Talks & keynotes

How do you build,
when the rules of building keep changing?

That question runs through every talk on this page. Built for senior leaders and platform practitioners alike; the argument can be pitched as simple or as technical as the room needs.

Flagship · 2026

A Brief History of Engineering… and What Comes Next.

Now that AI is rewriting the physics of how we build software, what does the next operating model actually look like? The 2026 keynote makes the case for a deliberate one, with Team Topologies (Second Edition) at its spine.

May 2026 · London

DevOpsCon LondonQEII Convention Centre · 13–14 May 2026 · The Conference for CI/CD, Kubernetes, Platform Engineering & DevSecOps

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Mar 2026 · NetApp

NetApp Solution EngineersA cut of the flagship tuned for NetApp's SE community, with a sharper focus on data.

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Previous tour · 2025

A Brief History of Engineering 2025: European Capitals.

The 2025 cut of the flagship, delivered across four European stages through the back half of the year. It traced the arc from DevOps to platform engineering to the agentic-AI shift, and set up the question the 2026 talk answers.

Dec 2025 · London

DevOpsCon LondonQEII Convention Centre

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Dec 2025 · Munich

DevOpsCon Munich1–5 December 2025

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Nov 2025 · Bucharest

GoTech WorldBucharest, Romania

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2025 · London

London Tech Leaders SummitThemes from the forthcoming book

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Other sessions

Standalone talks, whitepaper-based sessions, and panels.

Sessions built around specific whitepapers, internal engagements, and panel work, adaptable to your audience and outcome.

Mar 2026 · DWP via Conflux

Keeping Pipelines FreshPipeline hygiene at scale: preventing drift, decay, and the slow erosion of velocity in long-lived CI/CD estates. Delivered through Conflux at the UK Department for Work and Pensions.

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Mar 2026 · DWP via Conflux

Automating Change ControlsReplacing manual change-approval gates with automated governance inside the pipeline. A regulated-industry talk with roots in Neil's financial-services background.

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Sept 2024 · Fujitsu

DevOps' Dirty Little SecretOn cognitive strain. The less-discussed pitfalls of DevOps at scale, and the role Team Topologies plays in keeping the lights on without burning out the people behind them.

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2024 · London

London Tech Leaders #17: Low Code, No Code (panel)Panel discussion as Fujitsu Global Product Owner & AppCircle Advisor.

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Fujitsu era · DevOpsCon

Inertia vs InnovationA talk drawn from a whitepaper Neil authored for Fujitsu, then delivered on the DevOpsCon stage. The forces that hold software organisations still, and the ones that get them moving again.

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Looking for a keynote that ties the room together?

Conference programmes, internal kick-offs, and platform-engineering leadership offsites. Neil tailors the cut to the audience and the outcome you need.