What to Expect from LeadDev Conferences and Events

LeadDev runs in-person conferences for engineering leaders, and its event content centers on the practical work of running engineering organizations—scaling teams, culture, performance, and technical decision-making. If you are a tech lead, engineering manager, director, VP, or CTO looking for talks grounded in real operating experience rather than vendor pitches, LeadDev events are built for that audience. The site lists a New York event dated September 8 & 9, 2027, with pre-sale tickets available through its ticket page. Beyond conferences, LeadDev also publishes conference talks, reports, and upcoming panel discussions.

What the conference program looks like

LeadDev's published talks show the range of topics you can expect. They are delivered by engineering leaders from technology companies and focus on decisions and trade-offs rather than tool tutorials. Examples from the site:

• Scaling under pressure — "Game time: A playbook to (unsuccessfully) 10x in a week and (successfully) 10x in a year" by Plum Ertz, a candid account of why rushed 10x efforts fail and how disciplined metrics, culture, and architecture win over time.
• Distributed team culture — Natalia Nazaruk's talk on human connection in distributed engineering teams, aimed at managers who want remote teams to feel connected and aligned, not just productive.
• Performance when you don't own the stack — Maude Lemaire on measuring latency and setting realistic goals when critical parts of the system are outside your control.
• Accessibility as everyday practice — Abi Harrison-Nye on how accessibility became part of routine engineering at giffgaff without slowing delivery.
• AI adoption and sustainability — Lawrence Jones on scaling AI coding across teams, covering culture shifts, standards, and documentation.
• Influence and culture change — Randy Shoup on doubling engineering productivity at eBay and why culture didn't follow, framed as a lesson in using stories to improve influence.
• Management transitions — Karen Lee Rigg on shifting your leadership style as you move between managing people, managers, and whole organizations.

The pattern: each talk takes a concrete situation an engineering leader has faced and explains what worked, what didn't, and why.

Formats beyond the main stage

LeadDev's site describes several content types tied to its events and community:

The reports are worth noting if you want data alongside talks: the Engineering Team Performance Report 2026 covers reporting, metrics, learning, skills, and review, and the AI Impact Report 2026 examines the gap between AI adoption and measurement, security, and skills.

Deciding whether to attend

Choose a LeadDev conference if your goal is peer-level learning from engineering leaders at other companies—especially if you manage teams or are moving into broader leadership. The talk titles suggest an emphasis on organizational problems (scaling, culture, influence) rather than hands-on technical training.

Before committing, check the specific event page for the agenda, speakers, and ticket options, since the site's current listing points to New York in September 2027 with pre-sale tickets. If travel isn't practical, the published talks and reports give you a sample of the content without attending.