Track host
About the track
Staff+ engineering has always been about shaping strategy, navigating ambiguity, and building durable systems. As the most recent hype-cycle, AI is fundamentally changing how decisions are made, and the practice of Staff+ engineering has to evolve. This track explores what's changed, what hasn't, and how senior ICs play the long game to sustain agency and influence through rapid industry shifts.
Sessions in this track
Monday 16 March. 6 sessions per track, chosen and introduced by the Track Host.
10:35 Churchill (Ground Fl.) Session staff+ The Hidden Power of Boring Problems Yinka Omole Lead Software Engineer @Personio, Previously Vice President @Goldman Sachs Every engineer faces the same dilemma: invest your limited time mastering the latest technology and framework, or go deeper on fundamental problems that feel "boring" but compound for decades to come? 11:45 Churchill (Ground Fl.) Session Holistic Engineering The Socio-Technical Staff+ Engineer: Architecture, Culture and Organisational Change Vanessa Formicola Principal Architect and Head of TASC (Technology, Architecture and Software Craft) @Prima, Ex Thoughtworks/Microsoft In today’s complex engineering landscape, Staff+ engineers, architects, and technical leaders can no longer operate solely as technical experts. 13:35 Churchill (Ground Fl.) Session staff+ All Tech Debt is NOT Created Equal Joy Ebertz Principal Engineer @Imprint, Blogger, and Speaker, Previously @Harness, @Split, & @Box As we move into the era of AI, code that could be called slop or tech debt is increasing faster than ever. This means that managing that tech debt is just as important as ever. However, how do you prioritize which tech debt to work on? How do you convince others that any of it is important? 14:45 Fleming (3rd Fl.) Session staff+ The Influence Toolkit Henry Wilson Senior Architect @BBC Senior IC roles are often said to be about influence – but what do we mean by influence? And what are the tools that a senior IC can employ to influence individuals and teams within a large organisation? 15:55 Fleming (3rd Fl.) Session staff+ Complexity and Creativity in Software Engineering Phillip Mortimer Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer @Carta Software complexity is scaling beyond the limits of human comprehension. This session explores the evolution of this complexity and strategies to manage it. 17:05 Rutherford (4th Fl.) Event Connecting the Dots: Staff+ (Limited Space - Registration Required)
76%
senior dev or higher
1:11
speaker ratio
60+
practitioners
QCon London 2026 is a three day conference for senior software engineers, architects and team leads. An international program committee of working engineers selects every session. Patterns and practices, not products and pitches.