team and want to be the best boss to work for right from the start
- Your team is missing its targets because of internal conflict and miscommunications, and you need to turn them around asap
Shifting Accessibility To The Left
How often have you heard that ‘Yes this is important, but we don’t have the capacity right now’ or ‘ sure let’s put it in the backlog’?
This is something we should not brush off or take lightly. Accessibility testing is vital especially when your product is a user facing application.
We need to be socially aware as a team and build quality towards our product with making it more accessible.
At least 1 in 5 people in the UK have a long term illness, impairment or disability. Many more have a temporary disability. A recent study found that 4 in 10 local council homepages failed basic tests for accessibility.
This is quite vital and the sooner we as testers can advocate this into our teams, we make our product more accessible, reduce the risk of bad product reviews, reputation and also be more socially aware. Let’s shift left and make accessibility testing built-in our teams.
The Why:
- Understand why accessibility testing is important
- How I adapted accessibility mindset
- How to coach team and bring accessibility into your teams
- Demonstrate various tools available to perform accessibility testing (with demo)
Session Key Takeaways:
- Understand why accessibility testing is important
- How I adapted accessibility mindset
- How to coach team and bring accessibility into your teams
- Demonstrate various tools available to perform accessibility testing (with demo)
This is for you if...you are new to accessibility and want to introduce this into your workplace/team. The session is open to all to learn and take away great knowledge.
Please note: Attendees will need their laptops for this session.
Process Pivots For Sustained Digital Transformations
Join us as we delve deep into the world of digital transformation, unlocking the mysteries surrounding the art of process pivoting. This workshop is designed to provide attendees with an understanding of the vital importance of product thinking, the artistry behind constructing tailor-made process models, and the underlying psychology of change adoption. Participants will gain an enriched perspective on the ever-evolving technological landscape, armed with strategies sourced from tangible, real-world scenarios.
In this 60-minute intensive workshop, also participants wll be introduced to a streamlined blueprint. This guide is perfect for change influencers, enabling them to not just confront challenges but to truly excel in the face of them.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Deep insights into process pivots and their role in contemporary enterprises
- Techniques for successful change adoption across varying organisational structures
- A hands-on guide tailored for those at the forefront of instigating change
This session is for…Product Managers, Portfolio Managers, members of PMOs, Business Analysts, Change Managers, and anyone passionate about innovation—be they entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs. Join us and navigate the digital transformation with confidence and expertise!
How To Build A Personal Brand For Your Tech Career
Carolyn will be exploring the ways in which you can utilise personal branding, taking instant action to show up authentically and with confidence in a male dominated industry. The session will deep dive into the importance of authenticity and active cultivation of your personal brand to help you to stop holding back.
How To Stay Relevant In The New Frontier Of Technology
Discover the new frontier of technology and its impact on business problem-solving. As the tech industry experiences unprecedented growth alongside increasing layoffs, it’s crucial to navigate your career strategically and stay ahead of the curve. Learn how to thrive in this dynamic landscape, harness the power of cutting-edge technologies, and become the linchpin of your organisation, adept at tackling complex business challenges.
Join us as we delve into the exhilarating new frontier of technology, exploring the steps needed to maintain career relevance and growth. Master the techniques and tools necessary to propel your career to new heights, and emerge as a true trailblazer in your field.
Session Key Takeaways:
- How to keep up and running to stay relevant
- What you know now will not be what you need in the future
- Build on the 50% and learn the rest
Blockchain, Crypto And Digital Payments: Navigating The Path To Mainstream Adoption
Digital assets and blockchain are no longer just hype, and some of today’s biggest and brightest institutions – from Citi, JP Morgan, Blackrock and beyond – are finding ways to embrace tokenization, blockchain and other web3 technologies. Learn why mainstream crypto adoption is inevitable in the financial technology landscape.
Digital assets, crypto and blockchain technology will be the foundation of our future financial infrastructure – have you laid the groundwork to embrace web3 technology? In this talk, Cassie will break down the crypto’s best use case (payments), navigating the many benefits of blockchain for financial institutions and what the path to embracing these technologies for everyday finance looks like.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Crypto and blockchain will underpin our global financial systems in the years to come, solving the very real problems that plague traditional finance today
- We’re past the inflection point — this technology is beyond just hype (as it was a few years ago). There are real companies building in this space, and there’s a ton of institutional interest
- TokeniSation is a key gateway to achieving mainstream digital asset adoption for institutions and will continue to gain momentum in the years to come.
This session is for you if…
- You work in traditional finance
- You work in tech
- You are crypto curious
- You are interested in a career in web3
- You are interested in the latest technology trends shaping our future
Leading Without Managing: Meet The Staff Software Engineer!
Delve into the transformative role of the staff engineer, its evolution, and its unmatched value to engineering teams. Explore varied archetypes, understand their implementation nuances, and hear a personal journey of navigating this role. We’ll highlight the significance of continuous individual contribution, particularly for women in tech, and offer actionable tips for those aspiring to this position.
Session Key Takeaways:
- In-depth understanding of the role and responsibilities of a staff engineer
- Insights into the strategic advantages staff engineers bring to organisations
- The importance of diversifying senior roles in engineering and combating biases
This session is for…Engineers seeking career growth, Managers aiming to understand the role better, and Engineering Leadership keen on driving organisational success.
Sustainability In Tech: Why It Matters, How To Develop It, And Why Women Will Lead It
Today’s evolving workplace faces many challenges – global talent scarcity, up/re/new skilling, quiet quitting, new ways of working and so much more. Added to that climate change and sustainability urgency.
With an estimated 24 million net new jobs worldwide being created by the green economy by 2030, green skills are essential to the transition towards a green economy, (Intl Labour Org). Yet the global shortage of skilled professionals continues across industries where the demand for technical & sustainable skills outpaces the availability of required skills.
The world’s sustainability transformation calls not only for a new generation of technology but a new generation of technology professionals. Data and Digital knowledge and skills are at the very foundation of the future workforce.
In this talk, you will understand why tech professionals – especially women in tech – have a central role in the evolving workplace.
Session Key Takeaways:
- How the urgency of climate change and sustainability is creating a skills gap
- Moving towards a sustainable workforce
- What a sustainable workforce looks like
- Why data and digital skills are 2 of the top priority skills for the new workforce
- Preparing for the new workplace – for yourself, your team, your organisation
- How women are leading in the sustainable tech
- Practical examples of green tech, sustainable solutions, and tech skills coming together to create a more sustainable environment.
Beyond The Glass Ceiling: Empowering Women in Leadership For A Better Tomorrow
Achieving true diversity at the top is both complex and complicated, but it’s the only way forward. We are all responsible for ensuring gender balance at a leadership level. This talk provides a candid personal overview of key barriers to more women in leadership, and offers strategies to overcome those barriers towards building the career you want.
The Why: Because despite the progress being made towards gender balance in traditionally male-dominated sectors, still not enough women progress into senior and executive leadership positions. Surfacing and discussing key barriers to progression and support strategies is not just a moral imperative but also a strategic step towards building a resilient and successful society in the long term.
Session Key Takeaways:
Understanding some of the key barriers to progression and hands-on strategies for an effective career progression in a balanced way.
This session is for you if…you are an executive leader, want to be an executive leader or have reached a glass ceiling at the current stage of your career.
The Top Questions Leaders Should Be Asking To Improve Technology Dexterity
70% of digital transformation initiatives fail to achieve the desired business objectives as multiple organisations struggle to manage cost, drive change to create a sustainable technology capability that meets desired business needs. What if you transformed your failure story to success through thinking differently about Data & Technology to bring value to your customers, and at the same to avoid billions of dollars wasted, significant inefficiencies and regulatory scrutiny?
The C-suite today are keen to understand strategically how to best leverage Technology Dexterity for their existing and potential new business to become more effective and to generate new revenue streams. I’ll share 3 questions leaders should be asking to improve technology dexterity, to help them go from failure to success and realize their business ambitions in a safe and cost-effective way.
Discover insights and real life stories on what it takes to succeed in digital transformation, whether it is through using data & technology as a leaver for their business to become more efficient and generate new revenues or using the power of action & ‘fail but never give up’ mindset.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Technology as a value creator: How you can remain competitive & satisfy customer and employee expectations in the increasingly dynamic environment, while using data & technology as a secret to leverage business efficiency
- Technology for new revenues: How to use data & technology assets to generate new revenue streams
- Technology as an Active Force for good: How Green IT support the companies’ efforts to achieve their ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) targets
Digital Power-Up: Turbocharging Transformation For Ultimate Value
Digital transformation has become a vital element in driving business success and growth, but simply adopting new technologies is not enough. To truly capitalise on the opportunities that digital transformation offers, businesses must develop strategies that maximise value and create lasting impact.
Learn how to cultivate an organisation that embraces change, encourages experimentation, and fosters collaboration, paving the way for your business to thrive in the digital era.
Discover how to maximise the value of digital transformation in your organisation, driving growth, innovation, and success in today’s ever-changing digital landscape.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Delve into the core components that drive successful digital transformation initiatives, from aligning business goals with technological advancements to creating a culture of continuous improvement and innovation
- Uncover the power of harnessing data to drive decision-making, streamline processes, and enhance customer experiences
- Discover best practices for developing a scalable and adaptable transformation roadmap
Navigating The Stars: The Art of Hiring for Excellence
Hiring is an essential part of technical leadership. Having a strategy to make the right hire efficiently is a key foundation for building a high performing team that delivers results. This talk will help attendees benefit from Rose’s experience and offer insights that they can apply in their own hiring.
In this talk, Rose will unveil the secrets to hiring for high-performance teams, drawing from her experience at tech firms Monzo, Deliveroo and BGL. Join us to discover straightforward strategies that will elevate your hiring process and empower your organisation. Don’t miss this opportunity to chart a course toward excellence in recruitment and set your team on a trajectory towards success!
Session Key Takeaways:
- Be kind
- Plan ahead
- Detail and Document
This sessions is for you if…you’re a developing manager looking to gain valuable insights into building high-performance teams. Whether you’re seeking practical strategies to strengthen your hiring process or aiming to empower your organisation with proven recruitment techniques, this talk is your guide to achieving excellence in hiring the stars.
How To Train And Deploy Your Own Large Language Model On Android
Dive into the practicalities of building and deploying large language models (LLMs) on Android in this hands-on session. We’ll cover the essentials of LLMs for tasks like text generation and translation, train a model using Keras and TensorFlow Lite, and conclude with a live demo of deploying this model to an Android device. Walk away ready to infuse your apps with the power of advanced language processing.
The Why: As we all know, language models such as GPT have taken the world by storm, and it is quite evident that AI will be an integral part of our day-to-day lives, especially for engineers. Understanding language models, how they work, and how they can be leveraged to create more efficient and innovative solutions is crucial for engineers to remain competitive in the ever-evolving technological landscape.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Understand the fundamentals of large language models and their capabilities in text generation, translation, and question answering
- Gain practical knowledge of training an LLM using Keras and TensorFlow Lite on a text dataset
- Learn how to deploy the trained LLM to an Android device for real-time language processing in mobile applications
This session is for…whether you’re an Android developer seeking to enhance your apps with language processing capabilities, a machine learning engineer eager to explore the possibilities of LLMs on mobile platforms, or a data scientist investigating the potential of LLMs across diverse domains, this session is for you.
Women In Tech: Pioneering Paths And Challenges With Mary Agbesanwa
Join us for a compelling conversation with fintech expert and Now You’re Talking Network founder, Mary Agbesanwa, exploring the multifaceted challenges women encounter in the tech industry.
This session will delve into the narratives of groundbreaking women in tech as featured in the new book, “50 Women in Technology.” The book chronicles the journeys of 25 tech trailblazers alongside the stories of 26 contemporary women who are carving out their paths in various tech sectors, despite the hurdles they face.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Insightful exploration of the unique hurdles women face in the tech landscape.
- Inspirational anecdotes from women who have paved the way and those reshaping tech today.
- Actionable advice for women striving to succeed in technology fields.
This session is for…anyone interested in the advancement of women in technology, from industry newcomers to seasoned professionals, and the allies who support them.
Leading Through Crisis: Maintaining Productivity In Stressful Situations
Many people experience stress in their roles and IT is no exception to the rule. Tough deadlines, projects to be delivered “yesterday”, release rollbacks and unstable environments or the very nature of your role can cause stress. But what if you woke up in a country at war and you need to manage your high performing IT teams so that business continues as usual and the client is still happy?
You’ll hear a personal story of adapting to a war in Ukraine, waking up in Kyiv under the bomb attacks, keeping the teams stable and performing so that our business was able to successfully continue as usual, which was the biggest challenge for everyone.
Session Key Takeaways:
- How to handle stressful situations at work
- How to communicate effectively with your team
- How to build a better level of trust and manage your teams under pressure
This session is for you if… you are an IT manager who wants to learn how to keep the balance and remain a calm leader.
Chairperson Opening
Welcome back to Women of Silicon Roundabout. Join us for day two of the conference and welcome remarks to kick-start your day with inspiration and empowerment!
Our two-day agenda is filled with expert-led sessions designed to help you learn how to start putting in the building blocks towards the future and securing your position as a futurist leader in tech and strategy.
Building A Tech Talent Strategy For The Future
Join this engaging fireside chat as we delve into the evolving tech landscape and the future of hiring tech talent. Drawing from the experiences of industry technology leaders, we’ll explore how to navigate the ever-shifting global talent landscape. Discover how leading companies are responding to and shaping global talent trends, and gain insights into the positive impact of fostering diversity in your tech talent pool.
Our experts will share practical wisdom on attracting, retaining, and nurturing a diverse workforce, while creating an inclusive company culture that fosters innovation and drives business growth.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Learn how leading companies are navigating global talent trends
- Understand the positive business impact of hiring diverse tech talent
- Gain insights on attracting and retaining diverse talent, and building an inclusive company culture
Social Mobility: The Opportunity
Social mobility has long been on the agenda, but only now are organisations starting to give it the same strategic prominence as they are for other diversity strands such as gender, sexuality or ethnicity.
Drawing on her experience of growing up in a working-class family in Glasgow to becoming Group Chief HR Officer at HSBC, Elaine will talk about the challenges that people from lower socio-economic backgrounds face, the strategies that can be put in place to address these obstacles and the benefits that organisations can realise as a result.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Socio-economic background is the strongest predictor of whether someone will reach a leadership position
- Women from lower socio-economic backgrounds take 21% longer to progress to senior roles than women from higher socio-economic backgrounds – a gap that’s much larger for women than it is for men
- Organisations can take simple steps to improve social mobility at all stages of a person’s career
This session is for anyone…interested in inclusion and helping yourself and others to get ahead at work.
Embracing Transformation: Unlocking Potential & Welcoming Change
Don’t miss this opportunity to discover the keys to transformational leadership and how it can elevate your organisation to new heights. This keynote that will equip you with the vision and strategies to lead your organisation to unparalleled success through change and transformation.
Dive deep into the art of transformational leadership and its profound impact on unlocking organisational potential. Just Eat Takeaways Chief Product Officer, Jessica Hall, reveals how embracing change, navigating transformation, and bridging generational gaps can supercharge your team’s abilities.
Join this enlightening keynote that will empower you to lead with vision and drive organisational success.
Today, organisational success hinges on your ability to embrace transformation and harness its full potential, explore why transformational leadership and a focus on change are the keys to unlocking your organisation’s true capabilities.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Mastering Transformation: Learn essential leadership skills to not only adapt to change but to thrive in it. Discover how transformation can be the catalyst for reaching new heights of success.
- Generational Synergy: Understand how embracing generational diversity can foster innovation and collaboration within your organisation, driving transformative change.
- Unleashing Organisational Potential: Gain insights into how focusing on transformation and change can unlock the full potential of your organisation, enabling you to achieve remarkable results.
Who is this session perfect for?
- If you’re a tech leader or aspiring leader looking to become a transformational force in your organisation
- You believe in the power of change to drive innovation and are eager to harness it
- You’re committed to unleashing your organisation’s full potential by embracing transformation as a growth strategy
Networking Break
Grab a coffee and connect with attendees, share your thoughts on the first sessions of the day!
How To Pitch An Idea And Get A ‘Yes’
Too many brilliant ideas fail because decision-makers just don’t ‘get it’. Why? Because the presenter didn’t share the key information in the first 60 seconds. This masterclass changes all that.
This masterclass is a game-changer! Too often brilliant technical and scientific minds fail to get their ideas past the decision-makers in their organisation because business leaders don’t understand the benefit. In this session, you will discover the secrets of speaking to the top of any organisation. You will walk away with a model that ensures the business listens when you talk tech.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Understand the mindset of business leaders
- Know the 4 key elements to include in the first minute of your talk
- Learn a proven model that ensures the business listens
This session is for you if…you are a Mid-to-Senior manager seeking approval or funding from decision-makers.
How To Project Confidence Even When You Don’t Feel It
There’s a big misconception that confidence is a thing you feel, but in reality, confidence is how you act. What counts is if other people THINK you’re confident.
This session will explore how we all often lack feelings of confidence and how to project confidence anyway. Emma Wicks and Tanya Goldhaber, two senior women who have braved every imaginable stressful professional situation and keep being told they’re really confident will cover the difference between perception and reality, how they’ve learned to project gravitas even when they’re dying inside, and how that’s really worked for them professionally. In smaller groups, we’ll share experiences, support each other with individual challenges, discuss techniques we’ve tried and learn how to speak up in a range of situations.
Session Key Takeaways:
- How to can act confident even if you don’t feel it
- How to ensure you speak up through preparing in advance
- How to manage your feelings, if you don’t feel confident and are jealous of people who do, those people probably don’t feel confident either
This session is for you if…you let a lack of confidence stop you in speaking up or going for opportunities.
Public Speaking. Break Your Fear Frontier
Step up and let your voice be heard! Dive into the essentials of public speaking with our hands-on workshop. Whether it’s about mastering your message or presenting with poise, we’ll guide you through the art of communicating effectively. Remember, it’s all about practice and preparation, not perfection!
Session Key Takeaways:
- Techniques to craft compelling speeches
- Strategies for confident and impactful delivery
This session is for you if...you are keen to elevate your public speaking prowess, from novices to seasoned speakers looking for a refresher.
Design Thinker Or Systems Thinker: Which One Are You?
In the dynamic realm of digital product creation, are you more inclined towards Design Thinking or Systems Thinking? While each offers unique perspectives, many of us, whether as individuals or organisations, find ourselves gravitating towards one.
This session dives into the nuances of both approaches, assisting attendees in identifying their dominant style and exploring the potential of embracing the other.
Witness firsthand how amalgamating principles from both methodologies can elevate creativity, especially when confronting intricate product design challenges.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Strategies to seamlessly transition into Design Thinking for Systems Thinkers, and vice versa
This session is for…all professionals engaged in digital product creation, be it in-house or within agencies, will benefit immensely from this session. If you’re shaping the next generation of websites or apps, this is a can’t-miss opportunity.
Building A Robust People Analytics Strategy
In our fast-paced digital era, a robust People Analytics strategy stands as the cornerstone for agile, forward-looking organisations. By integrating strategic human insight with data analytics, you can transform your organisation into a nimble entity, primed for rapid and informed decision-making.
Immerse yourself in the transformative domain of People Analytics. Embark on a comprehensive journey with a structured approach to formulate a compelling People Analytics strategy. By fine-tuning your strategy, ensure it resonates seamlessly with your organisation’s overarching goals and aspirations. Along the way, master the pivotal stages and elements that are quintessential to crafting an impactful People Analytics game plan. This enlightening workshop is designed to amplify your People Analytics acumen and breathe new life into your HR initiatives.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Comprehending the pivotal role of a well-devised People Analytics strategy
- Essential considerations to kickstart your journey
- Blueprint to architect your all-encompassing People Analytics approach
This session is for…those poised to embrace an analytical stance on HR objectives. While it’s perfect for HR professionals, organisational leaders, data aficionados, and agents of change, anyone intrigued by the theme is cordially invited to partake and glean insights.
How To Build A Personal Brand For Your Tech Career
Carolyn will be exploring the ways in which you can utilise personal branding, taking instant action to show up authentically and with confidence in a male dominated industry. The session will deep dive into the importance of authenticity and active cultivation of your personal brand to help you to stop holding back.
Gender Equity & Reproductive Health: The Invisible Barrier To Inclusion
Reproductive Health is often overlooked in the workplace, despite it having a profound effect on an employee’s well-being, experience and development opportunities. To truly address gender equity at work and close the gender pay gap, it’s time we acknowledge the effects reproductive health can have at work.
This workshop is a frank and honest look at why reproductive health should be a key part of a DEI strategy. Potential discomfort intended. It’ll be worth it.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Understand the effect reproductive health can have on employee’s experience
- Understand your comfort levels as a manager and senior leader
- Action points to take to your business and start making change.
This session is for you if…you are a senior manager passionate about taking gender equity seriously and want to fight for change within your organisation.
Helping To Shape The Future Of Work From The Ground Up
For certain, businesses need to open to thoughtful feedback that can help them shift the dial on how they show up as an employer. But how does a business build conviction to keep something top of the agenda when there are so many other political, environmental, financial and social challenges? Listening to the voice of their employees has never been more vital. But how do you surface the vital 2-3 things your people want from you and ensure you respond in a way that talks to what people need from a gender, generational, geographical or cultural perspective.
In this session, Pam will share what needs are trending against these classifications and pose questions to each of us about how we need to show up to make our employers better.
We cannot sit in an organisation and expect it to change to fit our needs. We must be active in shaping what employers listen to and participate in a way that ensures they prioritise designing the work environment to allow everyone to Thrive.
Session Key Takeaways:
- What each gender, generation and geographical location is asking their employers to focus on from a learning and growth perspective
- Where employers spend their learning budgets and what needs to change to better democratise access to learning that facilitates real career progression
- Moving from spectator to player – how do you take more control of your career
This session is for you if…
- You want to learn if how you are feeling matches that of others that you most identify with
- You want to generate ideas on how to exert more influence and control on your career
- You want to learn why AI must sit as part of the user experience if work life is ever to catch up with your demands
Do You Need To Be A Data Scientist To Be Data Literate?
Data is at the heart of everything we do, and every business decision we make, but what does data literacy mean? Join Digdata and Lloyds banking group’s interactive workshop where you will develop data literacy skills, solve a business problem, and build your confidence in talking about data!
This 90-minute session will not disappoint! This session will make you evaluate the questions you ask, the data you need to use to reach the business outcome you are looking for.
This session is for you if…you are keen to learn more about how developing your problem solving and data literacy can help accelerate your career register to attend.
What will you need?
- Laptop
- Excel & PowerPoint
Fireside Chat: FinTech, A Game Changer For Financial Inclusion And Wellbeing
With FinTech adoption on the rise globally, this dynamic conversation will delve into the transformative power of FinTech in promoting financial inclusion and wellbeing. You’ll hear insights on how FinTech is revolutionizing the global financial landscape, making finances more manageable and accessible for people across the world and fostering greater economic equity.
Session Key Takeaways:
- Gain an understanding of the current FinTech landscape and the emerging trends that are shaping the industry, from blockchain and cryptocurrencies to AI-driven financial services
- Learn how FinTech companies are leveraging cutting-edge technologies to provide accessible and affordable financial services to underserved communities worldwide
- Discover how FinTech is empowering individuals to take control of their financial lives, providing them with tools and resources to make informed decisions and improve their overall financial health
This session is for you if…you are an entrepreneur, investor and anyone with an interest in the intersection of technology and finance.
Come prepared to engage in a thought-provoking conversation that will leave you inspired and equipped with the knowledge to navigate the ever-evolving world of FinTech.
How To Prepare Yourself For Big Career Decisions
Ilana’s upcoming talk offers valuable insights and practical tools for navigating the challenges of making significant career choices. While predicting the future is beyond our control, Ilana provides attendees with the necessary tools to gather the information they need and make informed decisions.
Session Key Takeaways:
- The significance of self-awareness when making career decisions: Discover how understanding your strengths, values, and goals can guide your career choices effectively
- Validating decisions using guiding principles: Learn techniques to evaluate and validate your career decisions
- Building your own network of board members: Explore the importance of cultivating a supportive network of mentors, advisors, and peers to help you navigate your career journey
This session is for you if…you find yourself struggling with career decisions, contemplating ‘what if’ scenarios, preparing for a promotion, a new role, or considering a career change, this session is designed for you.
Join Ilana Simons as she equips you with the tools and strategies to confidently tackle significant career choices, both now and in the future.
Is AI The End Of The Human Interaction Contact Centres?
As AI continues to reshape the landscape of customer service, it brings both opportunities and challenges to the contact center industry. This session will provide a comprehensive look at the role of AI in service spaces and its potential impact on customer interactions.
We’ll explore the evolving landscape of AI technologies in contact centers and address the critical question: Will AI replace human interaction?
Session Key Takeaways:
- An in-depth analysis of how AI is transforming the contact center and service sector
- Understanding the balance between AI automation and the need for human empathy in customer service
- Insights into the implications of AI integration and why AI is not a one-size-fits-all solution
This session is for…operations leaders, those involved in contact center management, and C-Suite executives exploring new technologies. Join us to navigate the complexities of integrating AI in customer service while maintaining the crucial human element.
Leadership For The New Era: Agility, AI And Beyond
In today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape, leadership must adapt to meet the challenges and opportunities of the new era. Join us in this insightful session as we delve into the core principles of effective leadership, enriched by agility and powered by artificial intelligence.
Discover how leading-edge organisations are harnessing AI to drive innovation, enhance decision-making, and foster collaboration. Explore strategies to develop agile leadership skills, enabling you to navigate complex, ever-changing environments with confidence.
Our expert speakers will share real-world examples, practical insights, and forward-thinking approaches that empower leaders to thrive in the dynamic world of technology. Whether you’re an established leader or an aspiring one, this session will equip you with the knowledge and strategies needed to excel in the tech-driven landscape of tomorrow. Don’t miss this opportunity to unlock your leadership potential and shape the future of tech.
