The Technical Leader's Playbook: Delivering From Code To Boardroom

We're bringing the TechTalk community together with Wavestone for an evening built for the people who've done the technical work, and learned, often the hard way, that delivery is only half the job.
The best data and AI initiatives combine technical excellence with effective engagement with business teams and leaders. Scaling AI solutions in production is challenging, but needed to achieve results that C-suite will care about. Success is not just building a technically excellent solution, it requires Business Change to raise awareness, drive behaviour change, adjust to the new ways of working.
This is an evening for the practitioners who already know that. And want to be in a room with others who do too.
📆 Thursday, 14 May 2026
🕕 6:00 – 9:00 PM
📍 Wavestone Office
🚨 Limited spaces available

Who this event is for:
👉 Data & AI engineers and architects who have 4+ years of experience, leading or shaping programmes. You’ve helped scale beyond pilots, to real value in production.
👉 Specialists familiar with building AI solutions in large organisations, using enterprise platforms such as AWS Bedrock, Microsoft Foundry, Google Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, and Databricks
👉 Technical consultants and senior practitioners who've had to explain a data strategy to a CFO, present a roadmap to a steering committee, or rescue a pilot that was heading for the shelf

What you get when you attend:
🎤 Honest talks from Wavestone's delivery leads
Real stories from the programmes that made it to production, and the ones that nearly didn't
📊 A client credential walkthrough, no PR gloss
Actual projects, told honestly. What the problem was, what they built, what went wrong, and how they measured impact at board level
🧠 Data trends grounded in delivery reality
What's changing across enterprise AI stacks, and what’s still blocking scale.
🍕 Food, drinks & good vibes
Because no good conversation ever started on an empty stomach.
📸 Post-event highlights & follow-ups
We’ll share a recap, resources, and next steps after the event.

Agenda:
🕕 6:00–6:30 PM - Arrival & Networking
Drinks, food, and relaxed networking with Wavestone's team and the TechTalk community.
🕖 6:30–7:00 PM - Talk 1
🎙 Talk 1: Patterns We Keep Seeing Across AI Programmes - Shares the recurring challenges across major data and AI engagements, from misaligned operating models to stakeholder buy-in failures. The honest version of what separates programmes that reach production from the ones that stall.
🕖 7:00–7:30 PM - Panel Discussion
🎙 Talk 2: A Real Project, Told Honestly - A behind-the-scenes walkthrough of a real Wavestone client engagement. The original problem, the technical approach, what went wrong, what worked, and how impact was communicated to the board. Not the case study brochure, the version you'd tell a trusted peer.
🕖 7:30–8:00 PM - Talk 3
🎙 Talk 3: The Data Trends Reshaping What's Possible - Insights on the platform and architecture shifts shaping 2025–26, everything from Databricks vs Snowflake, agentic AI, Microsoft Foundry, grounded in the delivery reality most people don't say out loud.
🕗 8:00–9:00 PM - Open Networking
Smaller conversations, Q&A with panelists, and informal chats about roles, teams, and career paths.

Speakers:
Hosts
🎤 TechTalk
Wavestone Panelists
Gonzalo Gonzalez - Associate Partner & Practice Lead, Data & AI
Anthony Laloy - Senior Manager, Data & AI
Callum Lyons - Manager, Data & AI
Adam McCormick - Senior Consultant, Data & AI
Amy Li - Senior Consultant, Data & AI

Why attend
✔ Hear what it actually takes to get data and AI programmes across the line, not the marketing version
✔ Be in a room with senior technical practitioners who also think commercially
✔ Get an honest look at what Wavestone builds, who they hire, and what they look for
✔ Experience Wavestone’s culture first-hand
✔ Walk away with connections that actually matter

About the Hosts

TechTalk
A career community helping people break into tech - and grow once they’re in - through honest guidance, community, and events like this.
Wavestone
A global consulting firm with 6,000+ people across 17 countries, Wavestone's Data & AI practice is one of the fastest-growing in the UK. They work with FTSE100 clients on their most complex data and AI challenges, and they're building a team that can do both: deep technical delivery and boardroom communication.

Application & tickets
This is a curated event to keep conversations high-quality. Attendees are reviewed and approved by the TechTalk team.
👉 Apply early - spaces are limited