Going through a recent rapid hiring period, we have had to quickly learn a number of tough lessons about hiring at scale. We wanted to share these lessons to help others improve their hiring processes, and create a world where recruiting has positive outcomes for companies and candidates.

Key Takeaways:

• Why hiring is the most important thing you can do
• Why a strong employer brand is the key to success
• Why you first need to think about existing employees
• When you should adapt to survive
• Why you should build what the company needs
• How to grow your own talent
• Why you should make recruiting a part of your leadership team
• Why a good candidate experience is important regardless of the outcome

Cloud technology has enabled businesses globally to remain connected during a time of uncertainty and business interruption. However, the danger of the cloud is that it affects our mindset towards sustainability. While cloud services bring a huge amount of opportunity, we need to ensure we’re using it in a way that is truly sustainable. This presentation will look at how tech can build us a sustainable future, how we can reduce our carbon footprint and also why this is even more important for us as women to ensure we build a sustainable future for our children.

The Why: Corporate sustainability goals are now commonplace across large enterprises. But since the shift to remote working and the mass adoption in cloud technology, businesses are now starting to lose track on how much data they are producing and storing, which is having a huge impact on the environment. Now is the time to reduce digital waste in the cloud to build a more sustainable future.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn the environmental impacts of using cloud - just because you can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't haven't an environmental impact
• Understand how you can help to reduce your company’s digital waste, and how that money can be reinvested back into game-changing technologies such as AI and data analytics
• Hear about why this is important right now and the impact that will have on future generations

This session is for you if… you want to understand how you are creating digital waste in the cloud and how to build a more sustainable future for our children.

Are you looking to expand your tech address book of like-minded female professionals within your network? Introduce yourself and create lifelong connections through the support of our networking coach as we kick off Day 1 of Women of Silicon Roundabout.

Everyone acknowledges the importance of having relatable role models for our career and personal development, but unfortunately, we live in a society that lacks diversity in positions of power and influence making it harder to find good examples we can look up to. As Marian Wright Edelman once put it “you can’t be what you can’t see”. It’s all too easy to get lost when you don’t know where you want to get to. In this talk, I share the tools and techniques I've used in order to figure out my own career path in the absence of relatable role models and that helped me stay inspired to this day.

Key Takeaways:

• How inspiration can come from many places, not just role models
• You don’t need to be in leadership in order to help other women rise above
• How not having a plan is the best way to get nowhere

Ever had a problem statement or a new idea and not sure where to start? Interested in how to take new products to market? This workshop aims to delve into some of these fuzzy problems and brand new ideas and discuss how best to approach this. We'll delve into the entire product life cycle, from idea to go live, sharing key learnings & pitfalls from along the way.

Key Takeaways:

• A deeper understanding of how to breakdown ambiguous problems into a deliverable product
• Techniques for leading a product team & managing stakeholders during times of ambiguity
• How to frame success when you have no data
• Pitfalls to avoid and my key learnings from developing new products

Who says you have to be the smartest person in the room? Who says authority and power needs to come with a command and control type culture?

This deep-dive masterclass will explore effective leadership methods that inspire and bring out the best in your people. You will learn how to lead with your heart and humility to create psychological safety amongst your team that is instrumental to the well being and culture of your organisation.

Key Takeaways:

• Explore the theory of servant leadership and the ethics required
• Strategies to inspire future leaders within your team, not more followers
• How to create the right culture and support mechanisms that allow your team to feel safe
• Hands on coaching tips that are inspired by the trillion dollar coach.

Target Audience: All those in leadership positions.

It’s hard to picture what next week will be like never mind next year but from a data perspective there are clear trajectories. In this presentation on what the dataverse will look like in 2030, WPP’s Global Head of Data & AI will talk through some key trends including sustainability, insights, data ownership and humanising data.

Key Takeaways:

• How data ownership will be going out of fashion
• How the role of data ethics and responsible AI
• What new skills will be required to navigate the dataverse

Target Audience: Anyone who is interested in future proofing their data strategy

People have breaks from work for many reasons, including having caring duties, ill health and through unemployment. If you're looking to return to work or have experiences that would help others, join the conversation as we discuss what's worked, what hasn't worked and everything in between.

In tech, experimentation is usually the preferred way to understand which features work best. Without effective experiment design the value can be lost and we increase our chances of drawing incorrect conclusions. This workshop will address some common pitfalls and discuss some experimentation fundamentals using a variety of unfamiliar examples.

Key Takeaways:

• What is an experiment? (and what isn’t)
• How to ask the right questions of your experiment
• What is SUTVA and should we treat it seriously?

This session is for you if… Interested in learning more about experimentation and you’re relatively early on that journey (or even totally new!)

Working in a startup has become so popular and almost a trend! There’s no doubt that finding a job and exceeding your role within a start up takes a lot of work and adjusting to (especially if you’ve come from a corporate background!)

Key Takeaways:

• A clear view of navigating the start up job scene
• Why work for a startup?
• The truth about working for a startup (debunking the myths about equity and lots more!)
• How to apply for a job in a startup?
• Top tips to bag that interview!
• Success criteria for nailing your probation/job role

Workshop Activities:

• Included will be a resource sheet that will include job sites and a step-by-step guide to bagging an interview!
• nteractive session: How to get an interview the unconventional way (role-play included)
• CV workshop

Who is this for?

• This workshop is recommended for anyone who may be looking to apply for a startup. Perhaps you’ve thought about transitioning from a different industry or profession and need some guidance on how to make your application stand out? You may be a student who is about to graduate and you need to know how to talk about start-up terminology!
• Equally, you may be someone who is working in a startup, and you want to know what you can be doing to attract attention and ensure your boss and the senior leadership team think you’re incredible.

It's no secret that many software companies have embarked on projects that ended up taking months or even years to get to users. In most cases, this could and should have been prevented. This talk will explore the surprising amount of power each individual has to impact the speed at which our companies move.

Key Takeaways:

• How crucial it is to ship user value quickly and safely
• What you can do to influence a shipping culture
• Tools that you can implement to get your code to users faster

With an ever increasing demand for leaders’ time, what should we really be focusing on? How do we know we are focusing on the most important tasks and how do we avoid being lost in the day to day? Is people the right focus? Or is it technology or the wider business context? This talk provides a view from my own experience and some techniques and strategies I learned along the way to be as effective as possible in my role.

Media ad spend is expected to increase by 15% to $747B globally in 2021. Measuring the effectiveness of marketing and subsequently allocating budget optimally and running relevant campaigns is crucial to ensure the highest return on ad spend for any organisation. Yet this is not an easy mission to accomplish! In this discussion, we will identify and discuss common challenges affecting our marketing measurement capabilities and how this has evolved and also discover strategies for success in overcoming these challenges.

Key Takeaways:

• To identify the common key challenges we face in marketing measurement today
• To share and brainstorm solutions and ideas to overcome these challenges

Target audience: Any interested in and/or practicing marketing measurement.

Pre-Work:

To ensure we make the most of this session, please prepare thoughts on these questions ahead of the session:

• What are the top 3 challenges affecting marketing measurement capabilities based on your knowledge and experience?
• What solutions have you tried/seen that have been successful in overcoming these challenges?
• What solutions and ideas do you have that you would like to brainstorm with the group?

Achieve your networking goals during session breaks by grabbing a cup of tea and being an active participant in dedicated discussion groups. Collate your thoughts, prepare to share, and let’s chat!

Cast your mind back to when you met your last manager. This could be your line manager in your organisation, an account manager, a programme manager, your client sponsor, or any other leadership role that you report to. Did you have the moment? The moment where you decided either ‘yes, I think we will work together well’ or ‘I don’t think this is going to work’. You might have even you flip-flopped between both thoughts before, maybe in the same day or perhaps the same meeting. What if I told you that you have the power to influence managers, regardless of your role title, position, or leadership experience? What if I told you that there are key tools and techniques that can help you to develop a successful working relationship with any manager that you may have? In this talk, I’ll be sharing the smart ways to manage your manager alongside personal experiences during my career.

Key Takeaways:

• How self-awareness is critical to influencing
• Giving feedback is a muscle you have to train
• There is nothing stopping leaders from using these tools too

Engineers are high in demand and expensive, so naturally there have been attempts to short-circuit this business need in the form of low-code/no-code technology. Will these products put engineers out of business or can they actually benefit engineering teams? You will leave this talk armed with potential use cases for these products as well as warnings of things to consider when you use them. I hope you will give them a try for your next side hustle!

Key Takeaways:

• Regardless of your technical background, learn the tools that can enable you to build tech, be it websites, mobile apps or APIs.
• The benefits such tools offer developer teams by making experimenting cheaper and saving time on boring, repetitive tasks.
• Understand the limitations these tools have in scalability and customisation.

Wondering if you’ll ever feel like you’re good enough to do your job? Sick of feeling like others are better than you? Want to rid yourself of the feeling you’re going to get found out? In this session we will explore the three key secrets that you need to arm yourself if you’re working and living with feelings of imposter syndrome.

Key Takeaways:

• How your brain gets in the way and what you can do to get back in the driving seat
• How to tame your inner critic and bust through your limiting beliefs
• How to crank up your confidence and finally break free of the limitations of imposter syndrome

Workshop Activities: We will be following a 5 step strategy for you to build your self-belief so you can achieve your innate potential.

In 2020, we saw a lot of businesses small to large, schools/universities, social/health care services just to name a few, having to shift their products and services online. We learnt to appreciate the internet as we realised how crucial it is in our daily lives.

However with this, and the vastly growing Tech industry, comes with a social responsibility of looking out for a sustainable solution and practicing eco-friendly ways we use technology that is beneficial for our planet and reducing our carbon footprint.

During this talk, I will discuss methodologies and solutions that can be implemented as an individual or as a business, to help ensure we are maximizing our use of 'Green' solutions in our daily life.

Key Takeaways:

• Impact of our usage of technology on the Planet
• What are the biggest contributors to the rise in carbon emissions within the Tech Industry
• What are the big Tech companies currently doing to minimise their carbon emissions
• What can we do in our daily lives to reduce our carbon footprint

Target Audience: Technical/Non-technical women who have a passion for green technologies.

While there is no “I” in team, there is a “you” in your career. How many times do you struggle to get the promotion or the role opportunity because you don’t want to take credit for the work the team does? How do you make sure senior leaders know who you are and what you contribute in a way that feels natural and easy?

It can often jar with our natural instincts and can feel a little bit fake when you need to make sure leaders in your organisation see & importantly know your name & the skills you bring. The purpose of this session is to have an open discussion and opportunity to “practice” those conversations demonstrating the value you add to a team and an organisation in a way that is natural and honest – giving you the tools to take an active part in shaping your career.

Key Takeaways:

• What do we mean by authenticity & what does it mean for you
• How to create the conversations you want to have to share the stories of your achievements confidently and authentically
• What you can do to drive change in your career in the way you want

Target Audience: This session is for those who don’t yet feel ready to ask for that 121 with your CTO/ leadership team but want to. This is for anyone in junior-middle management roles who are looking for ways to take their career to the next level in technology.

Session details coming soon...

There are lots of talks and theories about how to create great teams and increase their performance, but how difficult is it sometimes is to relate to those scenarios or to take actionable items away from those?

This talk aims to give some real life insights that can be applied to any team at any maturity stage on how you can make a team out of a group of people and encourage them to work at their best.

Key Takeaways:

• How to set up a successful team
• How to make them self sufficient
• Driving business value

As technology serves to tackle complex problems around the globe, the COVID pandemic has challenged government organisations and innovators alike to find new ways to quickly address its disastrous effects on society. Hear why meeting that challenge head-on by delivering advanced technology ecosystems that assist in solving large-scale, human centric problems for end users was key, the progression that has been made and where we go from here.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn about the science behind the solution through quantum-inspired technology
• How the Digital Annealer technology speeds up that important early stage drug design and optimisation of targeted drug-like compounds
• Hear how the same technology also helped with supply chain challenges for PPE delivering a theoretical optimisation model in a fair and efficient manner
• Discover how technology that is solving one problem is going on to solve others across industries.

When the news broke out that Formula 1 would not race in Australia in March 2020, nobody could predict what was about to happen. One thing was certain – we had to forget everything we knew and rethink our entire operation. In this new reality we had to do things differently and come up with new ways of working. Whilst adjusting to the demands of a global health crisis was in every sense unprecedented, it also created some unexpected possibilities and mindset changes.

Join Monika as she gets you to think about the age-old dilemma of "The Business vs Technology" in a new way, providing some tools and quick wins for bridging gaps and bringing people together. Whether you come from a technical background, or you're more of a business strategist, or somewhere in between…

Key Takeaways:

• Cultural transformation doesn't always start at the top - ways to drive cultural change that begin with the "why"
• Is it still "collaboration" when it's not democratic? Can we simply "tell" people what to do? Understanding when it's possible and even… needed
• "We have always done it this way", i.e. myths, stereotypes and expectations - how to break through old conventions when introducing change

Depending on what reports you read, anywhere from 70% to 99% of the web does not meet accessibility guidelines, yet there are millions of people worldwide who require accessibility considerations. Accessibility is a vast area, but there are some considerations and quick wins that can help improve the sites we build. In this talk, we’ll look at what accessibility means, how different users may interact with a website, why accessibility matters and some considerations you can take when building for the web, leaving you in a better place to make your online presence more accessible for your users.

Key Takeaways: 

• Understanding the different types of accessibility needs
• Learn some quick wins  
• Build a clean roadmap for your next steps 

Who is this talk for: Anyone involved in the creation of products for the web: Engineers, product managers, tech leads, D&I leads, or anyone interested in learning more about accessibility. 

This will be an informal session where participants are encouraged to share their stories from job interviews to salary negotiations. We will learn from each other why at some times we may fail to have the confidence we deserve to have and how we can empower ourselves to believe in ourselves when we need to.

Business and IT teams are on the cusp of a paradigm shift with the rise of Citizen Development. Empowering non developers and developers alike to create faster and newer ways to automate the boring stuff and visualise visions for new products or services. For some in the Enterprise world this is seen as incoming chaos and a free for all. How can women use their unique skills to make this cultural shift happen?

Key Takeaways:

• What is Citizen Development?
• What are the challenges?
• How can women help create the mind shift needed to make this movement a success?
• What are the opportunities Citizen Development presents us with?

The Why: Forrester predicts Citizen Development is fundamental to the second digital revolution. It creates the ability for millions of non technical people to get stuff done without waiting for IT. Developers can use the tools to automate the mundane and uninspiring tasks. What is your role in making this happen?

Target Audience: Non coders Software developers Anyone making change happen

Achieve your networking goals during session breaks by grabbing a cup of tea and being an active participant in dedicated discussion groups. Collate your thoughts, prepare to share, and let’s chat!

When building and training our teams our focus is typically geared towards technology, roadmaps and KPIs, but far too little time is spent empowering them to cope when adversity strikes. At times our soft skills required to be a great leader are put through their paces. In this session Louise talks through some of the different types of adversity you may face as a leader or a team member, applying her personal experience in building resilience through adversity to provide soft skills and solutions that everyone can benefit from. By the end of this session you will have a greater understanding on how to lead a team and build resilience through times of adversity.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn about the different types of adversity we may face in the workplace and how we can equip ourselves and our teams to cope when faced with them.
• Learn about the different types of adversity we may face personally, its impact on the workplace, how this can and more often than not impact women harder than men and what we can do to create a better outcome.
• Learn how to build resilience at work and empower women to deal with the pressure and demands of balancing life with the modern workplace.

Denise will deep dive into the real-life lessons learned when planning for and delivering large-scale Cloud migrations. 

Key Takeaways:

• Planning is everything
• Prepping for Cloud is all about other non-IT areas playing their part
• Financial monitoring and control of Cloud resources reduces the need for perfection!

Target Audience: For those who are planning a migration to Cloud and would like to understand the key building blocks that need to be in place in order to deliver a successful outcome

Over the last decade, we have seen an increased focus on inclusion and diversity in the technology industry. We all understand the value of diverse teams and are working to build our pipeline of future generations’ talent, attract and retain talent in our industry, and connect our communities. The topic of inclusion and diversity is spoken about at almost every event we attend, yet we need to pick up the pace and find more tangible, practical ways to make an impact together so we can truly make a difference.

Join Nish Parkar, Global Cybersecurity Communications Leader and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lead at Cisco Secure to gain some practical tips to help you create a more inclusive future for all.

Key Takeaways:

• Know that we all play a role in driving a more inclusive future
• Feel empowered to take actions at an individual level and how each action will make a significant impact on others in the industry and on our world
• Be able to action the concepts such as Allyship, Advocacy, Intersectionality, Sponsorship and Proximity

Target Audience: Leaders and individual contributors alike who have a passion for driving diversity, equity and inclusion in technology and want to build a more inclusive culture at their own organisations.

Getting early and regular feedback in design and development is vital to ensuring you’re building the right thing at the right time. This practical workshop will explore the why’s, what’s, when’s and how to’s of Proof of Concept (POC) development, other ways to prototype, piloting and user involvement. During the workshop participants can work through their own use case or on a shared example.

Key Takeaways:

• The value of getting early insight and feedback
• What to include in your POC scope
• Deciding the best POC approach
• Other ways to prototype Tapping into users’ passion and creativity
• When to iterate and when to throw away