The Seattle IT Learning Conference was a huge success, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible lineup of speakers who shared their knowledge, experience, and vision with us. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of them for making this event so insightful and inspiring.
Our goal for this year’s Seattle IT Conference was to bring together a diverse group of leaders and innovators to explore the future of technology, public service, and community engagement. The sessions delivered were nothing short of exceptional, offering valuable perspectives on everything from AI and data analytics to human-centered design and purpose-driven leadership.
We were honored to have Kari D’Elia, Chief Product Officer at USAFacts, as our keynote speaker. Drawing from her impressive background at Nike and TripAdvisor, Kari showed us how to transform complex data into clear, accessible information that empowers the public.
Our agenda was packed with brilliant minds from both the private and public sectors:
- Connor Hodges, a Data Platform Representative at Oracle, shared his seven years of experience empowering local governments through technology.
- John Lang, a Field CTO at Oracle, demonstrated his expertise in bridging the critical gap between business goals and IT capabilities.
- Barr Bauer, a Chief Architect at Oracle with nearly three decades of experience, offered innovative solutions tailored for state and local governments.
- Mark Schiller, a Senior IT Project Manager at the City of Seattle, provided insights from his long history of leading crucial city projects since 2004.
- Tony North, a Senior Manager from King County IT, brought his extensive experience in the vital fields of cybersecurity and IT service management.
- Mujib Lodhi, Chief Information Officer at Seattle City Light, shared lessons from his 30-year career in transforming public utilities with technology and operational excellence.
A special focus of this year’s conference was human-centered design, and we were thrilled to feature a talented team from Seattle IT. Thank you to Michelle Ringgold (Service Design Manager), Jenny Chen (Senior Service Designer), and Zhen Zhen McMahon (Service Designer) for sharing how they are creating more equitable and user-friendly services for our city.
We also want to thank our key partners for contributing their expertise:
- Nadia Hansen, Executive Director of Government Strategy at Salesforce, sparked a fantastic discussion on the future of AI and building smarter communities.
- Katherine Cheng, a Social Impact and Inclusion Advisor, inspired us with her insights on purpose-driven leadership, drawing from her experiences at the White House and the World Economic Forum.
- Jack Elmore (Director of Solution Engineering) and Cyrus Christian (Senior Solutions Engineer) from Microsoft gave us practical strategies for enhancing productivity with digital tools.
The passion and dedication of these speakers created an environment of learning and collaboration that will undoubtedly have a lasting impact.
If you missed any of the sessions or want to revisit the topics discussed, you can explore the full agenda on the Learning Conference Info Page.
Once again, thank you to all our speakers for their invaluable contributions to the Seattle IT Conference. We are already looking forward to what next year will bring.