Data Engineering & AI Leadership Summit
Bringing together data, engineering, and AI leaders for open, candid discussions on the pressing challenges in modern organizations.
NOV 2, 2026 · SAN FRANCISCO
Audience
Senior ICs and leaders across data, engineering, and AI.
Session Format
Speaker-led round-table discussions
Request your spot at the summit
THE AUDIENCE
Who Should Attend
Staff+ Engineers
Engineering Managers
Directors & VPs
Heads of Data & AI
Open Source Maintainers
Technical Founders
& CTOs
Why Attend?
Community Driven
Our sessions, curated and approved by the program committee , will be technically deep and community-driven, reflecting the real challenges and innovations shaping the data and AI landscape.
Lasting Connections
We aim to create an inclusive space where meaningful conversations happen not only in sessions but everywhere, empowering you to build lasting connections and collaborate in ways that outlive the conference itself.
Career Opportunities
Top tech companies, including OpenAI will be recruiting onsite. Explore open job roles, meet the hiring teams in person, and make connections that can turn into real next steps after the event.
Program Committee
The people shaping the agenda.
Chris Colburn
Director, Data Engineering
OpenAI
Jerry Wang
Principal Data Software Engineer & Gemini Data Technical Lead
Google DeepMind
Michelle Winters
Founder
Global Organization of Open Data
Nathan Towery
Senior Director, Data Engineering
Meta
Paul Ellwood
Head of Data Engineering
OpenAI
Xinran Waibel
Head of Community and Staff Software Engineer
Data Engineer Things
THE ROOM
Who’s attending
A preview of the senior data and AI leaders joining.
Head of Data Platform
Senior Director, Data & Experimentation Platform
Staff Media Data Engineer
Director of Product
Head of Data & AI
Principal Data Software Engineer
SVP of Engineering
Senior Director, ML
Principal Engineer
Senior Staff Data Engineer
Staff Machine Learning TLM
Engineering Manager
Senior Director, Data Engineering
Head of Data Engineering
Head of Data Engineering
Senior Staff Software Engineer
Senior Data Engineering Manager
Head of Data Engineering and Analytics
Vice President, Data
Engineering Director
Head of Data Engineering
Staff Data Enigneer
Staff Data Enigneer
Head of Data Engineering
Engineering Director
Vice President, Data
Head of Data Engineering and Analytics
Senior Data Engineering Manager
Senior Staff Software Engineer
Head of Data Engineering
Head of Data Engineering
Senior Director, Data Engineering
Engineering Manager
Staff Machine Learning TLM
Senior Staff Data Engineer
Principal Engineer
Senior Director, ML
SVP of Engineering
Principal Data Software Engineer
Head of Data & AI
Director of Product
Staff Media Data Engineer
Senior Director, Data & Experimentation Platform
Head of Data Platform
— Agenda
Designed for conversations,
not presentations.
All breakout sessions are interactive roundtable discussions led by Session Leads with recognized expertise on the session topic. Each Session Lead opens with a 5-minute presentation to frame the topic and share their perspective, then facilitates the discussion for the remainder of the session, creating opportunities to exchange ideas, surface new insights, and lead meaningful conversations on key industry challenges.
VIEW FULL AGENDA
EXPLORE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Meet the teams hiring onsite
Our event partners are looking for top talent in data and software engineering. Explore open roles, meet the hiring teams in person at the event, and make connections that can turn into real next steps.
VIEW OPEN ROLES
APPLY
Attendance is limited and carefully curated. To apply, complete the event registration with a few details about yourself. Approved applicants will receive confirmation to attend.
Speakers
Learn from the experts shaping the future of Data and AI.
How Do We Make Agent-Driven Data Workflows Reliable in Production?
Vista Studio West
Anant Agarwal
Staff Software Engineer & Engineering Lead
Instacart Inc.
When Your Sources Disagree: How Should AI Decide What to Trust?
Vista Studio West
Dinesh Thangaraju
Head of AWS Data Platform
Amazon Web Services
How Should We Build Open Standards for Data & AI?
Coastal Hub North
Harel Shein
Engineering Manager
Datadog
What Makes a Data Product Ready for an AI Agent?
Vista Studio East
Himanshu Singh
Engineering Manager
Netflix
What Evidence Is Enough to Put an AI System in Production?
Vista Studio East
Ishween Kaur
AI & Crypto Engineer
SoFi
What Should We Build Next for Apache Iceberg
Coastal Hub North
Jason Reid
Director of Product Management
Databricks
How Should We Build Open Standards for Data & AI?
Coastal Hub North
Julien Le Dem
Principal Engineer
Datadog
Keynote Panel
Coastal Hub North
Michelle Winters
Founder
Global Organization of Open Data
Is the GPU Fleet a Data Platform problem?
Coastal Hub South
Nilanjan Chatterjee
SMTS Data Architect
AMD
Employees and Agents Both Run on AI: Who Governs What It Sees, Sends, and Spends?
Vista Studio West
Sandeep Thuthike
Principal Engineer, Data & AI
Yahoo
Customer-Facing Analytics, Now With Agents: What's Worth Building?
Coastal Hub South
Sida Shen
PM
PhoenixAI
Community Supporters
Sponsors
Diamond
GOLD PREMIER
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
Join the DET Community
Data Engineer Things
This event is organized by Data Engineer Things (DET), a global data and AI community with over 100K members. Built by data engineers for data engineers. Our mission is to create an open and safe space for data professionals to learn and connect.
Get practical insights and learning resources and connect with the global data community.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
When and where is the event?
The event will take place Monday, November 2, from 1:00–7:00 PM at Convene, 40 O'Farrell St, San Francisco, CA 94108.
How can I attend the event?
How will I know if my application is accepted?
What happens to the ticket payment if my application isn’t accepted?
Will sessions be recorded?
Is there a Code of Conduct?
Who can I contact with questions?
UPDATES
Stay in Touch
Leave your email and we'll let you know when speakers, the agenda, and applications go live. We'll only reach out when there's something worth sharing.