Ken Kousen is the author of the Pragmatic Programmers books "Mockito Made Clear" and "Help Your Boss Help You", the O'Reilly books "Kotlin Cookbook", "Modern Java Recipes", and "Gradle Recipes for Android", and the Manning book "Making Java Groovy". He is a regular speaker on the No Fluff, Just Stuff conference tour, and has spoken at conferences all over the world. He is a Java Champion, a JavaOne Rock Star, and a Devnexus Rock Star. Currently he a Professor of the Practice of Computer Science and Associate Director for STEM Initiatives at the Entrepreneurship Center at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. In addition to various industry certifications, he has BS degrees in both Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering from M.I.T., an MA and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton, and an MS in Computer Science from R.P.I.
Managing Your AI-Driven Manager
The threat to your job isn’t that an AI can replace you — it’s that a manager will think AI can replace you. This talk covers how to build a relationship with your manager that makes you their primary technical ally. The idea is to become the person they trust to evaluate both the benefits — and the costs — of using AI tools, showing where they can help and where you really need to be careful using them. In a rapidly changing world, you can become the person your manager relies on to give them good advice, all while you get to enjoy playing with the latest toys.
A conference for Tech Leaders on the present and future of Artificial Intelligence
Includes a pass for the Devnexus Tech Leadership Track
8 practical sessions • Lunch Included • Networking Reception
We are past the point of asking if AI will change your business. The question is now how fast and how effectively you can wield it.
ADVANTAGE is the premier gathering for the technology leaders charged with navigating the AI revolution. Designed exclusively for CTOs, CIOs, VPs of Engineering, and Technical Leads, this isn't a conference about theoretical research—it’s a summit on practical implementation, governance, and scale.
In an era of overwhelming noise, ADVANTAGE provides the signal. We dissect the difference between flashy demos and production-ready architecture. We explore how to upskill your workforce, govern your data, and integrate LLMs into legacy systems without breaking them.
Join your peers to define the future of your stack, your product, and your organization.
Schedule
All times are listed in EST.
Remember your tickets includes access to the Devnexus conference session on Thursday and Friday also, including the Tech Leadership teack! You can see the schedule for that here: Devnexus scheduleWednesday, March 4
| Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:10 PM | Lunch | ||||
| 1:00 PM | A Leader’s Playbook for AIFrank Greco | ||||
| 1:35 PM | AI Architecture for Tech Leaders: Building Blocks for AI ApplicationsPratik Patel | ||||
| 2:10 PM | Language Stacks and Gen AIRod Johnson | ||||
| 2:50 PM | Shift to Agentic Software EngineeringDavid Parry | ||||
| 3:25 PM | From Concept to Platform: Building Hivemindd with AI at the CoreDennis Ruzeski | ||||
| 4:00 PM | AI Enablement in the SDLC: A Strategy SamplerTravis Gosselin | ||||
| 4:35 PM | The Journey Awaits: Accelerating AI Tool Adoption a case study using GitHub CopilotLaurie Lay | ||||
| 5:10 PM | Managing Your AI-Driven ManagerKenneth Kousen | ||||
| 5:40 PM | Leveraging Your Existing API Ecosystem to Power Safe Enterprise AIAdib Saikali | ||||
| 6:15 PM | Networking Happy Hour | ||||
All Sessions
AI For Tech Leaders Summit
Gold
Community
