Waskar Paulino is a software engineer who builds AI products, and a Technical.ly 2025 RealLIST Innovator. He is the founder of PhilaCon Valley, a Philadelphia tech community for people who build. Its PATCH series of hands-on labs puts designers, engineers, and artists in one room to make things, from NFC hardware to projection mapping.

He is a former startup CTO. Before that, he spent seven years at Apple as a Genius and trainer. He started his career teaching Spanish and music to young people in Philadelphia. He is a first-generation AfroLatinx technologist who explains technology the same way to a boardroom or a beginner.

He speaks on AI in production, AI-assisted building, creative coding, and community-led growth. At the AI Community Conference at Microsoft in New York, he presented "From Pixels to Meaning: Building an AI Content Pipeline That Actually Works." He has also spoken at Philly JS Club, OwlHacks at Temple University, FamCon, and The Moonlighters' Club Showcase. He has been a panelist at Technical.ly's Builders Conference during Philly Tech Week, at Per Scholas Philadelphia, and on AI infrastructure with Unisys in Allentown.

Coming up: he leads the PhilaCon Valley creative-tech activation at Founders Alley Philadelphia in October 2026. In December 2026 he co-hosts The AI Confessional at The AI Summit New York.

Waskar Paulino is a software engineer who builds AI products, and a Technical.ly 2025 RealLIST Innovator. He is the founder of PhilaCon Valley, a Philadelphia tech community for people who build. Its PATCH series of hands-on labs puts designers, engi... Show more

Savannah Dill is an influential Business Intelligence Analyst, deeply passionate about Microsoft's Power Platform. Her mission is to demystify data analytics and empower individuals and organizations to make informed decisions using data insights, blending technical with storytelling.

Outside of her professional life, Savannah dedicates her time to managing "Not a Pickle Blog" and is in the process of launching a podcast named "D20 Dynamics," aiming to broaden her educational outreach and foster deeper community engagement. S

Always warm and human.

Savannah Dill is an influential Business Intelligence Analyst, deeply passionate about Microsoft's Power Platform. Her mission is to demystify data analytics and empower individuals and organizations to make informed decisions using data insights, bl... Show more

Carsten Meilbak is a Microsoft MVP for Microsoft Teams and an experienced IT architect specializing in Microsoft Teams, meeting rooms, and telephony. With more than 15 years of experience in Microsoft communications — and several years in the telecom industry before that — Carsten brings a practical, real-world perspective to modern collaboration, enterprise voice, and hybrid meeting experiences.

His work focuses on helping organizations design, implement, and optimize Microsoft Teams solutions that connect people across locations, devices, and meeting spaces. Carsten has deep experience with Teams Phone, enterprise voice, session border controllers, Teams Rooms on both Windows and Android, and the wider ecosystem of certified meeting room devices and AV technologies.

Over the years, Carsten has worked with customers ranging from smaller national organizations to large international enterprises and public sector organizations, including municipalities and ministries. His implementation experience spans many industries, geographies, and deployment models — from remote advisory and design work to hands-on onsite implementation.

Carsten is passionate about making technology work in the room — not just on paper. He enjoys bridging the gap between Microsoft 365, Teams, telephony, network infrastructure, and AV hardware, ensuring that meeting rooms are reliable, intuitive, and ready for the way people actually collaborate.

As a speaker, Carsten is known for combining technical depth with practical examples from real deployments and lab testing. He regularly shares knowledge with the Microsoft Teams community on topics such as Teams Rooms, Teams Phone, meeting room architecture, device management, and the evolving role of AI and Copilot in meetings.
His core areas of expertise include:

• Microsoft Teams Phone and enterprise voice
• Microsoft Teams Rooms for small, medium, and large meeting spaces
• Meeting room architecture across Windows and Android platforms
• Session Border Controllers, gateways, and telephony integration
• AV, network, and device management for modern collaboration spaces
• Contact center and operator solutions integrated with Microsoft Teams

Carsten’s goal is to help organizations create communication and meeting experiences that feel simple for users, while being technically robust, secure, and manageable for IT.

Carsten Meilbak is a Microsoft MVP for Microsoft Teams and an experienced IT architect specializing in Microsoft Teams, meeting rooms, and telephony. With more than 15 years of experience in Microsoft communications — and several years in the telecom... Show more

Samir Sengupta is an AI/ML engineer in New York who builds production LLM, RAG and multi-agent systems, and the infrastructure that keeps them reliable once the demo is over.

Over 3+ years at SynRadar and Neural Thread he has shipped Kafka pipelines processing ~500K events a day, ML services on Kubernetes at sub-100ms p50 latency, and NLP ticket routing that cut manual triage by about 40%. He is the founder of SyGentAI, which builds agent systems where agents propose, humans approve and every action is logged.

He runs his own fleet of websites, unattended LLM publishing pipelines and agents that are built and operated largely by coding agents, and he writes about what breaks. His open work includes Wayne, an AI coding harness for VS Code; PrometheusAI, an offline LLM assistant for Android; tokenash, a local-first context compressor; and a TechRxiv preprint on long-context LLMs for edge devices.

In 2026 he spoke at KCD New York, Apache Beam Summit NYC and Blockchain Week UNGA Edition. He holds an M.S. in Data Science from Saint Peter's University.

samcodeman.com · github.com/SamirSengupta · linkedin.com/in/samirsengupta

Samir Sengupta is an AI/ML engineer in New York who builds production LLM, RAG and multi-agent systems, and the infrastructure that keeps them reliable once the demo is over. Over 3+ years at SynRadar and Neural Thread he has shipped Kafka pipelin... Show more

Phillip Wylie is an offensive security professional with over 22 years of cybersecurity experience, building on six years as a systems administrator before transitioning into cybersecurity. His diverse background spans multiple disciplines including network security, application security, web application pentesting, Wi-Fi assessments, social engineering, and red team operations. He holds industry-recognized certifications including CISSP, OSCP, and GWAPT. Currently serving as Chief Evangelist and Senior Consultant at Suzu Labs, Phillip brings a uniquely well-rounded perspective to both the technical and strategic sides of offensive security.

Phillip is a dedicated educator who has taught pentesting and web application pentesting as an adjunct instructor at Dallas College, and has created and delivered offensive security content for P3F and INE. His personal brand, "The Hacker Maker," reflects his passion for making cybersecurity accessible to non-traditional career entrants.

His contributions to the cybersecurity community extend well beyond the technical. Phillip is the concept creator and co-author of The Pentester Blueprint: Starting a Career as an Ethical Hacker, a widely respected book that grew from a lecture he gave at Dallas College into a conference talk and ultimately a published resource for aspiring pentesters. He is also a featured contributor in Tribe of Hackers Red Team.

Phillip hosts The Phillip Wylie Show and Simply Offensive, co-hosts CYBR.HAK.Cast, and previously hosted The Hacker Factory Podcast, a SANS Difference Makers Award recipient. He is a frequent speaker and workshop instructor at US and international conferences including DEF CON, Black Hat, BSides, and RSAC, and remains an active mentor and community advocate throughout the cybersecurity industry.

Phillip Wylie is an offensive security professional with over 22 years of cybersecurity experience, building on six years as a systems administrator before transitioning into cybersecurity. His diverse background spans multiple disciplines including ... Show more

Steve Yonkeu is a backend software engineer dedicated to delivering excellence in architecture, performance, and modularity. For over 5 years he has been leading teams and projects and open source communities worldwide. Steve is also the founder of Django Cameroon and Python Cameroon communities today. He is also an organizer at PyCon Africa and speaker at PyConUS.

Steve Yonkeu is a backend software engineer dedicated to delivering excellence in architecture, performance, and modularity. For over 5 years he has been leading teams and projects and open source communities worldwide. Steve is also the founder of D... Show more

Soy Kevin Cueva, Ingeniero en Tecnologías de la Información y Máster en Big Data y Data Science. Mi experiencia se centra en el desarrollo de soluciones tecnológicas estratégicas, con un enfoque especializado en Inteligencia Artificial, Ciencia de Datos, MultiCloud, Ciberseguridad y automatización de procesos. Me desempeño como Software Development Consultant en Business IT, donde diseño e implemento soluciones personalizadas para optimizar operaciones y potenciar la toma de decisiones de mis clientes en toda Latinoamérica. He compartido esta experiencia como conferencista en eventos de la comunidad Google Developer Groups, así como en comunidades tech y otros espacios académicos y tecnológicos a nivel nacional.

Además de mi perfil técnico, he demostrado un fuerte liderazgo y un compromiso activo con el desarrollo social y comunitario. Co-fundé y lideré iniciativas de investigación como el Semillero Nexus Community y la Red de Investigación en Ingeniería Informática (RI3), y fui co-líder de la comunidad D'Soft.net (Microsoft) en la UNACH. Mi experiencia se extiende a roles de gestión en organizaciones de impacto como la Fundación SUMAE que cofundé y presidí, la Red Juvenil de Liderazgo Ecuador (RJLE), LIDERA Ecuador y AIESEC Ecuador, además de mi formación como líder global en el Aspire Leaders Program de Harvard Business School. He participado en proyectos de alto impacto como el desarrollo del primer metaverso del Ecuador para la ciudad de Riobamba, como capacitador voluntario para la ONU en manejo de software y digitalización de documentos, y en la organización de campamentos electorales y eventos de alto prestigio nacional.

Mis habilidades técnicas abarcan un amplio espectro: desarrollo Full-Stack (Python, Java, JavaScript, .NET), herramientas de Visualización de Datos y Business Intelligence (Power BI, RStudio), FinOps, IA Manager, DevOps y Cloud Computing (Azure, AWS, GCP), redes y ciberseguridad con formación en hacking ético y diseño de soluciones inclusivas, respaldado por mi formación en educación inclusiva para personas con discapacidad visual (FOAL / Fundación ONCE América Latina). Soy una persona autodidacta y proactiva, orientada a la resolución de problemas y al aprendizaje continuo, lo que me impulsa a generar un impacto positivo a través de la tecnología y el trabajo colaborativo. Me encanta viajar, explorar la fotografía y estar en constante aprendizaje, manejando muchos frentes con responsabilidad.

Soy Kevin Cueva, Ingeniero en Tecnologías de la Información y Máster en Big Data y Data Science. Mi experiencia se centra en el desarrollo de soluciones tecnológicas estratégicas, con un enfoque especializado en Inteligencia Artificial, Ciencia de Da... Show more

Luiz Real is a Software Engineer with 20+ years of experience. Passionate about Java, AI, and emerging technologies, he’s a SouJava São Paulo JUG leader and co-host of The Out of the Box Developer podcast. Beyond his technical leadership, Luiz dedicates part of his career to teaching and mentoring, connecting academic concepts with real-world practices. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, meetups, and technology events, and is the author of Kickstart Software Engineering Fundamentals.

Luiz Real is a Software Engineer with 20+ years of experience. Passionate about Java, AI, and emerging technologies, he’s a SouJava São Paulo JUG leader and co-host of The Out of the Box Developer podcast. Beyond his technical leadership, Luiz dedica... Show more

Senior Software Engineer | Java, Spring Boot, Microservices & Software Architecture Expert | 10+ Years Experience

Garima Agarwal is a seasoned Senior Software Engineer and international speaker with over 10 years of experience in software architecture, backend development, and large-scale system migrations. She specializes in Java, Spring Boot, Spring AI, Microservices, and Event-Driven Architecture, with a proven track record of designing and delivering high-performance, scalable solutions for Fortune companies in banking, insurance, finance, eCommerce, and government domains.

As a passionate Women in Tech leader and Instagram influencer with millions of views, Garima actively advocates for technical excellence, mentorship, and diversity in technology. She excels in performance optimization, API development, system modernization, and ensuring robust production systems that drive business impact.

Known for her dynamic speaking style and deep technical insights, Garima is committed to sharing knowledge, empowering developers, and building future-ready architectures.

Senior Software Engineer | Java, Spring Boot, Microservices & Software Architecture Expert | 10+ Years Experience Garima Agarwal is a seasoned Senior Software Engineer and international speaker with over 10 years of experience in software architec... Show more

Grant Fritchey is a Data Platform MVP and AWS Community Builder with over 30 years’ experience in IT, including time spent in support and development. Grant works with multiple data platforms including SQL Server and PostgreSQL as well as multiple cloud platforms. He has also developed in VB, VB.NET, C#, and Java. Grant writes books for Apress and Simple-Talk. Grant presents at conferences and user groups, large and small, all over the world. He joined Redgate Software as a product advocate in January 2011.

Grant Fritchey is a Data Platform MVP and AWS Community Builder with over 30 years’ experience in IT, including time spent in support and development. Grant works with multiple data platforms including SQL Server and PostgreSQL as well as multiple cl... Show more

David Yitzhak, Team leader of Big Data and Nosql databases
David Yitzhak has over 24 years of experience with SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase and PostgreSQL . He is an applicative & infrastructure DBA for relational and Nosql solutions (MongoDB, Redis), Hadoop CDH and Spark. David is a specialist in HA and DRP solutions, tuning, Machine learning , security, High Performance Computing, replication (Oracle & SQL Server), BI infrastructure and system engineering. David Yitzhak holds 3 Degrees from Technicon (Israel Institute of Technology): BSC Information System , MBA and ME (System engineering) and research associate in one of the enterprise Organization. He presents in Oracle open world 2010, Organize Oracle ILOUG for 3 years , SQL Server forums, Microsoft BI forums, Sqlsaturday 2016/17/18/19/20 , DATA SATURDAY , Power Camps , GroupBy Europe , Future Data Driven , Data Platforms GlobalHebrew , Code PaLOUsa 2021\2 , Pass summit 2021 and more …

David Yitzhak, Team leader of Big Data and Nosql databases David Yitzhak has over 24 years of experience with SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase and PostgreSQL . He is an applicative & infrastructure DBA for relational and Nosql solutions (MongoDB, Redis),... Show more

Jo Minney is a small business founder and technical communicator based (for now) in Perth, Western Australia. She is passionate about user experience, data-driven decision making, cats and travel – not necessarily in that order. She’s also an avid maker, from 3D printing to sewing to woodworking, and loves combining technology and creativity to make cool stuff and encouraging others to do the same.

By day, you’ll find Jo working with charities and NGOs helping them to create bespoke digital platforms, conducting usability testing, or running workshops to help organisations level up their digital presence. You might also find her donating her time to help tackle social issues (such as gender inequality, domestic violence and global poverty) through the use of technology, or freelancing as a Nielsen Norman certified user experience research consultant.

Jo is an ambassador, sponsor and lead mentor for She Codes Australia, a social enterprise that aims to make tech jobs more accessible for women, and a has been recognized via multiple awards for her advocacy work related to diversity and gender equity. An accomplished international conference speaker, Jo can regularly be found with a microphone in hand speaking about user experience, accessibility, imposter syndrome, closing the gender gap and pockets.

Jo Minney is a small business founder and technical communicator based (for now) in Perth, Western Australia. She is passionate about user experience, data-driven decision making, cats and travel – not necessarily in that order. She’s also an avid ma... Show more

I'm the founder organizer of Experts Live India, organizing physical and online conferences. I also host a tech/semi tech podcast, Experts Live India podcast.

I'm a 3x Microsoft MVP and been awarded Azure content hero and Azure community hero badgers by Microsoft.

I'm active in the Copilot, Power Platform and Governance space.

I'm the founder organizer of Experts Live India, organizing physical and online conferences. I also host a tech/semi tech podcast, Experts Live India podcast. I'm a 3x Microsoft MVP and been awarded Azure content hero and Azure community hero badg... Show more

With a high spirit and a low sense of mortality, Diana completed her master’s in CS despite never having coded before grad school. Through her passion for learning and teaching tech, she found her calling in advocacy, where she exercises her creativity through conference talks and content creation. Her hobbies include snowboarding, competing in beauty pageants, making lifestyle content on IG (@cachefeelings_), and finding the best happy hours.

With a high spirit and a low sense of mortality, Diana completed her master’s in CS despite never having coded before grad school. Through her passion for learning and teaching tech, she found her calling in advocacy, where she exercises her creativi... Show more

Bhargav Parmar is a DevOps and Platform engineer with over five years of experience building, shipping, and operating production infrastructure across fintech trading platforms, telecom, and developer platforms.

A CNCF Kubestronaut, he holds all five Kubernetes certifications — CKA, CKAD, CKS, KCNA, and KCSA and spends much of his time exploring the layers beneath Kubernetes: Linux internals, eBPF, networking, observability, and the kernel datapath.

Bhargav is an open-source contributor to the OpenTelemetry ecosystem, with contributions to OpenTelemetry eBPF Instrumentation (OBI), where he works on extending and improving zero-code, eBPF-based application observability. His recent work includes protocol instrumentation and contributions around systems such as Aerospike, alongside continued exploration of how eBPF, OpenTelemetry, and kernel-level telemetry can be used to understand production systems without modifying application code.

He regularly participates in cloud-native communities and speaks at CNCF events, where he enjoys turning low-level debugging, networking, observability, and Linux internals into practical engineering sessions that are easier to understand and reproduce.

He writes about Kubernetes, Linux, eBPF, OpenTelemetry, and systems engineering at bhargavparmar.dev.

Bhargav Parmar is a DevOps and Platform engineer with over five years of experience building, shipping, and operating production infrastructure across fintech trading platforms, telecom, and developer platforms. A CNCF Kubestronaut, he holds all f... Show more

With 20 years of experience in web development, usability, and accessibility, Karl Groves is widely regarded as a pragmatic solution-finder and thought leader in the accessibility industry. In his role as accessibility consultant at AFixt, Karl focuses on pragmatic and efficient ways of improving the accessibility of websites and software.

With 20 years of experience in web development, usability, and accessibility, Karl Groves is widely regarded as a pragmatic solution-finder and thought leader in the accessibility industry. In his role as accessibility consultant at AFixt, Karl focus... Show more

Joel Oleson is a visionary technology leader with over 20 years of experience working with industry giants like Microsoft, Blizzard, and Sony. He has been pivotal in shaping enterprise collaboration solutions and authoring best practices.

Recognized as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) and Regional Director, Joel has received multiple accolades for his contributions to Microsoft products and the tech community. Currently, he serves as the Architect for Enterprise Productivity at Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Studios, overseeing productivity, collaboration and Gen AI solutions across all enterprise platforms.

An avid world traveler, Joel has visited every United Nation country including over 250 countries and territories. He shares his global adventures to inspire others to explore and embrace diverse cultures.

As a global speaker and organizer, Joel has delivered sessions in around 100 countries on Information technology and collaboration solutions at top events delivered to hundreds of thousands of information technology professionals.

Joel Oleson is a visionary technology leader with over 20 years of experience working with industry giants like Microsoft, Blizzard, and Sony. He has been pivotal in shaping enterprise collaboration solutions and authoring best practices. Recogniz... Show more

Richard Plantt is a Microsoft MVP, UX designer, consultant, and Registered Graphic Designer (RGD) who is passionate about creating digital workplaces that are as thoughtful as they are functional.

Richard works at the intersection of design, technology, and employee experience, helping organisations make Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and Copilot easier to understand, use, and adopt. His approach combines UX, accessibility, visual design, and practical technology to turn complex ideas into experiences that feel simple and intuitive.

As a speaker, Richard focuses on the human side of technology. His sessions explore how thoughtful design can improve digital workplaces, how AI is changing the way we create and collaborate, and how tools like SharePoint and Copilot can help people work more effectively.

Whether he’s designing an intranet, experimenting with the latest Microsoft 365 capabilities, or sharing what he’s learned with the community, Richard brings curiosity, creativity, and a strong belief that great technology should work for people, not the other way around.

Richard Plantt is a Microsoft MVP, UX designer, consultant, and Registered Graphic Designer (RGD) who is passionate about creating digital workplaces that are as thoughtful as they are functional. Richard works at the intersection of design, techn... Show more

Sagar is a Staff Android Engineer who has been building apps for 11 years now. He is also a Google developer expert in Android and a co-organizer for Google Developer Groups at Boston and enjoys educating for the mobile dev community.

Sagar is a Staff Android Engineer who has been building apps for 11 years now. He is also a Google developer expert in Android and a co-organizer for Google Developer Groups at Boston and enjoys educating for the mobile dev community. Show more

Jan is delivering human-centered change for 5+ years with measurable business value in MedTech, Automotive, and Energy sectors. Expert in Agile, Design Thinking, SAFe, and Atlassian tools, guiding 10+ teams to more effective delivery and higher engagement while developing innovative products for a variety of markets and businesses with teams and organizations worldwide.

Jan is delivering human-centered change for 5+ years with measurable business value in MedTech, Automotive, and Energy sectors. Expert in Agile, Design Thinking, SAFe, and Atlassian tools, guiding 10+ teams to more effective delivery and higher engag... Show more

I am a Solutions Architect at Online Partner AB and a Cloud GDE. I have worked on several projects involving Google Cloud services and Google Workspace along with multiple other technology stacks and platforms.

I am a Solutions Architect at Online Partner AB and a Cloud GDE. I have worked on several projects involving Google Cloud services and Google Workspace along with multiple other technology stacks and platforms. Show more

Sr. DevOps Automation Platform Engineer.
Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence program student.
Technical Writer and International Speaker.
IBM Champion - AWS Community Builder - LocalStack Ambassador

Former GitHub Campus Advisor, GitKraken Ambassador, Progress NativeScript Developer Expert, Auth0 Ambassador, Uno Platform Evangelist, and GitLab Hero.

Sr. DevOps Automation Platform Engineer. Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence program student. Technical Writer and International Speaker. IBM Champion - AWS Community Builder - LocalStack Ambassador Former GitHub Campus Advisor, GitKr... Show more

Alyssa is an Senior Developer Advocate for Progress and a Google Developer Expert for Angular. She has spoken at over 50 conferences locally and internationally. She is the host of the Angular Air podcast and emcees ng-conf as well as Monorepo World. She enjoys gaming, scuba diving, and has a little one that fondly goes by "Mr. Milks".

Alyssa is an Senior Developer Advocate for Progress and a Google Developer Expert for Angular. She has spoken at over 50 conferences locally and internationally. She is the host of the Angular Air podcast and emcees ng-conf as well as Monorepo World.... Show more

Amanda Lentz is a speaker, podcast host, and Human Resources Business Partner whose work explores identity, change, and the human experience at work. Drawing from lived experience and a foundation in organizational psychology, she helps audiences navigate the moments when life or career disrupts the story they thought they were living.

She is the creator and host of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, a podcast featuring honest conversations about reinvention and the in‑between spaces of transformation. Her graduate training in I/O Psychology, Leadership Development, and Business Administration shapes her practical, human‑centered approach to growth, resilience, and leadership.

Amanda speaks across industries — from healthcare and HR to women’s leadership, technology, and organizational development — offering language and frameworks for navigating uncertainty, rebuilding identity, and leading with humanity. Her signature talks help audiences name experiences they’ve been living but haven’t yet articulated.

Change is inevitable. Becoming is intentional.

Amanda Lentz is a speaker, podcast host, and Human Resources Business Partner whose work explores identity, change, and the human experience at work. Drawing from lived experience and a foundation in organizational psychology, she helps audiences nav... Show more

My name is Sergio Albea and I'm originally from a tiny town called Valls, Spain, known for building the best human castles (called castells). About 15 years ago, I moved to Barcelona, where I had an amazing time both personally and professionally. Five years ago, I landed in beautiful Switzerland, where I am currently working as CSOC Security Expert, focus on threat analysis and response on SWITCH (Swiss National Research and Education Network).

With over 15 years of experience, I have immersed myself in the dynamic field of security, focusing on diverse IT landscapes and ensuring robust protection against threats and vulnerabilities. My approach is divided in proactivity, leveraging advanced analytics and architectural design to preemptively mitigate risks and fortify defenses against potential breaches.

Throughout my career, I have had to secure and manage a myriad of IT environments such as messaging platforms, Identity and Access Management systems, Information Protection mechanisms, DevOps, Azure Resources such as Databases, Networking, Storage, Scripting, and others.

I have been fortunate to work alongside professionals and amazing coworkers who have generously shared their knowledge and insights, enabling me to refine my skills and deepen my understanding of multiple best-practices, forever grateful to all of you, as you well know.

Whether through my daily work or via my YouTube channel, I take great pride in sharing my knowledge and expertise with colleagues and at the same time, continue to learn from all of them.

My name is Sergio Albea and I'm originally from a tiny town called Valls, Spain, known for building the best human castles (called castells). About 15 years ago, I moved to Barcelona, where I had an amazing time both personally and professionally. Fi... Show more

RAPHAEL KÖLLNER
Compliance Manager

Raphael Koellner combining the law and the information technology in particular the cloud computing. He worked for universities, Microsoft Germany (DX) and Microsoft Partner as consultant.

As CEO for KöllnService GmbH he works for huge international companies to migrate and implementate cloud solutions on a technical and a contract/law way.

Since 2019 Raphael Köllner is Microsoft Regional Director. He is the community guy, MVP for Office Server & Services, Windows 10 Insider MVP, MCT, Microsoft Student Partner Evangelist and become an attorney in Europe. He is the lead of the Office 365 Usergroup Germany, the Office 365 DACH, Leader of the Office 365 conference Germany, the SharePoint Saturday Cologne and one of 30 Windows 10 Top Insiders. Moreover he is member of the TEAMS Elite Team and the organizer of the TeamsCommunityDay. In this connection he leads the biggest Windows 10 Insider Community in Germany.

MVP: https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/mvp/Raphael%20%20Koellner-5000185

Microsoft Regional Director: https://rd.microsoft.com/en-us/raphael-koellner

RAPHAEL KÖLLNER Compliance Manager Raphael Koellner combining the law and the information technology in particular the cloud computing. He worked for universities, Microsoft Germany (DX) and Microsoft Partner as consultant. As CEO for KöllnSe... Show more

Stefan’s work has touched fields that at first sight have little in common: music, large-scale open-source migrations, enterprise architecture, fine cuisine, organizational development, and AI. On closer inspection, they share recurring questions about structure, interaction, complexity, adaptation, and how individual parts form a functioning whole.
Across these contexts, his focus is less on individual technologies than on the relationships between components, people, processes, and institutions. His approach is shaped by systems thinking and Kanban: making work and dependencies visible, reducing unnecessary complexity, and enabling deliberate change. He is interested in how complex systems can remain understandable, maintainable, observable, and adaptable — and how technical architecture can support autonomy without losing sight of organizational reality.
He has contributed to initiatives including LiMux and the architectural groundwork for what later became openDesk. His technical work spans AI system architecture, corrective RAG, hybrid retrieval and reranking, observability and provenance, security, reproducible infrastructure, Infrastructure as Code, and deployment across environments from personal computers to data centers and cloud infrastructure. Today he brings these strands together in praivate, a privacy-focused AI platform built around free software, modularity, high engineering standards, reproducibility, and operational control.
Previous speaking engagements include LinuxCon Europe, FOSSASIA, SFSCon, CeBIT, and AI Tech Summit Belgrade. Forthcoming appearances include Big Data Week Bucharest, Kiss the Future Sarajevo, DeAI Summit Malta, and Commons AI Paris.

Stefan’s work has touched fields that at first sight have little in common: music, large-scale open-source migrations, enterprise architecture, fine cuisine, organizational development, and AI. On closer inspection, they share recurring questions abo... Show more

Barkha Herman is a technologist, experienced developer advocate, and the founder of WiTVoices and South Florida Women in Tech. With a deep understanding of technology and a love for fostering inclusive and diverse tech communities, Barkha is dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations to thrive in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

In addition to her work at WiTVoices, she takes great pride in leading South Florida Women in Tech. These organizations are committed to empowering women in technology and creating a supportive environment for their professional growth. Through mentorship programs, networking events, and educational initiatives, they strive to break barriers and foster inclusivity in the tech industry.

Barkha Herman is a technologist, experienced developer advocate, and the founder of WiTVoices and South Florida Women in Tech. With a deep understanding of technology and a love for fostering inclusive and diverse tech communities, Barkha is dedicate... Show more

I’ve been in the IT trenches for over 20 years, but it all started back in 1993 with Turbo Pascal on a 286 AT for a primary school project. Luckily, I eventually upgraded to a 486 DX2, which finally let me run Doom and Heroes of Might and Magic :D.

Since then, I’ve walked the full path: from SysAdmin and .NET Dev to Architect, DevOps, and even a 2-year stint as a CTO in a fintech startup. For the last 4 years, I’ve been a Product Architect at Dynatrace, where I focus on making AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud observability signals actually work for people, not against them.

Outside of work and family, I’m all about "home-keeping" – managing both the physical systems in my garden and the digital ones powered by Home Assistant. If there’s any time left: I’m traveling. The further, the better. :)

I’ve been in the IT trenches for over 20 years, but it all started back in 1993 with Turbo Pascal on a 286 AT for a primary school project. Luckily, I eventually upgraded to a 486 DX2, which finally let me run Doom and Heroes of Might and Magic :D. ... Show more

Dr. Henry Ruiz is a Research Scientist at Texas A&M AgriLife Research, specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Remote Sensing. His work focuses on the development of advanced software systems and computational algorithms for analyzing multi-source remote sensing data, including satellite imagery, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).
As a Google Developer Expert in AI and Google Cloud, Dr. Ruiz actively contributes to the AI and open-source communities through research, software development, public speaking, and mentorship. With more than a decade of experience as a researcher, full-stack software developer, and data scientist, he drives innovation at the intersection of AI, geospatial analytics, and scientific computing.
His current research focuses on the emerging capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs), particularly their abilities in reasoning, planning, and agent-based collaboration, to enhance analytical pipelines for remote sensing and geospatial data analysis. By integrating multi-agent systems, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and multimodal AI workflows, he is developing intelligent, scalable frameworks to address complex scientific, agricultural, and environmental challenges.

Dr. Henry Ruiz is a Research Scientist at Texas A&M AgriLife Research, specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Remote Sensing. His work focuses on the development of advanced software systems and computational algorithms for analyzing multi-... Show more