Vanessa Formicola Menu

Speaking

Speaking

On engineering leadership, sociotechnical architecture, and AI adoption.

Talks

  • 7 Architectural Sins: Why We Keep Making Them and How We Can Stop

    The recurring mistakes that turn well-intentioned architecture into a burden — and the sociotechnical patterns that prevent them.

    Also delivered at

    • FastFlowConf UK · London, UK · 2025
    • Software Architecture Gathering Berlin · Berlin, Germany · 2025
    • OOP Munich · Munich, Germany · 2026
    • Agile meets Architecture · London, UK · 2026
    • Devoxx UK · London, UK · 2026
  • The Sociotechnical Staff+ Engineer: Architecture, Culture and Organisational Change

    What does it mean to be a Staff+ engineer in a sociotechnical world? This talk explores the expanded scope of the Staff+ role when you recognise that technical systems and organisational systems are one.

    Delivered at

    • QCon London · London, UK · 2026
  • Holistic Engineering: Organic Problem Solving for Complex Evolving Systems

    Why treating engineering as a purely technical discipline fails — and what happens when you include the human, organisational, and social systems in your engineering model.

    Also delivered at

    • QCon London · London, UK · 2025
    • FastFlowConf NL · Den Bosch, Netherlands · 2025
    • JOnTheBeach · Málaga, Spain · 2025
  • Tech Leading 101

    A practical guide to the first 90 days of technical leadership — from individual contributor to someone responsible for the technical direction of a team.

    Also delivered at

    • JOnTheBeach · Málaga, Spain · 2023
    • DevoxxUK · London, UK · 2023
    • London Java Community · Remote · 2023
  • TDD & Other Drugs

    An honest look at Test-Driven Development — what it is, what it isn't, and why it's so often either cargo-culted or dismissed entirely.

    Also delivered at

    • DevoxxUK · London, UK · 2022
    • DevoxxBE · Antwerp, Belgium · 2022
    • W-JAX Munich · Munich, Germany · 2022
    • London Java Community · Remote · 2022

Panels

  • InfoQ Culture & Methods Trends Report 2026

    Contributing author to InfoQ's annual Culture & Methods Trends Report — covering AI transformation frameworks, ethical AI as engineering practice, evolving ways of working, and the identity shift facing pre-AI developers and managers.

  • Taking Architecture out of the Echo Chamber

    A panel discussion on how architects can break out of internal echo chambers — bringing in diverse perspectives, cross-industry signals, and organisational reality to better inform technical decisions.

    Delivered at

    • QCon London · London, UK · 2025

Interviews

  • VirtualDDD

    A conversation on Domain-Driven Design, sociotechnical architecture, and the organisational dimensions of software design.

  • GOTO Unscripted

    A conversation with Andrew Harmel-Law on sociotechnical architecture, Social Decision Records, and what it means to treat organisational design and software design as one problem.

    Watch / Listen →

Podcasts

  • Event-Driven Architecture Pitfalls (host)

    Hosting a live YouTube session with Victor Rentea on the pitfalls of event-driven architecture in practice.