{{ QCon San Francisco 2026 }}
{{ International software conference and certification for professional developers }}

What's next in AI.
What's next in software.
From the teams already doing it.

60+ senior practitioners share what's working across AI, architecture, leadership, and culture so you can make better decisions for your team.

November 16-20, 2026

Hyatt Regency, San Francisco

QCon past attendees included senior engineers from these organizations

What you’ll learn

Real-world patterns from senior developers at the leading edge

Architectures You've Always Wondered About

Go behind the scenes of cutting-edge architectures that are shaping technology, entertainment, and the future.

AI Engineering that Delivers: Blueprint to Impact

Turn GenAI theory into practice with blueprints for building scalable, production-ready systems that drive real business impact.

Empowering Teams with AI: Productivity and the Future of Software Development

Embed Generative AI into your development lifecycle to boost productivity, ensure compliance, and future-proof your organization.

Driving Reliability Through Modern Platform Engineering and Dev Enablement

See how modern platform engineering and developer enablement transform reliability into a shared responsibility.

The Path to Senior Engineering Leadership

Navigate diverse paths to senior technical leadership and discover the skills and strategies to become a high-impact individual contributor.

Effective Engineering and Practices in Early Stage Startups

How does being a founding engineer or co-founding CTO at a startup differ from engineering at later stages? Learn what to build and what NOT to build from folks who have held both roles.

High-Performance Languages in Modern Development

Gain a competitive edge by mastering high-performance languages to build faster, more efficient, and scalable applications.

Architecting for Efficiency: Performance, Cost, and Maintainability

Design scalable, high-performance systems and learn to balance performance, cost, and long-term maintainability.

Innovations in Front-End

Explore the future of user experience with AI-driven, multi-modal interfaces that are redefining front-end engineering.

Navigating Major Architecture Migrations

Get practical guidance and hard-won lessons from engineering teams who have successfully completed complex, high-stakes system migrations.

The Stories Behind the Incidents

This track will take you behind the curtain and into the heart of system meltdowns at some of the world's leading software companies in "The stories behind the incidents" track.

Polyglot Platforms: Strategies & Practices to Enable Innovation

Discover how adopting polyglot architectures empowers your teams to innovate, scale, and build robust solutions.

Need to convince your boss? Use our templates.

Why attend QCon San Francisco

Validate your approach. Move forward with conviction.

Technology decisions are getting harder. You don't need another hidden product pitch.

You need senior practitioners who've been where you are.

QCon connects you with senior practitioners who've already navigated similar trade-offs.

Need to convince your boss? Use our template.

Validate your strategy

Benchmark your approach against teams who've faced similar challenges

Real production patterns

Learn from systems at scale, not proof-of-concepts

Honest lessons

Hear what failed, not just what worked

No hidden product pitches

Sessions selected by practitioners, not sponsors

Career-defining skills

Technical and leadership practices that differentiate you

Senior practitioners helping senior practitioners.

No hidden product pitches. Just peers sharing what works.

The breadth of topics and the quality of speakers is incredible.

QCon puts more emphasis on the human connections between the sessions.

Speakers from all around the world, at the forefront of their field.

QCon puts more emphasis on the human connections between the sessions.

Unconferences are a space for everyone to share best practices.

Eye-opening! I can't wait to implement what I've learnt.

You don't see big pressure on selling you stuff. It’s all about learning and helping you grow.

Unconference sessions— they turn out to be a really beneficial feature of the conference.

Curation sets QCon apart. Tracks are curated by track hosts that know that field well.

Connections. Everyone here is passionate about what they do and how they grow.

It's one of the most innovative conferences I've been to.

QCon gives us the opportunity to zoom out and look at our reality from a different perspective.

Practical takeaways. New perspectives.

Centered around senior technologists. And no fluff.

Neha Shah

Architect, @WWT

Thought provoking with cutting edge trends and practical applications. Great speakers and attendees who like to meet new people and share ideas.

Thomas Strickland

Software Engineer, @Apple

First time attending. Amazing learning and networking here. Great to have fresh and varied perspective of the software world from experts around us.

Harsh Tamakuwala

Senior Software Developer, @Bloomberg

The audience and presentations at QCon stand out from other events for me. The focus on developers sharing their knowledge and skills with other developers makes attending the conference worthwhile.

Peter Ajemba

Senior Management (VP, CTO, CIO, Director), @Dexcom Inc

In just 3 days:
- 12 new LinkedIn connections made
- 25 pages of handwritten notes
- 20 incredible talks attended
- Another 20 bookmarked for later
- Numerous technical and industry conversations had
- One amazing conference experienced

Saloni Shah

Principal Software Engineer, @Paylocity

QCon San Francisco is delivering on its promise! The depth of technical insights here is extraordinary.

Tatiana (Tanya) Fesenko

Lead Software Engineer, @Klaviyo

I don't go to many events because I generally find them to be aimed more at early-mid career developers. QCon, on the other hand, was highly relevant to my role as a director. 100% of sessions had some value to me, almost all were worth the time investment, and a few really opened my eyes to ways I can be more effective at my job.

Benjamin Greenberg

Senior Management (VP, CTO, CIO, Director), @Simpler Postage Inc.

I like that the sponsored talks are separate from the other talks. The conference doesn't feel like a sales pitch. We still have the option to attend the sponsored track to see what other companies are offering and what's happening in the industry, but we know what it is before attending the talk.

James Hoffman

Senior Engineer / Lead Engineer / Principal Engineer, @Workday

I loved the heavy technical focus of conference where speakers share their real-life stories which makes the talks relatable and engaging.

Akshay Mutha

Engineering Manager, @Microsoft Corporation

The content quality and the speaker credibility, are head and shoulders above every other conference.

Craig Outcalt

@Mayo Clinic

Well curated collection topics immediately relevant to the current Gen-AI landscape.

Vijay Edwin

Ops Engineer, @Apple

The variety of latest topics and the chance to learn from experts who have worked in well-renowned businesses makes QCon exceptional.

Ridge Tejuco

Software Engineer, @Multi Media LLC

QCon is one of those conferences which is not necessarily one technology related but rather has great topics for every software professional.

Ranjeet Ramunni Kowlel

Senior Engineer / Lead Engineer / Principal Engineer, @Roche Molecular Systems Inc

The QCon experience

Deep technical sessions. Peer conversations that change how you think.

Conference experience

12 curated tracks

60+ peer-selected international speakers

Deep technical dives

Hear what failed, not just what worked

Unconference sessions

Solve problems with peers

Extended networking

Conversations, peer sharing and social events.

Video access

12 months of on-demand recordings

Optional experiences

Hands-on training

Upskill on essential software development practices

Software architect certification

Join an exclusive cohort of senior architects

Video-Only Pass

Can't attend in-person? Learn at your own pace

Understand what’s coming next

QCon speakers are at the leading edge adopting emerging technologies in
production before they're proven. Learn from their experience to reduce your risk.

Innovators

Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Multimodal AI
Agentic AI / Orchestration
Physical AI
Reasoning Models
AI DevOps
AI-powered hardware
AI in Robotics aka Embodied AI
LangOps or LLMOps
Knowledge Graphs
Brain-Computer Interfaces
Robotics
Edge inference and model training
Large-scale distributed
deep-learning

Early Adopters

Small Language Models (SLMs)
Explainable AI
Automated Machine Learning (AutoML)
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
Generative AI/Large
Language Models (LLMs)
Cloud agnostic computing for AI
Data Contracts
Data Observability
Virtual Reality e.g. VR/AR/MR/XR
Cognitive Services
Graph Data Analytics
IoT Platforms

Early Majority

Synthetic data generation
MLOps
Vector Databases
AI coding assistants
Image Recognition
(Computer Vision)
Natural Language Processing
Deep Learning
Open Table Formats (OTFs)
Data Mesh
Digital Assistants
Apache Beam

Source: InfoQ AI, ML and Data Engineering Trends Report - 2025

Your team at QCon

Bring your colleagues for faster results

Learn together Helping senior dev teams adopt the right patterns and practices

Engineering Leaders & CTOs

Validate multi-year technology strategy. Understand which emerging practices are ready for enterprise adoption.

Build faster The InfoQ Community

Software Architects & Principal Engineers

Get architectural patterns from teams who've scaled systems you're planning to build. Learn their tradeoffs.

Reduce risk The InfoQ Community

Senior Developers & Staff+ Engineers

Develop technical judgment for complex decisions. See how leading teams solve problems similar to yours.

Bringing 3+ people?

Email [email protected] with your group size for team discount details.

Need to convince your boss?

Use our pre-written templates.

Get three days of practical insights from 60+ senior
software practitioners. Use these takeaways to:

Reduce project risk

Learn from real-world failures to avoid costly mistakes

Benchmark your approach

Understand how leading teams tackle problems you're facing

Accelerate delivery

Apply architectural and operational patterns that work at scale

Validate technology bets

Learn from engineers who adopted first to reduce your risk

Build team capability

Equip yourself and your team with durable, relevant skills

Stay ahead of the curve

Understand emerging trends before they become table stakes

Download convince your boss templates

A safe and inclusive environment

The QCon 'We Care' experience

Enforced Code of Conduct

All-Gender restroom

Prayer room

Lactation room

Quiet areas

Sessions feedback for constant improvement

Badge optimized for peer-sharing

Accessible event space

Variety of food options (vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, special diet meals)

Detailed food labels

Diversity scholarships

Community events

DEI guidelines for track hosts and speakers

All-day coffee

Flexible online experience

On-demand access for 12 months

Learn more

QCon San Francisco venue

Hyatt Regency - San Francisco

Hyatt Regency - San Francisco

The hotel is located right on the Embarcadero waterfront with stunning views all around and close to popular attractions, events, and shopping. The conference venue is at the same location as the hotel.

To learn more and reserve your hotel room, please visit the venue page .

Explore past QCon talks

Multiplying Engineering Productivity in Face of Constant Change

Shweta Saraf

Director of Platform Networking @Netflix, Board Member for eBPF Foundation

The Three As of Building A+ Platforms: Acceleration, Autonomy, and Accountability

Smruti Patel

VP of Engineering @Apollo Graph

10 Reasons Your Multi-Agent Workflows Fail and What You Can Do about It

Victor Dibia

Principal Research Software Engineer @Microsoft Research, Core Contributor to AutoGen, Author of "Multi-Agent Systems with AutoGen" book. Previously @Cloudera, @IBMResearch

Who attends QCon

Technical leaders, senior engineers, and software architects making technical decisions

34%

TECHNICAL TEAM LEADS AND HIGHER,
SOFTWARE ARCHITECTS

23%

SENIOR DEVELOPER / LEAD ENGINEER

24%

SOFTWARE DEVELOPER

Trusted by senior engineering teams for 20+ years

QCon and InfoQ have guided software teams through every shift: cloud, containers, microservices, and now AI.

Sessions are selected by an international program committee for depth, relevance, and real-world value. No hidden product pitches.

Real teams. Real stories. Real results.

20 years

Helping senior dev teams adopt the right patterns and practices

550k per month

Global senior software developers relying on the InfoQ community to stay ahead

4,500+ per year

Senior developers learning emerging trends and practices at our QCon international software development conferences

Unable to make it to QCon San Francisco?

Take a look at:

QCon London 2026

When: March 16-19, 2026
Where: The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London

Learn more

QCon AI Boston 2026

When: June 1-2, 2026
Where: Boston University, George Sherman Union, Boston, MA

Learn more

Sign up for event updates

Hear about the latest QCon and InfoQ developments. Be the first to learn about in-person and virtual events.

Country

What's next in AI. What's next in software. From the teams already doing it.

What you’ll learn

Real-world patterns from senior developers at the leading edge

Why attend QCon San Francisco

Validate your approach. Move forward with conviction.

Validate your strategy

Real production patterns

Honest lessons

No hidden product pitches

Career-defining skills

Senior practitioners helping senior practitioners.

No hidden product pitches. Just peers sharing what works.

The breadth of topics and the quality of speakers is incredible.

QCon puts more emphasis on the human connections between the sessions.

Speakers from all around the world, at the forefront of their field.

QCon puts more emphasis on the human connections between the sessions.

Unconferences are a space for everyone to share best practices.

Eye-opening! I can't wait to implement what I've learnt.

You don't see big pressure on selling you stuff. It’s all about learning and helping you grow.

Unconference sessions— they turn out to be a really beneficial feature of the conference.

Curation sets QCon apart. Tracks are curated by track hosts that know that field well.

Connections. Everyone here is passionate about what they do and how they grow.

It's one of the most innovative conferences I've been to.

QCon gives us the opportunity to zoom out and look at our reality from a different perspective.

Practical takeaways. New perspectives.

The QCon experience

Deep technical sessions. Peer conversations that change how you think.

Conference experience

12 curated tracks

Deep technical dives

Unconference sessions

Extended networking

Video access

Optional experiences

Understand what’s coming next

QCon speakers are at the leading edge adopting emerging technologies in production before they're proven. Learn from their experience to reduce your risk.

Your team at QCon

Bring your colleagues for faster results

Engineering Leaders & CTOs

Software Architects & Principal Engineers

Senior Developers & Staff+ Engineers

Need to convince your boss?

Get three days of practical insights from 60+ senior software practitioners. Use these takeaways to:

Reduce project risk

Benchmark your approach

Accelerate delivery

Validate technology bets

Build team capability

Stay ahead of the curve

A safe and inclusive environment

The QCon 'We Care' experience

Enforced Code of Conduct

All-Gender restroom

Prayer room

Lactation room

Quiet areas

Sessions feedback for constant improvement

Badge optimized for peer-sharing

Accessible event space

Variety of food options (vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, special diet meals)

Detailed food labels

Diversity scholarships

Community events

DEI guidelines for track hosts and speakers

All-day coffee

Flexible online experience

On-demand access for 12 months

QCon San Francisco venue

Hyatt Regency - San Francisco

Hyatt Regency - San Francisco

Explore past QCon talks

Multiplying Engineering Productivity in Face of Constant Change

Shweta Saraf

The Three As of Building A+ Platforms: Acceleration, Autonomy, and Accountability

Smruti Patel

10 Reasons Your Multi-Agent Workflows Fail and What You Can Do about It

Victor Dibia

Who attends QCon

Technical leaders, senior engineers, and software architects making technical decisions

34%

What's next in AI.
What's next in software.
From the teams already doing it.

QCon speakers are at the leading edge adopting emerging technologies in
production before they're proven. Learn from their experience to reduce your risk.

Get three days of practical insights from 60+ senior
software practitioners. Use these takeaways to:

TECHNICAL TEAM LEADS AND HIGHER,
SOFTWARE ARCHITECTS