Heather Cook is Principal PM Manager for the Microsoft 365 Customer Advocacy Group within Microsoft’s Collaborative Applications and Platform Group. She leads engagement, evangelism, and growth strategies, building programs and connections between Microsoft and its global community. A former Microsoft MVP for Microsoft 365 Apps and Services, Heather brings over two decades of experience as a marketing executive for leading tech companies and as Founder of Creative Maven, her impact consultancy. As a consultant, executive event producer, and fractional Chief Marketing Officer, she has delivered thousands of events, campaigns, and experiences across high‑tech and entertainment. Heather is a seasoned keynote speaker, moderator, and host, and an avid writer who publishes Maven Musings on LinkedIn and her cultural Substack, Heddas Mix Tape. Her Microsoft origin story is featured in The Women of Microsoft. Based in Marina del Rey, California, she travels globally to speak on healthy workplaces, power skills, community, and inclusion.

Heather Cook is Principal PM Manager for the Microsoft 365 Customer Advocacy Group within Microsoft’s Collaborative Applications and Platform Group. She leads engagement, evangelism, and growth strategies, building programs and connections between Mi... Show more

Beatriz is an inclusive user experience professional living in Cologne, Germany.
She leads Accessibility and Digital Inclusion in Central Europe at Atos, the GermanUPA Accessibility working group and its fronta11y.org project.

She is part of the leadership council of IAAP DACH and a member of the IAAP Global Ethics Committee, where she represents and supports Accessibility Professionals, People with disabilities and people with cross-cultural and Multilanguage backgrounds.

Beatriz has worked as a frontend developer, Designer and UX consultant across several countries and in six languages. Her passion is problem solving for all, no exceptions, and she loves creating bridges among colleagues, peers and customers.

She's a Certified Accessible Documents Specialist (ADS) and Certified Professional Web Accessibility CPWA ( IAAP's WASCPACC), Certified User Requirements Engineer (CPUX-Fl+ CPUX-UR), and holds a Postgraduate study University Expert in Accessibility and Usability of Web contents (by the University of Alcalá de Henares).

Beatriz speaks and writes about Accessibility, inclusive design and user experience, neurodiversity, tools to increase productivity and is interested in all things related to travel, tech and DIY.

Beatriz is an inclusive user experience professional living in Cologne, Germany. She leads Accessibility and Digital Inclusion in Central Europe at Atos, the GermanUPA Accessibility working group and its fronta11y.org project. She is part of th... Show more

Nils Hyoma is a business informatics post-graduate from Hamburg University, a professional agile coach, and a passionate amateur water polo player. Nils studied Japanese studies, international business studies, and business informatics in Hiroshima and Hamburg. Many years as an active developer, he learned the basics of agile software development. After working in online retail / eCommerce and in IT consulting, he is now part of the coaching team at MHP - A Porsche Company since 2024. Nils supports and coaches both local and distributed, international teams and projects. Nils has been active in team sports since childhood. It also reflected team spirit in his professional life: As a coach, he forms well-established units out of developers and analysts, who can then independently develop products. The guiding principle is always the focus on customer satisfaction.

Nils Hyoma is a business informatics post-graduate from Hamburg University, a professional agile coach, and a passionate amateur water polo player. Nils studied Japanese studies, international business studies, and business informatics in Hiroshima a... Show more

I’m a technology entrepreneur, investor, speaker, and continuous learner.

I founded HackTech at 19 and grew it into a 70-person engineering firm with $3M ARR and clients in 25+ countries. After its acquisition by Civitta, I continue the journey as a Partner, combining deep engineering execution with advisory and strategic work.

I value long-term collaboration, strong personal relationships, and teams that care about outcomes, not slide decks.

Stanford LEAD participant. Speaker at industry events. Open to meaningful conversations.

I’m a technology entrepreneur, investor, speaker, and continuous learner. I founded HackTech at 19 and grew it into a 70-person engineering firm with $3M ARR and clients in 25+ countries. After its acquisition by Civitta, I continue the journey as... Show more

Lisa Glenn helps large, complex organizations reduce risk for major IT initiatives by diagnosing how work actually happens, across people, systems, handoffs, and data. She's led discovery, delivery, launch readiness, and recovery efforts across Fortune 500 environments including Microsoft, Starbucks, and Alaska Airlines, bridging business and IT when clarity matters most.

Lisa Glenn helps large, complex organizations reduce risk for major IT initiatives by diagnosing how work actually happens, across people, systems, handoffs, and data. She's led discovery, delivery, launch readiness, and recovery efforts across Fortu... Show more

I'm a Software Engineer from Montevideo, Uruguay, passionate about building thoughtful mobile experiences and empowering the dev community. I work as a Flutter Engineer at Holafly e-SIM, and I love sharing my learnings through talks at events like FlutterConf LATAM and FlutterCon EU. In 2025, I became the first woman Flutter & Dart GDE in LATAM, and at present, the only active one across the Americas. As a Women Techmakers Ambassador and co-organizer of FlutterConf LATAM, I love bringing people together to grow and learn. When I’m not coding, you’ll find me out walking with my dog or diving into personal growth content.

I'm a Software Engineer from Montevideo, Uruguay, passionate about building thoughtful mobile experiences and empowering the dev community. I work as a Flutter Engineer at Holafly e-SIM, and I love sharing my learnings through talks at events like Fl... Show more

I'm addicted to details and obsessed with how things work: from Cloud services to human relationships. Since my first Hello World in RPG Maker, I have come to believe that being an Engineer is much more than coding.

I'm currently a Senior Engineering Manager at Mollie, where I focus on helping teams collaborate effectively and deliver impactful solutions.

I'm addicted to details and obsessed with how things work: from Cloud services to human relationships. Since my first Hello World in RPG Maker, I have come to believe that being an Engineer is much more than coding. I'm currently a Senior Engineer... Show more

I’m a Senior IT Internal Auditor at American Express Global Business Travel, specializing in cybersecurity governance, risk management, and compliance frameworks including ISO 27001, SOX, and PCI DSS. As a cybersecurity professional who began with hands-on skills in penetration testing, exploit development, and digital forensics before choosing a career in governance, risk, and compliance, I bring a hacker’s mindset into the world of audits.

I’m also the author of a top-ranked digital forensics blog on the Autopsy tool, with over 75,000 views and the #1 spot on Google. Today, I lead the integration of Generative AI into internal audit processes, architecting a multi-phase roadmap that transforms legacy governance systems into dynamic, AI-powered frameworks. Alongside strategy, I actively design techniques for generating highly targeted GenAI prompts, enabling audit teams to extract precise, actionable intelligence while reducing noise and false positives.

By combining hacker-style curiosity with AI-driven execution, I offer a unique perspective on the future of IT audits. My talks challenge the perception of audits as checklist exercises and present a vision for Audit 2.0, where passion-driven professionals and AI together redefine assurance as resilience-building rather than compliance alone.

I’m a Senior IT Internal Auditor at American Express Global Business Travel, specializing in cybersecurity governance, risk management, and compliance frameworks including ISO 27001, SOX, and PCI DSS. As a cybersecurity professional who began with ha... Show more

Abdul is a Senior Solutions Architect in Ververica with expertise in real-time Streaming Analytics. He is a strategic technical advisor of Ververica, helping customers solve complex data engineering challenges. Before working with Ververica, specialising in Cloud computing and Steaming Analytics, he worked in Amazon Web Services as a Solutions Architect. In AWS, he helped startups and enterprises in their journey toward the cloud and big data by building petabyte-scale data pipelines. He has over 15 years of diverse experience in various roles, from startups to enterprises, solving data and distributed system-related challenges.

Abdul is a Senior Solutions Architect in Ververica with expertise in real-time Streaming Analytics. He is a strategic technical advisor of Ververica, helping customers solve complex data engineering challenges. Before working with Ververica, speciali... Show more

Samah Alafeef

Founder and CEO of Metanoia Training and Consulting

Project Management Professional and Regional Officer of the International Federation of Global and Green Information and Communication Technology (IFGICT).
Samah Alafeef a computer engineer brought a broad range of technical and data management skills to her extensive work experience. Samah holds a master's degree in Project Management Engineering and a diploma in Humanitarian Logistics and Supply chain. The combination of managerial and technical skills she has in both the Humanitarian and Commercial sectors enabled her to serve as a consultant in various aspects related to management and technology. Samah is a PMP® certified, Risk RMP ® certified, Agile ACP certified, certified Microsoft innovative educator, and certified green IT professional. She is coaching people and organizations to develop their professional images, being agile, and jump to a higher professional level.

Samah Alafeef Founder and CEO of Metanoia Training and Consulting Project Management Professional and Regional Officer of the International Federation of Global and Green Information and Communication Technology (IFGICT). Samah Alafeef a compu... Show more

Bibiana is a Community Manager, software engineer, and entrepreneur with a passion for building inclusive tech ecosystems. Originally from Brazil and now based in Canada, she focuses her work on growing open source and developer communities, supporting DEI initiatives, and strengthening local tech networks in Vancouver. Outside of work, she channels her curiosity and discipline into martial arts, games, weightlifting, and travel.

Bibiana is a Community Manager, software engineer, and entrepreneur with a passion for building inclusive tech ecosystems. Originally from Brazil and now based in Canada, she focuses her work on growing open source and developer communities, supporti... Show more

Pasionate about techs

Pasionate about techs Show more

Leonard coached various companies on automating builds and plumbing deployment pipelines. All things configuration as code and cloud infrastructure are his main interests these days. He originally hails from Kuching, Malaysia, and currently lives in the outskirts of Oslo, Norway. He claims that he enjoys the picturesque nature and unpredictable weather, and try to prove it by kayaking in the fjords. Furthermore, he loves to immerse himself with diving in the tropics.

Leonard coached various companies on automating builds and plumbing deployment pipelines. All things configuration as code and cloud infrastructure are his main interests these days. He originally hails from Kuching, Malaysia, and currently lives in ... Show more

Shweta Vohra is an Architect, Author, and Inventor with over 20 years of experience designing platforms across industries. She specialises in enterprise architecture, cloud, and AI driven systems, and has led teams and initiatives across global organisations.

She is passionate about bringing clarity to complex technology spaces and focuses on practical, real world approaches over hype. She is the author of Decoding Platform Engineering Patterns and Dear Software & AI Architect, where she shares insights and lessons from her journey in platform and AI architecture.

Shweta Vohra is an Architect, Author, and Inventor with over 20 years of experience designing platforms across industries. She specialises in enterprise architecture, cloud, and AI driven systems, and has led teams and initiatives across global organ... Show more

I’m a Partner at Civitta and a product leader with over eight years of experience building and scaling digital products across SaaS, event technology, and AI-powered solutions. Throughout my career, I’ve worked on products ranging from event marketing platforms to AI automation tools, including AI Front Desk and several products within the Banzai ecosystem.

My work focuses on translating complex business problems into meaningful, user-centered solutions. I enjoy collaborating with cross-functional teams of product managers, designers, and engineers to turn ideas into products that create real value for users and businesses.

Beyond my professional work, I actively contribute to the product community through research, writing, and speaking. I’ve spoken at events such as the European Product Summit and regularly share insights on product leadership, customer interviews, and collaboration between product and UX teams.

I’m passionate about building products that truly resonate with users and about helping teams create environments where experimentation, learning, and innovation thrive.

I’m a Partner at Civitta and a product leader with over eight years of experience building and scaling digital products across SaaS, event technology, and AI-powered solutions. Throughout my career, I’ve worked on products ranging from event marketin... Show more

Satvik Kumar is a Product Manager at Pure Storage specializing in cyber resilience, data protection, and AI-driven product innovation. He leads strategy for enterprise resilience and replication solutions, works across ecosystem partnerships including Veeam, Commvault, and Rubrik, and regularly presents these topics to executive and technical audiences in global customer briefings. Earlier, he led global airline operations product initiatives at Sabre and co-founded PESU IO, an edtech platform that has served 25,000+ students. Satvik is also an IEEE-published researcher, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate, and a regular distinguished judge for hackathons.

Satvik Kumar is a Product Manager at Pure Storage specializing in cyber resilience, data protection, and AI-driven product innovation. He leads strategy for enterprise resilience and replication solutions, works across ecosystem partnerships includin... Show more

Uchenna Cyril Nnamadim is a Senior QA Engineer who has spent his career at the intersection of development, operations, and security. From scaling healthcare platforms at MedMe Health to testing fintech systems at Carbon Finance and Flutterwave, he has seen how quality often slips through the cracks. His leadership has delivered measurable results, including a 60% increase in test coverage and a 25% reduction in testing cycles.

He is a strong advocate of quality, automation, and secure delivery. Uchenna speaks about building software that doesn’t just ship, but truly works (resilient, reliable, and secure) in an age of AI, microservices, and cloud-native complexity.

Uchenna Cyril Nnamadim is a Senior QA Engineer who has spent his career at the intersection of development, operations, and security. From scaling healthcare platforms at MedMe Health to testing fintech systems at Carbon Finance and Flutterwave, he h... Show more

Ashmi is a doctoral researcher at the TU Munich, focusing on Recommender Systems. She graduated with a master's degree in Computer Science in 2019 and has three years of industry experience in Germany.

A Google Developer Expert and AI/ML Champion Innovator, Ashmi was named one of the 100 technologists to watch for 2023 and has received multiple awards, including the GDE Community Award and the Women Who Code Applaud Her Awards for 2023.

As a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador, she advocates for closing the gender gap in STEM. Ashmi enjoys traveling and training for triathlons. 🏊‍♀️ 🚴 🏃‍♀️

Ashmi is a doctoral researcher at the TU Munich, focusing on Recommender Systems. She graduated with a master's degree in Computer Science in 2019 and has three years of industry experience in Germany. A Google Developer Expert and AI/ML Champion ... Show more

Dr. Santia Barnes, celebrated for her trailblazing achievements as a professional football player and her influential social media presence reaching nearly 3 million followers, has forged an extraordinary path from collegiate track and field athlete to being offered the largest contract in women’s football history. Born in Greenville, SC, raised in Houston, TX, and now residing in Atlanta, GA, her journey reflects a relentless commitment to breaking barriers and redefining what is possible for athletes.

Santia’s entrepreneurial spirit shines as brightly as her athletic accomplishments. She is the founder of TRONUS, a groundbreaking footwear brand that made her the first female athlete to own a shoe company. Since its launch in 2020, TRONUS achieved record-breaking sales and secured celebrity endorsements, even amid a global pandemic. In addition to her business success, Santia is a two-time bestselling author and a highly sought-after public speaker, inspiring audiences around the world.

In 2023, Santia received the prestigious Icon Award from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, recognizing her impact on leadership, innovation, and community influence. She further cemented her legacy on June 1, 2024, when she was awarded an honorary doctorate in sports management from Harvest Christian University.

Beyond competition and business, Santia is deeply committed to empowering athletes beyond the field. She is a leading advocate for athlete mental health and provides education and tools that help athletes build personal brands, secure Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals, and prepare for long-term success after sports.

This mission led to the creation of Winning Your Way, a modern athlete development and NIL education platform designed to help athletes and their families build visibility, create economic opportunities, and turn athletic talent into sustainable businesses. Winning Your Way supports athletes across all sports, divisions, and stages of development by teaching them how to position themselves strategically in today’s evolving sports and media landscape.

Dr. Santia Barnes multifaceted career and unwavering dedication to athlete empowerment continue to inspire athletes, parents, and entrepreneurs alike. Her story is a testament to resilience, innovation, and leadership. Through Winning Your Way, she is building a new pathway for athletes to gain control of their futures, on and off the field.

Dr. Santia Barnes, celebrated for her trailblazing achievements as a professional football player and her influential social media presence reaching nearly 3 million followers, has forged an extraordinary path from collegiate track and field athlete ... Show more

Bevan has been working in, and with, agile teams since 2009 and is currently an Enterprise Agile Coach at Old Mutual. He has worked as a Software Engineer, Scrum Master, Development Manager and Head of Mobile before shifting to full-time Agile Coaching in 2018. He is passionate about coaching, enabling and leading people to do their best work, focussing on personal, career and organizational growth.

Bevan has been working in, and with, agile teams since 2009 and is currently an Enterprise Agile Coach at Old Mutual. He has worked as a Software Engineer, Scrum Master, Development Manager and Head of Mobile before shifting to full-time Agile Coachi... Show more

Ramakrishna Yekulla "Ramky" is a Principal Architect within the Application Developer Business Unit at Red Hat. In this role, he focuses on creating distinctive platform features that enhance developer efficiency, streamline data and application connections, and empower customers with the knowledge and resources to prioritize software supply chain security, minimize technical obligations, and achieve compliance goals. His interests lies in System Design, Functional Programming and Observability

Ramakrishna Yekulla "Ramky" is a Principal Architect within the Application Developer Business Unit at Red Hat. In this role, he focuses on creating distinctive platform features that enhance developer efficiency, streamline data and application conn... Show more

Tejsingh Rana, PE is a Licensed Civil Engineer and Project Manager at Highway Studio LLC with over 18 years of transportation, highway design, and project management experience working on major infrastructure projects in Florida and Georgia. He is an expert in 3D Infrastructure Design/ Delivery and has completed numerous projects using 3D Design and Delivery. He is a member/adviser of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) – American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Statewide Production Subcommittee and chair of the 3D Training task team, helping FDOT achieve their mission of high-quality design through 3D Implementation and Next Generation Plans Delivery. He is also an ACEC FDOT Connect Instructor and does workshops on courses like 3D Design and Modeling, Digital delivery and Review, Bentley OpenRoads Technology, etc., throughout Florida.

He has a master’s degree from the University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. Tej enjoys sharing his expertise and mentoring younger engineers. He is the President of FES Miami Chapter and helps in serving the local community and promoting the importance of the engineering profession through events and scholarships. He is also a Board Member of the Miami-Dade County Public School (M-DCPS) STEM Advisory Board and South Florida Construction Career Days. He promotes and practices a positive state of mind and volunteers his time in conducting mental health and wellness sessions, along with teaching meditation at workplaces. He loves being close to nature and enjoys spending time in parks and on beaches.

Specialties: Transportation/Highway Design, Project Management, 3D Infrastructure Design and Implementation, Digital Delivery Review, FDOT Connect Instructor, Civil Engineering, Transportation planning & economics, Travel Demand Modeling, Crash analysis, Multi-modal analysis, Student and Professional Development, Mental Health

Tejsingh Rana, PE is a Licensed Civil Engineer and Project Manager at Highway Studio LLC with over 18 years of transportation, highway design, and project management experience working on major infrastructure projects in Florida and Georgia. He is an... Show more

Parteek Goel is a highly-dynamic QA expert with proficiency in automation, AI, and ML technologies. Currently, working as an automation manager at BugRaptors, he has a knack for creating software technology with excellence. Parteek loves to explore new places for leisure, but you'll find him creating technology exceeding specified standards or client requirements most of the time.

Parteek Goel is a highly-dynamic QA expert with proficiency in automation, AI, and ML technologies. Currently, working as an automation manager at BugRaptors, he has a knack for creating software technology with excellence. Parteek loves to explore n... Show more

I’m Tasha Cyril, a hospitality leader, multi-unit restaurateur, and customer service educator with 15+ years of experience building culture-driven dining concepts. Originally from St. Lucia, I began my career in New York City at Negril Chelsea, learning the fundamentals of hospitality from the ground up before going on to co-own and operate venues in Kingston, Jamaica and St. Lucia.

Now based in Atlanta, I’m the owner and operator behind Ms. Icey’s Kitchen & Bar, Apt 4B Atlanta, Belle & Lily’s Caribbean Brunch House, and J’ouvert Caribbean Kitchen & Bar. My work is rooted in one mission: creating unforgettable guest experiences through elevated service, strong team culture, and immersive storytelling through food, music, and visuals.

I’m also a certified meditation instructor and the author of Beginning With Myself (2015), bringing a unique perspective on emotional intelligence, leadership, and resilience in high-pressure industries. I’ve been featured in Atlanta Magazine, Bon Appétit, Eater, Food & Wine, and Simply Buckhead, and have spoken as a panelist for the Atlanta BeltLine business breakfast, Invest Atlanta small business features, and Atlanta-based “Temperature Check” panels.

My talks focus on customer experience, hospitality leadership, operational excellence, and building community-centered brands that last.

I’m Tasha Cyril, a hospitality leader, multi-unit restaurateur, and customer service educator with 15+ years of experience building culture-driven dining concepts. Originally from St. Lucia, I began my career in New York City at Negril Chelsea, learn... Show more

Siddharth Dayalwal is a Developer Community Specialist at Storyblok, where he leads developer programs and manages a global community within the headless CMS space. With over five years of experience, Siddharth has empowered countless developers to innovate, hackathons to thrive, and communities to grow.

Outside his full-time role, Siddharth spends his time building Hack This Fall, one of India’s most vibrant hacker communities. He has served as a Major League Hacking APAC Hackathon Coach, guiding organizers and participants to create exceptional hackathon experiences, and as a GitHub Field Expert, supporting developer initiatives across India.

An explorer at heart and an eternal optimist, Siddharth loves to travel, connect with nature, indulge in good food, and immerse himself in music. He is passionate about meaningful conversations and sharing knowledge for communities and hackathons.

Siddharth Dayalwal is a Developer Community Specialist at Storyblok, where he leads developer programs and manages a global community within the headless CMS space. With over five years of experience, Siddharth has empowered countless developers to i... Show more

It is safe to say that I have an odd mix of experiences. After graduating from Penn State University, I worked for the federal government for a decade in various analyst roles doing things as mundane as personnel budgeting and as exciting as presenting to the Director of the FBI and testifying as an expert to grand juries.

After leaving civil service, my next decade was spent attempting to perfect theme park vacations by working for TouringPlans.com. We used statistics and lots and lots of research to optimize peoples theme park trips and I assisted in many ways from research tasks and writing to starting a travel agency to filming YouTube videos that have over 1 million views.

Now I am a consultant at Centric Consulting, helping companies rethink their data strategies. I am thrilled to once again share my experiences by speaking about data strategy, project management, consulting, statistics, theme parks and, frankly, anything else.

It is safe to say that I have an odd mix of experiences. After graduating from Penn State University, I worked for the federal government for a decade in various analyst roles doing things as mundane as personnel budgeting and as exciting as presenti... Show more

Nitin is a dynamic Full Stack SDE 2 at Expedia Group, India, who thrives on crafting exceptional web experiences. Over the years, he’s worked his magic on projects for Marriott, H&M, Expedia, and more. While React is his go-to tool, his tech arsenal also includes Swift, Kotlin, Spring Boot, GraphQL, and a bunch of other developer superpowers. Known for his love of dev jokes and pun-packed humor, he’s the kind of colleague who keeps both the codebase and the conversations lively.
When he’s not coding, Nitin is either jet-setting to new destinations, smashing shuttlecocks on the badminton court, or jamming out while learning the drums. A fun mix of tech wizardry and good vibes, he’s always up for an adventure—be it debugging or backpacking!

Nitin is a dynamic Full Stack SDE 2 at Expedia Group, India, who thrives on crafting exceptional web experiences. Over the years, he’s worked his magic on projects for Marriott, H&M, Expedia, and more. While React is his go-to tool, his tech arsenal ... Show more

Shivji Kumar Jha is a Staff Engineer at Nutanix, where he leads the charter for analytics, time-series, and streaming platforms across cloud and on-prem environments. He focuses on building scalable ingestion systems and designing high-performance OLAP architectures, with deep hands-on experience extending ClickHouse for production-grade analytics. A contributor to Apache Pulsar, MySQL, and ClickHouse, Shiv approaches distributed systems as a builder—prototyping core components, shaping system design, and driving platform evolution from the ground up.

Beyond engineering, Shiv is an active community leader and speaker. He has delivered 30+ talks at conferences including ApacheCon, KubeCon + CloudNativeCon, and Postgres community events. He also curates deep-tech meetups in Bangalore, bringing together practitioners passionate about databases, streaming systems, and open-source infrastructure

Shivji Kumar Jha is a Staff Engineer at Nutanix, where he leads the charter for analytics, time-series, and streaming platforms across cloud and on-prem environments. He focuses on building scalable ingestion systems and designing high-performance OL... Show more

Power Platform enthusiast / Co-founder Power Platform Mallorca User Group / Promoter of using humor at work / Optimist

Power Platform enthusiast / Co-founder Power Platform Mallorca User Group / Promoter of using humor at work / Optimist Show more

A product-passionate developer focused on building scalable applications and AI features.

A product-passionate developer focused on building scalable applications and AI features. Show more