The conference for engineering leaders building their AI software factory.















Attendees from
The cost of writing code is going to zero. The cost of everything else is going up. As agents handle more of the execution, engineers move up the stack to design and operate the systems that produce software.
The organizations who win will be the ones who build the operational infrastructure to run it all at scale.
That's the AI software factory. EVOLVE 2026 is about how you build one.

The teams responsible for making engineering better every day.
Engineering Leaders
Define what the AI software factory looks like at your org, and build the operational system to make it a reality.
Engineering Operations Teams
Build the connective tissue between AI tooling, standards, and delivery to make the factory run.
SREs & Platform Engineers
AI amplifies output and risk. Build the reliability infrastructure that keeps the factory running when code ships at 10x.
DevOps & DevEx Teams
Design the golden paths that let humans and agents move fast without breaking things.

The 5 levels of the AI software factory for enterprises
In the EVOLVE 2026 opening keynote, Cortex co-founders Anish Dhar (CEO) and Ganesh Datta (CTO) lay out a practical maturity model for getting from AI coding agents to an AI software factory without blowing up cost, quality, or security along the way.

AI is making software delivery less stable. DORA's Nathen Harvey on the fix
DORA's data shows that as AI adoption goes up, individual effectiveness rises, and so does software delivery instability: more rollbacks and more unplanned rework.

When AI agents ignore the code freeze: governance that holds
AI can write 1,100 lines of code for a loading spinner in five minutes. Your change board still meets once a week. Karthik Jayaraman, VP of Information Technology at Fiserv, explains what happens when code generation speeds up and everything downstream stays the same.

How Ramp’s in-house coding agent writes 75% of merged PRs
Inspect started as a side project at Ramp. A year later it writes about 75% of merged pull requests, with no mandate to use it.

Production readiness in the AI era: Canva, H&R Block and Capgemini
AI made working software easy, and trusting it a lot harder. Engineering leaders from Canva, H&R Block and Capgemini break down how they keep production readiness continuous, get migrations to actually finish.

How Archer, Cox Automotive and Commerce run operational excellence reviews
AI has pushed engineering velocity way up. What breaks first, and how do you catch it before customers do?

Karthik Jayaraman
Expert Engineer | VP, Flex DevEx

2026 Winner

Vassilis Benopoulos
Platform Engineering – Data Cloud and Developer Experience Associate

2026 Winner

Hariprasad Babu
Manager Technology
2025 Winner

Simon Irwin
Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner

James Simmonds
Sr. Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner
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Naresh Bulusu
Sr. Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Trushar Shah
Full Stack Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Leslie Brown
Full Stack Software Engineer
2025 Winner
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Dan Willman
Staff Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Fred Mare
Principal Engineer
2025 Winner

Nick Raccioppi
Engineering Leader - SRE
2025 Winner

Karthik Jayaraman
Expert Engineer | VP, Flex DevEx

2026 Winner

Vassilis Benopoulos
Platform Engineering – Data Cloud and Developer Experience Associate

2026 Winner

Hariprasad Babu
Manager Technology
2025 Winner

Simon Irwin
Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner

James Simmonds
Sr. Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner
.webp)
Naresh Bulusu
Sr. Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Trushar Shah
Full Stack Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Leslie Brown
Full Stack Software Engineer
2025 Winner
.webp)
Dan Willman
Staff Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Fred Mare
Principal Engineer
2025 Winner

Nick Raccioppi
Engineering Leader - SRE
2025 Winner

Karthik Jayaraman
Expert Engineer | VP, Flex DevEx

2026 Winner

Vassilis Benopoulos
Platform Engineering – Data Cloud and Developer Experience Associate

2026 Winner

Hariprasad Babu
Manager Technology
2025 Winner

Simon Irwin
Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner

James Simmonds
Sr. Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner
.webp)
Naresh Bulusu
Sr. Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Trushar Shah
Full Stack Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Leslie Brown
Full Stack Software Engineer
2025 Winner
.webp)
Dan Willman
Staff Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Fred Mare
Principal Engineer
2025 Winner

Nick Raccioppi
Engineering Leader - SRE
2025 Winner

Karthik Jayaraman
Expert Engineer | VP, Flex DevEx

2026 Winner

Vassilis Benopoulos
Platform Engineering – Data Cloud and Developer Experience Associate

2026 Winner

Hariprasad Babu
Manager Technology
2025 Winner

Simon Irwin
Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner

James Simmonds
Sr. Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner
.webp)
Naresh Bulusu
Sr. Principal Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Trushar Shah
Full Stack Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Leslie Brown
Full Stack Software Engineer
2025 Winner
.webp)
Dan Willman
Staff Software Engineer
2025 Winner

Fred Mare
Principal Engineer
2025 Winner

Nick Raccioppi
Engineering Leader - SRE
2025 Winner
Recognizing Innovation
Celebrate individuals who have been critical in implementing groundbreaking engineering operations solutions.
Selection Process
Finalists are evaluated by a panel of industry experts and peers, with criteria spanning innovation, technical depth, and organizational impact.
Awards Ceremony
The Engineering Excellence Awards will be presented during a special ceremony at EVOLVE 2026, recognizing outstanding contributions to the field.