CTO-Con'24
Crafting Today's Tech Narratives

I am a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for hire. I help organizations get the most from their IT investments.

30Y+ in high-tech industry, 20y+ as leader and manager. Always built products, always built teams - usually from scratch. Although having a wealth of corporate experience, i'm much more of a startup solve and and an enthusiastic UI/UX and frontend developer aiming to give the best experience possible to my users needs. As CTO in Deel, both my passions come to life in the best way possible :).

Kaj is a global business and technology executive with a passion for delivering innovative products that drive business outcomes. Deep enterprise software industry knowledge and broad experience in strategy and operations in both large and small companies. Seasoned member of executive teams with an impact well beyond the immediate area of responsibility. Pioneer in Internet of Things and Enterprise Mobility solutions as well as ML/AI powering SaaS applications. Proven track record building and managing international teams to predictably deliver high quality products as well as driving transformational cross-functional projects. Recognized as an industry thought leader with several granted and pending patents, member of advisory boards and committees, angel investor, and popular public speaker.

I am a senior director of engineering, currently leading multiple organizations at Uber, including the flagship Uber Rider app. I have spent close to a decade at Uber since 2014 and helped through its hypergrowth phase across multiple technological domains. Before Uber, I worked at other startup companies like Lookout Mobile Security, protecting millions of android devices and unsuspecting users from malwares. Prior to that, I worked at Brightscope, bringing visibility to 401K fee loses to companies and its employees.

With more than 20 years of experience in software development, Dustin Pearce’s passion for development inspires and empowers highly effective teams. As CISO and VP of Engineering, Data, Dusty helps scale Amplitude’s engineering and product organizations and leads the development of the company’s data products. Initially one of Amplitude’s first customers back in 2015, Dusty joined the company after leading engineering and infrastructure teams at Instacart and Slack.

Asanka, WSO2's CTO, is a technology visionary with over 20 years of experience designing and implementing scalable distributed systems, microservices, and business integration solutions. He advances WSO2's corporate reference architecture, collaborates with customers and industry analysts, and drives the company's technology mission. Asanka is also a contributor to the Apache Software Foundation and a sought-after speaker at global events.

Passionate author, speaker, and CTO dedicated to inspiring the tech leadership community. Through my talks, I bring visibility to the often overlooked aspects of work, showcasing the genuine value delivered by high-performance software teams.

"Over 20 years of experience in the defense/security, telecommunications, and software industries. Leading and motivating remote teams and stakeholders for over 13 years, while driving impactful results. Passionate about cultivating future leaders and building high-performing global teams that deliver strategic initiatives for innovative products and solutions. An Agile enthusiast at heart, she empowers teams to be agents of change, fostering a culture of continuous improvement in productivity, efficiency, and quality. Cultivating strong relationships with executive leadership to influence top level change. Sharpen team focus on customer satisfaction, prioritizing the removal of impediments and embracing automation and data-driven approaches. Her keen eye for identifying risks and proactively solving problems early in the product development cycle has been a cornerstone of her approach."

Jignesh is a trusted expert for modernization of core telecom process into integrated and intelligent workflows by embedding AI, hybrid cloud, blockchain and automation. He has been recognized as a technical leader for the execution of multiple complex and strategic large-scale transformation projects across various Tier - 1 Operators.

Born and raised in India, Anita Chandrasekhar moved to the United States to pursue her college education at Ohio Wesleyan University, where she received a BA in Economics & International Studies. After graduation, she began her career at Deloitte Consulting as a strategy and operations consultant, and then moved to Goldman Sachs leading a team in their interest rate derivatives department.

After several years in the corporate sector, Anita pursued a master's degree in public policy at the National University of Singapore. Upon completing her degree, she joined Teach for America (TFA), where she worked for almost a decade gaining skills across various roles. Here she spent 6 years on the recruitment team, focused on recruiting, supporting, and retaining diverse leaders to bring the organization's mission to life.

Currently, Anita leads the global recruitment strategy and operations team at Zapier, a leader in automation, no-code space. She lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with her husband, daughter, and their dog.

Helping strategic partners lead their respective industries with disruptive technologies

Deputy CTO at WSO2. Author and speaker. Specializes in APIs, Integrations, Security, Cloud Native and Platform Engineering.

Seasoned multi-discipline tech executive. Multiple startup experiences. Experienced in building and scaling engineering organizations, building v1 products, building and running customer success organizations and running product management teams.

For more than 25 years, I've led the charge in navigating the dynamic landscape of software development, guiding projects from inception to fruition with a keen eye for detail and innovation. From shaping UI/UX designs to orchestrating system architectures, my passion lies in crafting seamless user experiences. I thrive on fostering collaboration across diverse teams, leveraging analytical prowess and effective communication to drive transformative results.

Heather Wilde Renze is a dynamic entrepreneur, speaker, and author, renowned for her exceptional expertise in corporate growth, community engagement, and distributed teams. She has earned the nickname "Unicorn Whisperer" due to her work advising unicorn-growth companies and her pivotal role as an early employee at Evernote.

Through her writing, speaking engagements, and entrepreneurial endeavors, Heather inspires and empowers individuals in a diverse range of industries, including gaming, travel, healthcare, nonprofits, hospitality, productivity, government, retail, entertainment, and security.

With her vast knowledge, expertise, and passion for technology and education, Heather Wilde Renze continues to make a significant impact in the world, leaving a lasting legacy of innovation and empowerment.

Swish Goswami is the CEO of Surf, a tech company compensating people for their data and providing powerful insights to large enterprises like EA, HP and Amazon. Surf has raised over $10 million, made two acquisitions and worked with numerous blue chip customers. Beyond Surf, Swish is a 4x TEDx speaker, a LinkedIn Top Voice, Chairman of the Board at League of Innovators and the author of “The Young Entrepreneur”.

Sriram (Sri) Ramanathan is a hands on technology executive and AI guru who has more than 23 years of cutting edge experience in the mobile, AI, and cloud computing domains. At Exela, as Group CTO, he leads the technology function including the generative AI charge, product development, and the CIO and CISO functions

"Sandeep Garg has years of experience conceiving, building, and delivering SaaS products at the world’s leading software companies. Before joining InMoment, Sandeep served as SVP of Product at Medallia. He also led cutting-edge product development at SAP, Yahoo!, and other well-known brands. Sandeep holds a Bachelor’s degree in technology from IIT Delhi and a Master’s degree from Cornell."

Alex leads Technology at the Interledger Foundation and focuses on lowering the barrier to entry into the Interledger ecosystem while driving the adoption of the web standards powering the Interledger network. With a background in web technologies and developer advocacy, he's helping organizations in the ecosystem build developer-friendly products while engaging with the developer community at large.

16 years of experience in sales engineering and solutions architecture, I am a passionate and skilled professional who helps customers leverage the power of cloud computing and domain aware Generative AI. I currently work as the Director of Solutions Engineering at Rohirrim, a leading platform for domain aware Generative AI in the secure Government Contracting space. I have spoken at several large Data & AI conferences on AI and big data technologies.

"Sergey Sundukovskiy, Ph.D. has over 25 years of experience serving in the capacities of Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Officer and Chief Product Officer. Sergey is a serial Entrepreneur with multiple successful exits. Sergey specializes in product development of subscription based high volume B2B and B2C SaaS platforms, with strong emphasis on early stage product marketing, product testing, monetization and finding product-market fit. Specific areas of expertise include NLP, Machine Learning, A/B Testing, Big Data, Video Management, eCommerce, RTB platforms and Cloud Computing Sergey often mentors first-time founders and advises early stage Startups with emphasis on Product Development, Product Market Testing, Public Relations, Product Marketing, Team Building, Customer Success and Organizational Management Sergey is also an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Fowler School of Engineering, Chapman University Education: B.A. in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego, and an M.S. in Information Technology from the University of Liverpool. Ph.D. in Information Technology Management from the School of Business and Technology, Capella University, Master of Liberal Arts in Software Engineering, Extension Studies, Harvard University"

"Manas Talukdar is a senior software engineering leader in Data Infrastructure for Enterprise AI. He has significant experience designing and developing products in artificial intelligence and large-scale data infrastructure, used in mission critical sectors across the world. He is a senior member of IEEE, AI 2030 Senior Fellow and Advisory Board member. He is currently Director of Engineering at Labelbox, a startup building a data-centric AI platform, where he runs platform and product engineering organizations. Manas also advises startups in the AI and Data space, among other professional engagements and volunteering activities. He has filed multiple related patents, and the enterprise products he has developed are part of critical infrastructure for several industry verticals throughout the world."

As the CEO and founder of vFairs, Muhammad Younas is on a mission to provide innovative and scalable solutions to businesses around the world and help vFairs become the world’s most loved technology to power events. Under his leadership, vFairs has become a global leader in the event tech space, offering a cutting-edge platform that enables businesses to host engaging and immersive events online & in person. vFairs has served clients across 100+ industries, including government, education, technology, healthcare, telecom, and non-profits, among others. Younas is passionate about leveraging technology to solve complex business challenges and is dedicated to helping organizations thrive in the digital age.