SOFTCON 2023:

DECODING AI

The biggest software conference in the Philippines!

25-27 October | SMX Aura + Online

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Join hundreds of business executives, software engineers, project managers, and web developers in SMX Aura and online for 3 days of informative keynotes and technical workshops at the premier conference for software professionals.

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Event Highlights

Why Attend SOFTCON?

International Speakers

Learn the latest trends and global best practices from speakers from the Philippines and all over the world.

Technical Experts

Hone your coding skills with technical workshops and step-by-step demos from our local and global experts.

Networking Opportunities

Meet colleagues and professional peers online and at the venue through speed networking and lounges.

Demos & Exhibits

Discover cutting-edge solutions to help you run your business and grow your career.

Platinum Partners

Gold Partners

Silver Partners

Education Partner

Connectivity Partner

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Event

Schedule

30+ sessions
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  • Day 1


  • In this training, we delve into the groundbreaking role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in revolutionizing customer management practices within Philippine businesses. The session offers a comprehensive exploration of how AI-powered solutions are reshaping the landscape of customer engagement and support, driving unparalleled efficiency, and elevating customer satisfaction to new heights. Key Topics Covered: Research, Introduction to AI in Customer Management, Personalization and Customer Experience, AI Chatbots: The Future of Customer Support, Predictive Analytics for Business Insights, Sentiment Analysis and Brand Reputation Management, Case Studies and Success Stories and Best Practices and Implementation Strategies.
    AI
    Where
    Virtual

  • As a leader in software and analytics for industrial automation at Emerson, I've had the privilege of witnessing firsthand how innovation and customer focus can drive transformative solutions across the IT industry. In this talk, I'll share how our solutions are empowering both global and local customers. From Hong Kong MTR's predictive analytics, ensuring safe and reliable transportation for millions, to the Quirino Water project's SCADA cloud system, conserving precious resources in local communities, we're making a real difference. Join me as I explore how Emerson and I are shaping a future where technology delivers lasting value and builds a brighter, more sustainable world for everyone.
    Where
    Virtual

  • Some difficulties make automation even less efficient than manual testing unless properly handled. With a lot of people complaining about broken or flaky tests, they are unhappy to spend all their time fixing test failures and not having time for new implementations. In this talk, I have collected my personal experiences focused on the challenges of test automation in global projects. I will share numerous real-life examples causing trouble in terms of testing and ways to cope with them. We will discuss ways to avoid broken tests after updated page layouts on the web apps that we are testing, to minimize the number of flaky tests, to automate scenarios where there is a hardware dependency, and to make implementation easier.
    Where
    Virtual

  • Ready to embark on a journey through the intricate world of Java debugging? This hands-on session is your roadmap through the maze of effective problem-solving, where logic meets strategy in an epic showdown. Through case studies and real-world examples, uncover the secrets to diagnosing and resolving software anomalies, from unexpected behaviors to performance bottlenecks. Transform your debugging approach with our expert insights, learning to tackle both abstract problems and concrete challenges with confidence.
    Java
    Where
    Virtual

  • In this talk, we will look into how you can leverage AI to help you write code based on your coding structure and standards. Learn how to produce less errors from AI generated code. This is a hands-on session using LLMs on Llama and OpenAI.
    AI
    Where
    Virtual

  • This talk discusses the traditional cybersecurity teams and the new ones. This "newly-coined" teams are developer-centric and should be the dream role of each developer and target employees for development companies.
    IT/Cybersecurity

  • With reliability and uptime being key drivers of success in the digital environment, Site Reliability Engineering becomes one of the main pillars of operations. Typically, tools and technologies associated with SRE come with heavy price tags that can be quite insupportable for most organizations, especially for those with tightly constrained budgets. This presentation covers "Cost-Savvy SRE: Building Reliability with Affordable Tools," how companies can attain the exact same level of reliability and performance without having to break the bank for it. We share a raft of cost-effective tools and techniques that help organizations build robust, scalable, and reliable systems, which shows that excellence in SRE does not necessarily have to cost an arm and a leg. From implementing SRE practices in a startup for the very first time to optimizing a budget for established companies, this presentation will help you succeed with its practical insights.
    Where
    Virtual

  • This session will discuss the following: - What is a domain model? - When should you use a domain model, and when shouldn't you? - CQRS Pattern. - Preventing invalid states. - Anemic Domain Models & the Entity-Service Anti-Pattern - When to use a "service": Domain Service & Application Service - Bounded Context
    Where
    Virtual

  • While some believe that Agile is obsolete, it continues to thrive in many organizations. The crucial factors for Agile transformation to be effective are strong leadership support and a culture that embraces continuous learning and improvement. In this session, I will discuss the journey of our teams as we support our client's goal in delivering quality products and services to their customers by leveraging agile ways of working.
    Where
    Virtual

  • Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS) is a proven design pattern that enables the clear separation of data changes (commands) and data queries (queries). This separation allows these responsibilities to be scaled and optimized independently. The application code is also structured more understandably, which improves maintainability. In this talk, the understanding of the practical implementation of the CQRS principles will be deepened and implemented using modern Java language features such as records, switch expressions, and pattern matching. An example application is used to demonstrate how the theoretical foundations of CQRS can be applied in practice and how this affects application design while increasing data access efficiency.
    Java
    Where
    Virtual

  • Are you new to Open Liberty or looking to optimize your SpringBoot deployment? Then join us to make your development journey smoother and more efficient! Unlock the full potential of your SpringBoot applications with the power and flexibility of Open Liberty. This session is designed for developers seeking a straightforward guide to seamlessly integrate SpringBoot applications into the Open Liberty environment. Discover practical tips, essential configurations, and best practices that will not only enhance your application’s performance but also ensure it leverages Open Liberty’s robust framework for enterprise-grade solutions.
    Architecture
    Where
    Virtual

  • It is an accepted practice in the machine learning (ML) community to train multiple deep learning models and perform numerous ablation studies in order to find the best model for a certain task. To the best of my knowledge, the workflow for training and experimenting with multiple deep-learning models is rarely discussed. Check most open-source ML/AI papers and their accompanying Github source code, and you will only see the production-ready version of the AI model. In this session, I will share our experience in how we tailor ""software version control"" to maintain multiple deep learning models. Key discussions include configuring network models to take into account different network architectures, hyperparameter settings, data preparation and pre-processing, and different hardware configurations for training. Version control practices also benefit deep learning, as they allow researchers to track the performance of models more efficiently and train multiple models everywhere (cloud and local PC clusters) at once. No gimmicky tools and paid software! We're only going to maximize the open-source libraries available, such as Pytorch, OpenCV, Numpy, Visdom, YAML, and Matplotlib.
    Machine Learning
    Where
    Virtual

  • In this session, we will discuss how we were able to implement in a span of 2 months, a problematic system that was being built in 2 years. Many people think it was the tech used. But the answer is no. It was due to the lack of synergy between tech & the client. It is a good reminder that we are hired to solve problems and not just to code.
    Agile/DevOps
    Where
    Virtual

  • This session explores how to efficiently create API endpoints, enabling direct database access without custom backend logic. Learn to build dynamic, data-driven applications with ease, utilizing REST or GraphQL. Perfect for developers aiming to streamline their workflow and leverage the latest in web technology for enhanced application performance and scalability.
    Front End

  • This session will be exploring the application of some AI-driven tools in each phase of the Secure Software Development Lifecycle. We will also discuss the considerations when using AI-driven tools (e.g. in Threat Modeling, Source Code Review, Generating Tests and Test Data, and Hardening Deployment Environments).
    AI
    Where
    Virtual

  • Day 2


  • More companies over the past few months have started building their own generative AI-powered applications and systems. While some organizations have the capacity, capability, and the budget to set up their own LLM's in-house, other organizations may opt to a more practical and scalable approach. In this session, we'll dive deep into various strategies, techniques, and best practices when building and managing serverless Generative AI applications. This includes setting up a truly serverless RAG-powered Generative AI application as well as making sure that the overall cost of the project does not exceed the allocated budget. At the end of this session, technical professionals would have a better idea on how to pragmatically build and maintain these types of applications and systems.
    AI
    Where
    Virtual

  • This talk focuses on real-world threats targeting both DevSecOps and traditional defense strategies include APTs, supply chain attacks, zero-day exploits, insider threats, ransomware, and phishing, requiring integrated security measures and continuous monitoring to effectively mitigate risks.
    IT/Cybersecurity

  • Embark on an enlightening journey through the heart of Java, focusing exclusively on the world of bytecode—Java Virtual Machine’s (JVM) language. This session is designed for those curious about the pivotal role bytecode plays in bridging the gap between high-level Java source code and machine-level execution. We’ll delve into the essence of bytecode, demystifying how the X.java file is ingeniously converted into the X.class bytecode file, and uncover the intrinsic link between your source code and its bytecode representation. Beginning with an overview of the Java specification, we set the stage for understanding the fundamentals that govern source code structure. We then progress to uncovering how Java source text is transformed into a structured intermediary “tree,” setting the foundation for bytecode generation. We provide a comprehensive view of the pipeline that transfigures Java Source Code into the bytecode that runs on the JVM. This session promises a deep dive into the byte-level intricacies of Java, offering attendees a unique perspective on the compilation process and a deeper appreciation for the efficiency and portability bytecode brings to Java applications.
    Java
    Where
    Virtual

  • Discover how to revolutionize your software design and development process with the power of GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT. In this session, we will explore how these advanced AI tools can assist you in writing cleaner code, speeding up development, and solving complex problems effortlessly. Learn how to leverage GitHub Copilot for auto-completing code snippets, generating boilerplate code, and improving code quality. Additionally, see how ChatGPT can provide instant code reviews, offer design pattern suggestions, and serve as a reliable debugging assistant. Join us to unlock new levels of productivity and creativity in your development workflow, making software design and development truly painless.
    AI
    Where
    Virtual

  • We are in the midst of a mass migration. While out-of-the-box solutions like Nginx have served us well for the past two decades, the proliferation of APIs as the standard building blocks for modern applications demands better, API-first abstractions. This has forced many companies to migrate from solutions like Nginx to custom in-house alternatives. However, many of us don't have the necessary resources to build something ourselves and have to rely on existing solutions, even though they are quickly becoming imperfect. But this isn't inevitable. In this talk, Navendu introduces Apache APISIX, an open source API gateway that offers the security and stability of Nginx while allowing users to tailor it to their needs. Attendees will learn how tools like Nginx fail to meet modern application needs and why they might need to leverage an API gateway solution.
    Architecture
    Where
    Virtual

  • There is more to Quality Assurance than testing - it is delivering value. In order to do that, we must be aware of other opportunities that may arise. Whether it be exploring other tools, making the current process efficient, or undergoing a paradigm shift brought by new technologies, there is a problem we need to solve. This talk is about applying the concepts of design thinking and creative problem solving to understand what the user needs are, finding opportunities to provide value, and staying relevant in the testing sphere.
    QA/QE
    Where
    Virtual

  • In DTN, we pioneer in providing industries with world-class weather intelligence data. This presentation will initially focus on what the importance of data is for us and its value to our customers. We then showcase our product portfolio and describe how we use data and provide stunning visualizations to our clients and customers. As we dive deeper into the presentation, we will focus on the different technologies and techniques we employ to make accurate representations of weather data in its purest state. From Python, dissecting data, to mapping to hierarchical geospatial indexes, each step of the way will surely pique the interest of IT professionals in any industry.
    Data Science

  • Generative AI is changing everything—including how we think about enterprise technology itself. Companies today require a digital core that’s built for both machines and humans, and that can unlock the value of AI at scale across the organization. The good news is that you already own the most valuable asset you can in the era of generative AI: your data. But is your data ready for generative AI?
    AI

  • We want our components to be native to every framework! But should we write them again and again? Introducing Mitosis. writing your component once and creating a native component for all frameworks.
    Front End
    Where
    Virtual

  • In this interactive session, we’ll explore how designing with accessibility in mind not only benefits users with disabilities but also enhances the overall user experience, leading to increased business revenue and broader market reach. By creating products that are accessible to all, companies can tap into a largely underserved market while improving usability for everyone. Through demos of good and bad accessibility practices, you’ll see firsthand how small changes can make a big impact. We’ll also discuss practical strategies for integrating accessibility into your workflow, ensuring it becomes a seamless part of your design and development process. Join us to discover how prioritizing accessibility leads to long-term business success, greater innovation, and a better web experience for all users.
    UI/UX
    Where
    Virtual

  • This session will talk about how we attribute human qualities to AI systems and its effects in social engineering.
    AI
    Where
    Virtual

  • Are you grappling with the challenge of optimizing cache performance for your application amidst a surge in load? The dilemma of determining what content stays in the cache and what must be evicted is a common hurdle. Fear not, for there are strategies that can significantly enhance the relevance of data in your cache. Cache utilization is paramount, particularly given the limited capacity of cache memory, which comes with a high cost. This constraint necessitates careful consideration of what data remains in the cache over time. Theoretically, the most efficient eviction algorithm would be one that can predict and evict data not needed for the longest time. Since it is generally impossible to predict how far in the future data will be needed, this is unfeasible in practice. Instead, the goal is to find an algorithm that offers near-optimal performance. Let's delve into the realm of popular eviction algorithms, analyzing their pros and cons. By comparing the effectiveness of these algorithms based on application type and data usage patterns, we can make informed decisions. Real-world examples will illuminate how these algorithms perform in different scenarios, guiding us toward optimal cache management strategies.
    Cloud
    Where
    Virtual

  • Let’s dive deep into how we can efficiently utilize Postman to optimize our development, testing, deployment, and monitoring of Web APIs. Attendees will gain knowledge on leveraging environments, random generators, pre-scripts, post-scripts, CI/CD integration, production monitoring, and even creating an out-of-the-box mock server based on their Postman collection. All of this will be covered in my one-hour session. I’m confident you’ll learn a lot, and once you discover these techniques, you will never stop using Postman again!
    Web API Dev

  • Microservices are ubiquitous. However, most companies that implement microservices do not reap their full benefits - at best. At worst, it’s an epic failure. There are reasons for microservices: independent deployment of business capabilities. However, the unspoken assumption is that you need to deploy all capabilities all the time. My experience has shown me that it’s plain wrong. Some capabilities need frequent deployment, while some are much more stable. In “the past”, we used Rule Engines to allow updating business rules without deployment. While it solved the problem, this approach had issues. Between introducing a Rule Engine and migrating your complete system to microservices, I believe that there’s a middle path, and that this path is Function-as-a-Service. In this talk, I’ll detail every point I’ve made above, and show how one can use Serverless to pragmatically design a system that allows deploying as often as you need.
    Architecture
    Where
    Virtual

  • While software companies continue to push for agility, most maintain the Quality Assurance model to guard their products' quality. However, a few have started exploring the quality assistance model because of its alignment to true agility as well as its cost-effective nature.
    QA/QE
    Where
    Virtual

  • Design Thinking leverages a human-centered methodology to create precise, user-centric requirements and enhance development efficiency. This approach integrates empathy, creativity, and iterative testing, ensuring that solutions are not only innovative but also effectively aligned with user needs and business objectives.
    UI/UX
    Where
    Virtual

  • Day 3


  • In this plenary session, we will explore the critical role of product soundness in achieving and maintaining market leadership. Our discussion will focus on strategic initiatives that can enhance our ability to deliver innovative solutions quickly, ensure our products meet and exceed market standards, and foster a culture that supports continuous improvement and adaptation. Join us as we delve into actionable strategies that drive product excellence and secure a competitive edge in the market.

  • The strategy of ING is to be the best digital bank in Europe within 3 years. With a strong foundation already in place, ING leverages it’s tech capabilities in the Philippines. This session will explain how the global business strategy drives an organization where tech talents thrive. Not only individually but also collectively. Not only by climbing the corporate ladder but also by growing technical proficiency.


Top Experts

Speakers

Worldclass

Mark Encarnación

Director of Engineering, Microsoft Research

Peter Noordzij

Head of Wholesale Banking Technology, ING Hubs Philippines

Simon Martinelli

Programming Architect, 72 Services LLC

Mesut Durukal

Senior QA Automation Engineer, Indeed

Nicolas Fränkel

Head of Developer Advocacy, API7.ai

Jonathan de Luzuriaga

President, Philippine Software Industry Association

Chucky Castro

Chairperson, SOFTCON Steering Committee

Calen Legaspi

Founder & Chief Scientist, Orange & Bronze

Allan Tan

Chief AI Strategist, Predictive Systems

Gireesh Punathil

Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM

Register Now

Oct. 16-17: Virtual
Oct. 18: Virtual + F2F

* Limited hybrid tickets available.
First-come, first served!

Hybrid tickets start at

₱6k+

  • Online access to Days 1-2 workshops
  • Access to Day 3 F2F conference
  • Lunch + snacks on Day 3
  • Access to all replays
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Join over 1,000 executives, project managers, software engineers, and IT professionals at the country's biggest software conference!