Speaker
Abstract
Successful Staff+ engineers build alignment across organizational and technical boundaries, including domains where they aren't the deepest expert. Whether you're building AI platforms, modernizing infrastructure, or developing new products, this talk explores practical techniques for leading these kinds of initiatives through influence rather than authority. Using the development of a full-stack platform built around OpenXR as a case study, we'll explore techniques for leading technical initiatives spanning multiple organizations, disciplines, and layers of a software stack, even when no one person is the expert in every part.
Actionable Takeaways:
- Develop technical fluency in adjacent disciplines without being the primary expert.
- Distinguish solution disagreements from problem-definition disagreements.
- Create the conditions for domain experts to make decisions that improve the whole system.
$2,835, Conference (3 days). Current pricing ends September 8th. All pass options.
QCon San Francisco 2026 is a three day conference for senior software engineers, architects and team leads. An international program committee of working engineers selects every session. Patterns and practices, not products and pitches.
Part of the track
Staff+ Engineering Skills Hosted by Javier Fernandez-Ivern Staff Software Engineer @Netflix with Over 24 Years in Software EngineeringFrom the same track
Tuesday 17 November
10:35 Pacific DEKJ Session Nobody Knows Everything (and That's OK): Building Alignment in Complex, Rapidly Changing Environments Kaye Mason Senior Staff Software Engineer @Meta, Previously @Google and @EA, 20+ Years in Real-Time Rendering, Spatial Computing, and Developer Platforms Successful Staff+ engineers build alignment across organizational and technical boundaries, including domains where they aren't the deepest expert. 11:45 Pacific DEKJ Session Use AI to Multiply Your Team as a Staff Engineer Jordan Cutler Senior Staff Engineer and Web Tech Lead @Pinterest, Author of High Growth Engineer Newsletter Most "AI for engineers" content is about typing faster. That's IC-level work. Staff engineers have a different question to answer. When AI raises the floor on what every engineer can ship, what is the staff engineer's job, and where does the leverage actually come from now? 13:35 Pacific DEKJ Session Transitioning From a Startup to a Mature Platform Joy Ebertz Principal Engineer @Imprint, Blogger, and Speaker, Previously @Harness, @Split, & @Box What you need to succeed in a startup with zero customers is different from what you need when you have a few thousand, and this changes many times as the company grows. Some of these changes are code and architectural changes, some are organizational changes, and some are mindset shifts. 14:45 Seacliff D Unconference Unconference: Staff+ Engineering Skills 15:55 Pacific DEKJ Session Learning What’s Already There: A Breadth-Based Approach To Onboarding Laura de Vesine Senior Staff Engineer @Reddit When onboarding to a new organization, it's vital to bootstrap your network and context quickly. 17:05 Pacific DEKJ Session Scaling Tech by Aligning Humans Scott Behrens Principal Security Engineer @Netflix, Providing GenAI Technical Leadership and Upleveling Engineers on The Engineer Setlist Blog Scaling a complex technology can get messy without a clear north star or a shared technical strategy. Product strategies from different functions can each deliver impact but may lead to disconnected solutions or inadvertently introduce various forms of technical debt.