Fawaz Ghali is an independent applied AI technologist with over 25 years of experience spanning AI research, higher education, and industry delivery. He works at the point where enthusiasm has faded, tools have been tried, and AI initiatives are expected to deliver real value.

Holding a PhD in Computer Science, Fawaz has led and contributed to applied AI, data engineering, and distributed systems across academia and industry. He has published 45+ peer-reviewed papers and delivered over 300 talks worldwide, focusing on what actually works once AI meets real data, real constraints, and real organisational pressure.

Fawaz speaks and teaches independently, without vendor affiliation or sales agendas. His sessions are direct, evidence-based, and deliberately free of marketing, product promotion, or speculative claims, offering audiences clarity, critical evaluation, and hard-earned insight grounded in practice rather than hype.

Fawaz Ghali is an independent applied AI technologist with over 25 years of experience spanning AI research, higher education, and industry delivery. He works at the point where enthusiasm has faded, tools have been tried, and AI initiatives are expe... Show more

Once described on Reddit as “technically challenged”, Sarah is a Principal Security Advocate working at Microsoft. She has lived all over the place but currently calls Melbourne home.

Sarah has been working in cyber security since before it was cool, has previously spoken at many security conferences including Black Hat and has co-authored a few Microsoft Press technical books. She is an active supporter of security communities across the globe and a co-host of the Microsoft Azure Security Podcast.

Sarah spends most of her spare time gaming, taking part in Melbourne's official sport of brunching, taking high tea and spending a disproportionate amount of her income on her dogs.

Once described on Reddit as “technically challenged”, Sarah is a Principal Security Advocate working at Microsoft. She has lived all over the place but currently calls Melbourne home. Sarah has been working in cyber security since before it was co... Show more

Fabiano Amorim is a Microsoft Data Platform most valuable professional (MVP) since 2011. With over two decades of experience, Fabiano is well known in the database community for his performance tuning abilities and the many conference speaking engagements around the world.
He writes articles for Simple-Talk (https://www.simple-talk.com/author/fabiano-amorim/) and his blog is on http://blogfabiano.com.

Fabiano Amorim is a Microsoft Data Platform most valuable professional (MVP) since 2011. With over two decades of experience, Fabiano is well known in the database community for his performance tuning abilities and the many conference speaking engage... Show more

Global AI & Data Science Lead at Avolta. Master's degree in Computer Science at Universidad of Alicante (2005-2011). Microsoft AI MVP

Global AI & Data Science Lead at Avolta. Master's degree in Computer Science at Universidad of Alicante (2005-2011). Microsoft AI MVP Show more

Josefine currently works as an Accessibility Engineer at Storyblok. She is also a Google Developer Expert for Web, ambassador for Women Tech Makers and GirlCode. She cares deeply about DE&I in the tech industry and beyond and is passionate about all things frontend, inclusive communities and web accessibility. She is also an aerial acrobat, dance teacher and cat mom. She is based in Hamburg, Germany, and travels the world talking about Web Accessibility.

Josefine currently works as an Accessibility Engineer at Storyblok. She is also a Google Developer Expert for Web, ambassador for Women Tech Makers and GirlCode. She cares deeply about DE&I in the tech industry and beyond and is passionate about all ... Show more

Geetha is a Solutions Architect and Customer Success professional specializing in big data management , storage , Kubernetes and Durable execution, with expertise in cloud-native and on-premises solutions. She ensures customer success and maturity by delivering effective, simplified solutions.

Geetha is a Solutions Architect and Customer Success professional specializing in big data management , storage , Kubernetes and Durable execution, with expertise in cloud-native and on-premises solutions. She ensures customer success and maturity by... Show more

Andrew Murphy started his career as a Software Engineer but, after a decade in technology leadership, he decided to focus on teaching the skills that he learnt the hard way. When he moved into leadership there was no support, so he had to make all the mistakes (a lot of them!) and learn from them.

His goal is now to make sure that tech leaders don’t have to do things the hard way by providing them with the mindsets and skillsets that can make them happy, confident and effective leaders.

His company, Tech Leaders Launchpad, currently focuses specifically on the new and emerging leader space, as that's the place we can have the biggest impact on the students, and the industry.

Andrew Murphy started his career as a Software Engineer but, after a decade in technology leadership, he decided to focus on teaching the skills that he learnt the hard way. When he moved into leadership there was no support, so he had to make all th... Show more

Mauro Bennici is active in the R&D area of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Natural Language Generation (NLG). He is a Data Scientist, Professional Scrum Master (PSM), Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), and .NET foundation member. Member of the SME Focus Group on Ethics and Artificial Intelligence, European Community.

Mauro Bennici is active in the R&D area of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Natural Language Generation (NLG). He is a Data Scientist, Professional Scrum Master (PSM), Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), and .NET foundation member. Member of the ... Show more

Patrick has 20+ years of experience as an Enterprise Solutions Architect. He has a successful track record of technical expertise for Office 365, SharePoint, SQL Server, and Oracle RDBMS. He is a former Microsoft employee in France. He worked 14 years to develop his own company Abalon, created in 2011. Abalon is dedicated to supporting customers on getting real business benefits with Microsoft collaborative platform.
After selling it, he created a new one called AURA specialized on Microsoft licensing optimization.

He has been speaker and organizer of 100+ Microsoft 365 and Power Platform events like SharePoint Saturdays Paris, Monaco, Dubai, Netherlands, Barcelona, Helsinki, ..., European SharePoint Conference, European Collaboration Summit, MS TechDays Paris, Modern Workplace Conference Paris and Power Platform French Summit...
He has spoken on the 5 continents, on more than 50 countries. More details here: http://bit.ly/eventsPGU2

He leads aMP Community. More details here: http://bit.ly/aMSPrez

Patrick has 20+ years of experience as an Enterprise Solutions Architect. He has a successful track record of technical expertise for Office 365, SharePoint, SQL Server, and Oracle RDBMS. He is a former Microsoft employee in France. He worked 14 year... Show more

Giorgio Boa is a passionate Full Stack Developer currently working at Egen, where he leverages extensive experience in building scalable applications.
His journey led to the discovery of the power of JavaScript, and he has been deeply involved in the front-end ecosystem.
As a core team member of Qwik, an open-source project, Giorgio actively contributes to its development and the wider OSS community.
He is an avid learner, constantly seeking new challenges and knowledge to enhance his skills.
Sharing expertise with others is a true passion for Giorgio. He is an international speaker, engaging audiences worldwide and contributing to the global tech community.
His ambition drives him to improve daily, always striving for excellence in his craft. 🚀

Giorgio Boa is a passionate Full Stack Developer currently working at Egen, where he leverages extensive experience in building scalable applications. His journey led to the discovery of the power of JavaScript, and he has been deeply involved in th... Show more

Jeremy helps developers by sharing his own struggles, mostly in technology, but also with being more social as an introvert, understanding potential for learning, and playing banjo. He has worked as a corporate developer, as a Chief Improvement Officer at a startup, and as a contract developer. Currently, he teaches developers through online courses, workshops, tech articles, and conference talks. He spends most of his time in C# and has recently ventured into Go (golang) and Rust (rust-lang) to explore some of his favorite topics: interfaces, delegates, concurrency, and parallel programming.

Jeremy helps developers by sharing his own struggles, mostly in technology, but also with being more social as an introvert, understanding potential for learning, and playing banjo. He has worked as a corporate developer, as a Chief Improvement Offic... Show more

Lars is a Principal Developer Advocate at Atlassian, an author, trainer, Microsoft Azure MVP, community leader, aspiring YouTube host and part time classic car collector. He is heavily involved in the space of cloud computing services, especially Azure, and is a published author, solution architect and writer for numerous publications. He has been a part of the software development community for the past 20 years and co-organises the DDD Melbourne community conference, organises developer events with Microsoft, and also runs a part time car restoration business. He has spoken at numerous technical events around the world and is an expert in Australian Outback Internet.

Lars is a Principal Developer Advocate at Atlassian, an author, trainer, Microsoft Azure MVP, community leader, aspiring YouTube host and part time classic car collector. He is heavily involved in the space of cloud computing services, especially Azu... Show more

I’m Vaibhav Malpani — a Google Developer Expert (GDE) in Google Cloud with 9+ years of hands-on experience in designing, developing and deploying scalable cloud solutions.

I thrive at the intersection of code and architecture: writing clean Python, mobilising cloud services (GCP, serverless, containers), and turning complex problems into elegant, high-impact applications.

Beyond the console, I’m passionate about mentoring developers, speaking at tech events and sharing what I learn — because community growth fuels innovation.

If you’re looking to collaborate on AI-driven cloud applications, serverless infrastructures, or community-led dev & open-source initiatives — let’s connect.

I’m Vaibhav Malpani — a Google Developer Expert (GDE) in Google Cloud with 9+ years of hands-on experience in designing, developing and deploying scalable cloud solutions. I thrive at the intersection of code and architecture: writing clean Pytho... Show more

Helen Okereke is a distinguished Software and Robotics Engineer from Nigeria with extensive expertise in the Internet of Things (IoT). Formerly a Database Management Specialist at the National Institute of Information Technology, she optimized database systems and enhanced data-driven decision-making.

Helen is passionate about education, having trained university students and professionals in IoT through various programs. She is known for her practical workshops that blend theoretical foundations with hands-on experience.

Her work in robotics and IoT has led to innovative hardware solutions, from smart home systems to industrial automation. Helen’s deep understanding of emerging technologies and her commitment to innovation make her a sought-after speaker and educator in the tech community.

Helen Okereke is a distinguished Software and Robotics Engineer from Nigeria with extensive expertise in the Internet of Things (IoT). Formerly a Database Management Specialist at the National Institute of Information Technology, she optimized databa... Show more

Business continuity, infrastructure, virtualization, and cloud expert, author, bass player, Styxologist, former Microsoft MVP as well as VMware vExpert, and SQLHA founder Allan Hirt has been working with SQL Server as well as clustering in Windows Server for far too long. He currently works for Microsoft as a Principal Technical Program Manager. He loves to travel the world to empower people through sharing his knowledge.

Business continuity, infrastructure, virtualization, and cloud expert, author, bass player, Styxologist, former Microsoft MVP as well as VMware vExpert, and SQLHA founder Allan Hirt has been working with SQL Server as well as clustering in Windows Se... Show more

Google Developer Expert for Android, I am a software developer with over six years of experience in software development, specifically for Android and iOS. Although I sometimes develop web solutions, I currently work as Mobile Developer at BRP.

In addition to developing software, I like to share my knowledge by writing articles on various topics and getting involved in the local community. I am currently the leader of the Google Developer Group in Lubumbashi.

Google Developer Expert for Android, I am a software developer with over six years of experience in software development, specifically for Android and iOS. Although I sometimes develop web solutions, I currently work as Mobile Developer at BRP. In... Show more

Ashraf Ghonaim is a Strategic Management Consultant and his core areas of expertise are: Strategy Management, Performance Measurement, Process Improvement and Data Analytics.

Ashraf holds a Computer Engineering degree and an MBA degree in Strategic Management with special emphasis on IT-Business Strategic Alignment using Balanced Scorecard. He is also a certified Balanced Scorecard Professional, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Project Management Professional (PMP).

Ashraf is the leader of Toronto Fabric & Power BI User Group and he has been a Microsoft MVP in Data Platform (Fabric & Power BI) since 2018. He is also a Microsoft Certified Trainer MCT and he teaches Fabric and Power BI courses at the University of Calgary. Ashraf is a co-author of 2 books about Power BI and Microsoft AI and he is a frequent community events organizer and speakers around Fabric and Power BI.

Ashraf Ghonaim is a Strategic Management Consultant and his core areas of expertise are: Strategy Management, Performance Measurement, Process Improvement and Data Analytics. Ashraf holds a Computer Engineering degree and an MBA degree in Strategi... Show more

AI Principal Software Engineer with extensive Java expertise, system design, and project management experience.

Specialized in AI/ML technologies, Large Language Models (LLMs), and Vector databases.

Java Expert and Trainer and Mentor. Strategic technical
advisor driving innovation in AI-powered software solutions

AI Principal Software Engineer with extensive Java expertise, system design, and project management experience. Specialized in AI/ML technologies, Large Language Models (LLMs), and Vector databases. Java Expert and Trainer and Mentor. Strategic... Show more

Victoria Mutai is a software developer and co-lead Firebase Kenya. She works as a Supplier Intelligence Specialist at Assent Kenya, where she develops python scripts that are used for data analysis and web scraping. She holds a Bsc in Information Technology at Kirinyaga University . Victoria Mutai is passionate on making use of Firebase and implementing it on her projects and day to day job.

In her spare time, Victoria enjoys training people on programming fundamentals in Web development  and volunteering in her community.

Victoria Mutai is a software developer and co-lead Firebase Kenya. She works as a Supplier Intelligence Specialist at Assent Kenya, where she develops python scripts that are used for data analysis and web scraping. She holds a Bsc in Information Tec... Show more

Head of Mobile @ LeanCode with almost 10 years of experience in mobile development.
He has worked across Xamarin, React Native, and native platforms before fully committing to Flutter, now his sole focus for mobile apps at LeanCode.
He led the Flutter at Scale in the Credit Agricole Bank Polska project and helps teams deliver high-quality apps using Patrol by LeanCode for robust testing.
Also, the Co-founder of Flutter Warsaw, one of the largest Flutter meetups in Europe.

Head of Mobile @ LeanCode with almost 10 years of experience in mobile development. He has worked across Xamarin, React Native, and native platforms before fully committing to Flutter, now his sole focus for mobile apps at LeanCode. He led the Fl... Show more

Adrienne is a Filipina software engineer, international speaker, author of Coding for Kids: Python, and a LinkedIn Learning instructor...essentially, an overachiever. She's published "Looks Good To Me: Constructive Code Reviews", a labor of love that she hopes will improve code reviews everywhere. Most importantly, she spends way too much money on coffee, desserts, and vintage clothing and ungodly amounts of time playing Age of Empires II.

Adrienne is a Filipina software engineer, international speaker, author of Coding for Kids: Python, and a LinkedIn Learning instructor...essentially, an overachiever. She's published "Looks Good To Me: Constructive Code Reviews", a labor of love that... Show more

Antonio is a seasoned Agile Coach with a wealth of experience in delivery management across the UK. With a foundation as a Java Developer early in his career, he excels in bridging communication gaps between development teams and business stakeholders. Having worked in diverse environments spanning three countries, Antonio has honed his ability to appreciate varying perspectives and cultivate cultural awareness
He usually speaks about Agile, DevOps and Mental Health across Europe and US.

Antonio is a seasoned Agile Coach with a wealth of experience in delivery management across the UK. With a foundation as a Java Developer early in his career, he excels in bridging communication gaps between development teams and business stakeholder... Show more

Todd is a developer who advocates and evangelizes about interactive video streaming at Twitch. He's been writing code since 2004 and is passionate about technology, code, and helping developers learn new things. As part of his role as a Developer Advocate, he writes demos to show other developers how to use tools, languages, frameworks, and technologies to solve the problems that they face every day. Todd has a background in writing and a love for theater, so he considers himself fortunate to have found a role that lets me use those skills and passions as part of his everyday routine. He is married to his best friend and lives in the North Georgia mountains with his 2 kids, 8 chickens, 2 dogs, and a cat. When he's not working, he loves to build miniature models, cook, hike, travel, play video games and tinker with electronics and microcontrollers.

Todd is a developer who advocates and evangelizes about interactive video streaming at Twitch. He's been writing code since 2004 and is passionate about technology, code, and helping developers learn new things. As part of his role as a Developer Adv... Show more

Manasés Jesús has been passionately hacking since high school, mastering various programming languages, tech stacks, and software development methodologies. With a keen ability to architect and implement distributed systems, mobile applications, and cloud-native solutions, he has successfully led projects and delivered innovative software to international corporations across the IT, banking, and IoT sectors. He enjoys giving workshops, connecting with tech communities, empowering developers and discovering new opportunities for innovation and growth.

Manasés Jesús is a recognized thought leader, having spoken at international conferences and contributed to O'Reilly's esteemed publications, "97 Things Every Cloud Engineer Should Know" and "97 Things Every Application Security Professional Should Know." His leadership style is marked by a strong emphasis on emotional intelligence, fostering collaboration, and inspiring others to achieve their best. This combination of technical prowess and empathetic leadership makes him a valuable asset in any technological endeavor.

Manasés Jesús has been passionately hacking since high school, mastering various programming languages, tech stacks, and software development methodologies. With a keen ability to architect and implement distributed systems, mobile applications, and ... Show more

My name is Abdul Kazi and I am a Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVP) for Azure, Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), Solutions Architect with 18+ years of IT industry experience and have been working with Microsoft Azure since 2014. Also, I am the co-host of Come Cloud With Us meetup where we are joined by guest speakers to talk about cloud related topics.

My name is Abdul Kazi and I am a Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVP) for Azure, Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), Solutions Architect with 18+ years of IT industry experience and have been working with Microsoft Azure since 2014. Also, I am ... Show more

A seasoned technologist with over 20 years of experience in the Ops space. He is currently serving as the Global Field CTO for a leading cloud-native and open-source data protection company.

Exploring the world of Cloud,Cloud-Native, DevOps and Open-Source Software software and raising awareness that there is still very much a requirement to protect data and workloads within these platforms.

Author of 90DaysOfDevOps, an Open Learning resource for the community with over 20,000 GitHub Stars sharing structured route to learning the world of DevOps.

Current Project: Up The Stack, a look into the graduated and incubating projects that we see within the CNCF Landscape.

A seasoned technologist with over 20 years of experience in the Ops space. He is currently serving as the Global Field CTO for a leading cloud-native and open-source data protection company. Exploring the world of Cloud,Cloud-Native, DevOps and Op... Show more

Owner of a 2022 Workplace Wellness "Hot List" company, one of the top 10 Organizational Change Management Companies of 2022, named a top 100 HR Professional of 2020, and recently elected as the global psychological health and safety liaison for ISO, Dr. Allessandria Polizzi has 20 years of experience leading teams across multiple industries to unlock the potential in people and help organizations thrive. Following her own burnout in 2021, Dr. Al found the marketplace for practical solutions for leaders in crisis to be insufficient for her needs. She decided to reboot her consulting practice, Verdant Consulting, with a renewed focus on solving this issue in the hopes that future leaders would have better options. In addition, she has co-founded HR Wellbeing Week and Kite HR, which provide targeted programs that address the specific needs of HR teams. She also hosts the Be Verdant podcast, which shares the latest in resiliency and psychological safety from around the globe.

Owner of a 2022 Workplace Wellness "Hot List" company, one of the top 10 Organizational Change Management Companies of 2022, named a top 100 HR Professional of 2020, and recently elected as the global psychological health and safety liaison for ISO, ... Show more

Igniting the African Growth Story: Harnessing Data, AI, and ML to Empower Industries, Markets, and Lives.

As an Intrepreneur/Entrepreneur, I am fuelled by a burning passion for propelling business growth through effective processes and structures. However, my vision extends far beyond that. I firmly believe that the power of Data Insights, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning will serve as the catalysts propelling Africa into a realm of double-figure growth in sectors such as Agriculture, Financial Inclusion, Insurance Penetration, and more.

Forever a Mentee and student of life, I have amassed 9 years of invaluable experience as a dedicated and detail-oriented Project Lead/Owner. My journey has taken me through diverse environments, honing my skills in monitoring, maintaining, and surpassing client satisfaction goals and growth objectives through data-driven teams.

I hold a special interest in capturing the millennial market and leveraging Modelling Artificial Intelligence systems to unlock exponential growth opportunities in the African Market. To complement my expertise, I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Actuarial Science at the esteemed University of Nairobi.

Beyond my educational background and industry experience, I have founded two successful startups that showcase my commitment to driving technological advancements and intrinsic value in the world:

1. BimaSmart: An Insurance Evaluation platform revolutionizing risk assessment and pricing of micro-insurance. I successfully sold the concept to https://jetsure-agritech.com/ in 2016-2017.

2. Tose Technologies LTD: A groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning think tank focused on implementing AI in Agriculture Value Chains to mitigate risk associated with financial instruments. Though currently at the ideation stage, we are poised to embark on a proof of concept journey in October 2022.

Igniting the African Growth Story: Harnessing Data, AI, and ML to Empower Industries, Markets, and Lives. As an Intrepreneur/Entrepreneur, I am fuelled by a burning passion for propelling business growth through effective processes and structures.... Show more

Matthew D. Groves is a guy who loves to code. It doesn't matter if it's C#, jQuery, or PHP: he'll submit pull requests for anything. He has been coding professionally ever since he wrote a QuickBASIC point-of-sale app for his parent's pizza shop back in the 90s. He currently works for Couchbase, helping developers in any way he can. His free time is spent with his family, watching the Reds, and getting involved in the developer community. He is the author of AOP in .NET, Pro Microservices in .NET, a Pluralsight author, and a Microsoft MVP.

Matthew D. Groves is a guy who loves to code. It doesn't matter if it's C#, jQuery, or PHP: he'll submit pull requests for anything. He has been coding professionally ever since he wrote a QuickBASIC point-of-sale app for his parent's pizza shop ba... Show more

My name is Marco and I have an incredible passion for technology which I had the privilege to turn into a job. I’ve been working with .NET since the first beta, focusing on ASP.NET and, more generally, anything that is web related. I’ve been an early adopter of Microsoft Azure – who remembers the portal in Silverlight? :) – and, since its introduction, Cloud technologies have represented the core of my professional interest.

Today I work in the beautiful London, where I’m playing my part in saving the planet being the CTO at Mondra. Getting involved in the .NET and Azure community is also a key aspect of my profession: I’m convinced that knowledge sharing is one of the best ways to improve our professional skills, and therefore I try to dedicate as much time as I can to activities such as writing articles or speaking at conferences and meetups. Thanks to that, I’ve been awarded as a Microsoft MVP for the last 15 years in a row.

My name is Marco and I have an incredible passion for technology which I had the privilege to turn into a job. I’ve been working with .NET since the first beta, focusing on ASP.NET and, more generally, anything that is web related. I’ve been an early... Show more