Build Systems that Drive Business
June 11–12, 2018: Training
June 12–14, 2018: Tutorials & Conference
San Jose, CA

Schedule: Leadership & Career Growth sessions

11:25am–12:05pm Thursday, June 14, 2018
Location: LL20 A/B Level: Non-technical
Secondary topics: Leadership & Career Growth
Julia Grace (Slack)
Average rating: *****
(5.00, 14 ratings)
When Julia Grace joined Slack two-and-a-half years ago, the company had fewer than 100 engineers. It's now at more than 350, and her own team grew from 10 to 50 people in 18 months. Expanding on her keynote, Julia shares tips and stories from the leadership front lines as she transitioned from line manager to managing managers. Read more.
1:15pm–1:55pm Thursday, June 14, 2018
Location: LL20 A/B Level: Non-technical
Secondary topics: Leadership & Career Growth
Donovan Brown (Microsoft)
Average rating: *****
(5.00, 9 ratings)
“That would never work here.” You’ve likely heard this sentiment (or maybe you’ve even said it yourself). Good news: change is possible. Donovan Brown explains how Microsoft's Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) went from a three-year waterfall delivery cycle to three-week iterations and open sourced the VSTS task library and the Git Virtual File System. Read more.
2:10pm–2:50pm Thursday, June 14, 2018
Location: LL20 A/B Level: Intermediate
Secondary topics: Leadership & Career Growth
K Vignos (Twitter)
Average rating: *****
(5.00, 3 ratings)
Engineering teams want technically competent managers, but they also often want managers to keep their hands off their code. So how can managers keep their technical skills relevant in order to add the most value? Kathleen Vignos shares creative strategies for developing and maintaining technical skills—some through the act of managing itself. Read more.
3:40pm–4:20pm Thursday, June 14, 2018
Location: LL20 A/B Level: Non-technical
Secondary topics: Leadership & Career Growth
Average rating: *****
(5.00, 5 ratings)
Sunil Sadasivan compares the work environments of startups to those of bureaucracies and shares lessons for maintaining an optimal engineering work culture learned at the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Read more.
3:40pm–4:20pm Thursday, June 14, 2018
Location: LL21 C/D Level: Beginner
Secondary topics: Leadership & Career Growth
Alex Jaimes (Dataminr)
Average rating: ****.
(4.67, 3 ratings)
Machine learning (ML) is becoming a critical skill for developers and businesses alike. Applying ML successfully in real-world scenarios, however, remains challenging. Alex Jaimes discusses how to find opportunities to apply ML, the pitfalls in applying it, and the steps required to succeed—from data to metrics to testing to other critical factors. Read more.
4:35pm–5:15pm Thursday, June 14, 2018
Location: LL20 A/B Level: Non-technical
Secondary topics: Leadership & Career Growth
Sacha Judd (Hoku Group)
Average rating: *****
(5.00, 3 ratings)
Homogenous teams are one proven cause of missteps and flaws in software products and pipelines. Sacha Judd offers a fresh perspective, detailing available tools to improve hiring, promotion, and internal culture. Read more.