Join us at SOFTCON 2026, the biggest software industry conference in the Philippines! Happening on October 26-28, SOFTCON brings together tech leaders, industry experts, and software professionals for 3 days of learning and networking.
Shaping the Future of Philippine Software
Innovating for All.

This talk presents a Spec-Driven Development approach in which system use cases are the central artifact. A system use case describes observable system behavior and acts as a stable contract for the application. Code is derived from these use cases instead of treating the code itself as the source of truth.
An AI agent is used as a supporting tool to generate and update code and tests from system use cases. The agent operates within a harness of skills, MCP servers, and guidelines. Through concrete examples, the session demonstrates how backend logic, database access, and UI behavior can evolve together while staying consistent with the use cases.
Finally, the session shares concrete workflows and lessons learned from real-world enterprise projects, including limitations and trade-offs of using AI in this way.


Discussion includes how to design agentic workflows, define meaningful evaluation metrics, and measure performance beyond simple accuracy. Topics include task completion, reasoning quality, tool selection, LLM-as-a-Judge, automated evaluation pipelines, human evaluation, regression testing, and production monitoring.


This session isn't about whether AI will replace testers. That debate is boring. This is about what happens after AI takes over the routine work and whether you're building the skills that actually matter now.
Through real implementations (and a few experiments that failed badly), we'll look at where AI genuinely helps in quality engineering, where it quietly goes wrong, and why the humans who understand both will be the ones running the show.
Because AI doesn't think. It predicts. And there's a massive difference, especially when your production environment is on fire.

In this session, we will learn how to implement the AG‑UI protocol to easily connect UI apps with pre‑built agents. No matter what framework you used to build your agents, AG‑UI will handle the work for you!

This session explores how teams can move from secure coding to secure software delivery by embedding security into design, development, testing, deployment, and continuous improvement. Participants will learn practical approaches to secure-by-design thinking, automated security checks, dependency management, secrets protection, AI-generated code risks, and building a culture where security becomes part of everyday engineering decisions.

In this session, discover Spec-Driven Development (SDD)—a pragmatic methodology that shifts your role from writing raw syntax to engineering structured intent, using machine-readable specifications to force AI agents to respect your architectural guardrails.
AI & The Next Frontier
Simon is an expert in AI‑Driven Software Development, Java, and Software Architecture, and the creator of the AI Unified Process (unifiedprocess.ai). With over 30 years of experience as a software architect, developer, and consultant, he helps teams adopt AI‑driven development practices through Spec‑Driven Development and the AI Unified Process.
His work focuses on enabling organizations to build maintainable, scalable, and long‑living business applications by placing specifications at the center of development and leveraging AI as a structured accelerator.
Recognized for his contributions to the global developer community, Simon is a Java Champion, Vaadin Champion, and Oracle ACE Pro.
Nithin is the founder of Synapse QA, a community space for test automation professionals and software quality advocates.
He has over a decade of experience in the IT field, with a strong focus on building high-performing teams and ensuring Quality Engineering excellence in projects.
In addition to his role as Head of QA at Lodgify, Nithin conducts test automation workshops and empowers professionals to share their insights through Synapse QA, fostering collaboration and innovation in the testing community.
Mesut has over 15 years of experience in Industrial Automation, IoT platforms, SaaS/PaaS and Cloud Services, the Defense Industry, Autonomous Mobile Robots, and Embedded and Software Applications.
In addition to his proficiency in CMMI and experience with Scrum and PMP, he has taken on various roles—such as Quality Owner, Hiring Manager, and Chapter Lead—in multinational projects.
He has expertise in test automation and integration with CI/CD platforms to support continuous testing. Furthermore, he has been facilitating test processes and developing test strategies and lifecycles for various projects.
He is a frequent international speaker, a recipient of best presentation awards, and a member of various program committees.
Seiji is a senior developer based in the Netherlands, a Microsoft MVP, an Auth0 Ambassador, and one of the community leaders of Angular PH.
He is actively involved in organizing tech meetups, mentoring developers, and sharing knowledge through tutorials on his website, seijivillafranca.com. As a speaker at various local and international conferences, he focuses on JavaScript development and Microsoft technologies.
Seiji is also a published author in the field of full-stack web development, further demonstrating his passion for community building and technical excellence.
With over 23 years in the IT industry and 13 years in information security, Benjie has held key leadership roles including Deputy CISO and DPO of Voyager (Maya) and Chief Information Security Officer of MakatiSoft Inc (SWAPOOLABS,INC). He is the Founder and Head of Consulting at Sophie’s IT Services (SITESPhil) and holds multiple global InfoSec certifications such as ISACA’S CISM, ISC2’S CISSP, EC-COUNCIL’S LPT, COMPTIA’S CASP, MILE2’S CSWAE, ETC.
Passionate about building a more IT- and InfoSec-aware Philippines, he also founded Hackin’ Ka Na Lang (HKNL), a free event dedicated to sharing knowledge and strengthening the local tech community.
Joshua Arvin Lat serves as the Vice President of Cybersecurity and AI for Axos. He previously held Chief Technology Officer and Director roles across SaaS platforms, AI automation companies, e‑commerce startups, and digital agencies.
Because of his proven track record in leading digital transformation within organizations, he was recognized as one of the winners of the prestigious Orange Boomerang: Digital Leader of the Year 2023 award. Years earlier, he led a team that won first place in a global cybersecurity competition for their published research.
He is also an AWS AI Hero and has spoken at several international conferences on practical applications of generative AI, software engineering, cybersecurity, and management. To give back to the technology community, he has authored five books covering artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
Allan Mangune is a seasoned professional with over two decades of expertise in secure software development and digital transformation. Holding a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems and being a Certified Public Accountant, he uniquely blends financial acumen with deep technical knowledge.
Since entering the software development field in 2000, Allan has emphasized secure coding practices, further solidified by his Certified Ethical Hacker v5 certification. He has guided numerous clients through their digital transformation journeys, ensuring robust security measures.
As a Certified ScrumMaster and Prince2 Agile Foundation holder, Allan has provided Agile Project Management training to well-known companies for over ten years. His contributions to the ASP.NET community were recognized with a ten-year Microsoft MVP award, reflecting his leadership and expertise in Microsoft technologies.
As a former Microsoft Certified Trainer, he has empowered corporate clients with comprehensive IT skills. His certifications include Azure Fundamentals, Azure Security Fundamentals, MCSE, MCDBA, and MCAD.
Allan’s passion extends to his hobby of assembling unmanned aerial vehicles, merging his love for technology with hands-on creativity. His career is characterized by a dedication to secure coding practices, digital transformation, and professional development, making him a valuable asset in any tech-driven initiative.
Calen is the Founder and Chief Scientist of O&B, and serves as a Board Member of the PSIA where he acts as Capability Director. He is also a member of the CHED Technical Committee for Computer Science, helping shape the direction of computer science education in the Philippines.
He is the co-founder of the Filipino Java Users Group, a founding board member of PICAB, and the co-founder and Director of Edusuite, an edtech company driving innovation in education management systems.
Notably, he was the first to teach Agile and Test-Driven Development in the Philippines, and currently serves as a Senior Professional Lecturer at De La Salle University, where he continues to mentor and inspire the next generation of software engineers.
Hybrid conference and expo
Oct. 26-27: Online | Oct. 28: Online + SMX Aura
Get the early bird rates!
Software professionals (software engineers, developers/programmers, data engineers, DevOps engineers, QAs, UX/UI designers), data scientists, AI specialists, project managers, security/infrastructure professionals, product managers, directors, CXOs, IT faculty and students, and more.
You can register and pay online through our checkout page (we accept bank deposit/fund transfer, PayPal, and Visa/MasterCard). Or you can register offline by submitting our registration form.
We offer several ticket options, including Stream (online for 3 days), D3 Live (F2F on Day 3 only), and Full XP (online for 2 days and F2F on Day 3).
Yes! We offer discounted tickets for PSIA member companies, members of the academe (deans, faculty, and students), and government agencies. We also give an additional 10% group discount. Just apply the relevant coupon code/s upon checkout or coordinate offline with our registration team.
Absolutely! SOFTCON 2026 offers virtual tables, speed networking, and one-on-one chats online as well as F2F networking opportunities on Day 3.