Dr. Nicole Forsgren is considered one of the most prominent and important minds in DevOps and developer productivity. She is author of two best-selling, award-winning books: Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps, which netted a Shingo Publication Award, and The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability & Security in Technology Organizations, now in its second edition. Her latest, Frictionless: 7 Steps to Remove Barriers, Unlock Value, and Outpace Your Competition in the Age of AI, was recently released. She is best known for her work measuring the technology process and as the lead investigator on the largest DevOps studies to date. She has been an entrepreneur (with an exit to Google), professor, developer, sysadmin, and performance engineer.

Nicole’s work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and conferences. Nicole earned her PhD in Management Information Systems and Masters in Accounting from the University of Arizona. She splits her time between the Southwest and the PNW, and recharges her brain with gym time, tacos, and Diet Coke.

I've had an extensive career in IT management spanning over 45 years, with a body of work that includes "Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge" and "The DevOps Handbook." My current research interests lie in DevOps, DevSecOps, IT risk, modern governance, and audit compliance. Over the years, I've sold companies to Docker and Dell, and I was a founding member of Opscode (now Chef).

I also founded Gulf Breeze Software, an award-winning IBM business partner known for its expertise in deploying Tivoli technology for enterprises. I've authored six IBM Redbooks on enterprise systems management, and I was the founder and chief architect at Chain Bridge Systems. All in all, I've authored over 11 books and launched more than 10 startups.

Jez Humble is co-author of several books on software including Shingo Publication Award winner Accelerate, The DevOps Handbook, Lean Enterprise, and Jolt Award winner Continuous Delivery. He has spent his career working with code, infrastructure, and product development in companies of varying sizes across three continents, from startups to the US Federal Government, and taught classes in software engineering and product development at UC Berkeley. He was co-founder and CTO of DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment), which was acquired by Google in 2018. He currently works as a site reliability engineer for Google Cloud.

In 2009 he coined the word devops by organizing the first devopsdays event. He organized conferences all over the world to collect and spread new ideas. As a pioneer he is always on the look out for new ideas to implement and explore. Currently in the media sector where he is guiding broadcasters with the transition to enter into a dialogue with it's audience as a closed feedback loop.

Gene Kim is a multiple award-winning CTO, researcher and author, and has been studying high-performing technology organizations since 1999. He was founder and CTO of Tripwire for 13 years. He has written six books, including The Unicorn Project (2019), The Phoenix Project (2013), The DevOps Handbook (2016), the Shingo Publication Award winning Accelerate (2018), and The Visible Ops Handbook (2004-2006) series. Since 2014, he has been the founder and organizer of the DevOps Enterprise Summit, studying the technology transformations of large, complex organizations.

In 2007, ComputerWorld added Gene to the “40 Innovative IT People to Watch Under the Age of 40” list, and he was named a Computer Science Outstanding Alumnus by Purdue University for achievement and leadership in the profession.

He lives in Portland, OR, with his wife and family.