From Friction to Flow: How Great DevEx Makes Everything Awesome

Abstract

Developer productivity isn't just about faster builds or better tooling—it's about creating an environment where developers can do their best work. As AI transforms how we code, the fundamentals of developer experience become even more critical.

This talk will guide you through a proven blueprint for identifying and eliminating the friction that's killing your team's productivity. You'll learn to recognize hidden obstacles, build stakeholder buy-in, and scale improvements for your own team or entire organizations.

We'll explore why DevEx matters more than ever in an AI world, where context switching and cognitive overhead can either amplify or undermine AI's benefits. You'll walk away with practical templates and strategies you can immediately apply to make development more enjoyable and effective.

Whether you're frustrated with daily friction, want to boost team productivity, or need to build the business case for DevEx investment, this session gives you a concrete roadmap for lasting change.


Speaker

Nicole Forsgren

Partner, Applied Research & Strategy, OCTO @Microsoft, Author of "Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps" and "The DevOps Handbook"

Dr. Nicole Forsgren is considered one of the most prominent and important minds in DevOps and developer productivity. She has led productivity efforts at companies like Microsoft, GitHub, and Google, and is author of two best-selling, award-winning books: Accelerate, which netted a Shingo Publication Award, and The DevOps Handbook 2e. (Stay tuned for her upcoming book on developer experience, Frictionless.) 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.

She lives in the PNW and recharges her brain with gym time, tacos, and Diet Coke.

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