conf · One-off
Northern DevOps & Platform Conference
A full-day DevOps and platform engineering conference in Leeds city centre
When
Tuesday 19 May
Time
09:00
Venue
CGI Leeds
City Centre
Price
£60
Four years in the making, the Northern DevOps & Platform Conference lands at CGI Leeds on Tuesday 19 May 2026. Yorkshire DevOps and Yorkshire Azure User Group (YAG) are co-hosting the event in partnership with CGI at 1 Whitehall Quay, running from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM BST. The day covers team topologies, platform engineering, AI augmentation of the software delivery lifecycle, database indexing, pipeline architecture and the practical realities of moving from DevOps to platform engineering.
The conference opens with a keynote from Matthew Skelton, Founder and CEO/CTO of Conflux, on Team Topologies as the infrastructure for agency with AI. Sessions follow from practitioners at Skipton Building Society, CGI, Optum UK (EMIS Health), HSBC, Trustpilot, Axiologik and Phrase. A panel on the future of DevOps, platform engineering and AI features Tom Black, Christina Howell and Jonny Brodie. Lightning talks come from David Sugden (Axiologik), Holly Jukes (Lloyds Banking Group) and Adam King (Digital Endeavours). Food, drink and cake are provided throughout the day.
Tickets are priced at £60 for community attendees — described as 50% off the standard rate. Registrations placed before 30 April 2026 receive a special edition conference T-shirt. Organisers ask that anyone whose employer will fund their place selects an organisation-funded ticket, to keep community pricing available and to fund free tickets for those who need them. Free tickets are available on request via ethan.sumner@communitystack.io.
Yorkshire Azure User Group and Yorkshire DevOps are two of the most active community groups in the Leeds tech scene. Between them they have been running regular meetups for years, drawing engineers, architects and platform practitioners from across the region. This conference is their first joint full-day event, backed by sponsors including Overmind, Lloyds Banking Group, Searchability and CGI.
Why attend
The speaker list is unusually strong for a regional conference. Matthew Skelton wrote Team Topologies; the rest of the lineup is drawn from working engineers and architects at Skipton Building Society, HSBC, Trustpilot and Phrase — people solving real problems, not selling products.
The £60 community ticket makes this accessible compared with equivalent London events. If you work in platform engineering, DevOps or cloud infrastructure in the North and want a day of peer-level technical conversation without travelling south, this is the obvious choice for May 2026.
Agenda
- 09:00 — Doors open
- Opening keynote: Matthew Skelton — Team Topologies as the Infrastructure for Agency with AI
- Darren Hull, Skipton Building Society — TBC
- Alexandra Helen Moore, CGI — Enterprise DevOps
- Luke Smith, Optum UK (EMIS Health) — Augmenting the SDLC with AI
- Panel: Future of DevOps, Platform and AI (Tom Black, Christina Howell, Jonny Brodie)
- Andy Blagnys, Axiologik — Mandated Pipelines and the Architecture Glue We Pretend Exists
- Brian Walker, HSBC — Types of Indexes in Databases
- Vernon Richards, Phrase — Your Pipeline Wasn't Built For This
- Andy Burgin, Independent — From DevOps to Platform Engineering: A Journey of Noise and Confusion
- Lightning talks: David Sugden (Axiologik), Holly Jukes (Lloyds Banking Group), Adam King (Digital Endeavours)
- 18:00 — Close
Speakers
- Matthew Skelton — Founder & CEO/CTO, Conflux; author of Team Topologies. Opening keynote.
- Darren Hull — Senior Lead Architect, Skipton Building Society
- Alexandra Helen Moore — DevOps Strategic Advisor, CGI
- Luke Smith — Principal Solutions Architect, Optum UK (EMIS Health)
- Tom Black — Principal Engineer, Skipton Building Society
- Christina Howell — Fractional CTO & CAIO, Independent
- Jonny Brodie — Senior Platform / Cloud Security Engineer, Trustpilot
- Andy Blagnys — Senior Architect, Axiologik
- Brian Walker — Technical Specialist, HSBC
- Vernon Richards — Senior Engineering Manager, Phrase
- Andy Burgin — Principal Platform Engineer, Independent
- David Sugden — Axiologik (lightning talk)
- Holly Jukes — Lloyds Banking Group (lightning talk)
- Adam King — Digital Endeavours (lightning talk)
Organiser
Yorkshire Azure User Group (YAG)
Yorkshire Azure User Group (YAG) and Yorkshire DevOps are community-run groups based in Leeds, organising regular meetups for engineers, architects and platform practitioners across the region. This conference is their first joint full-day event. Both groups operate under the Community Stack umbrella.
Venue
CGI Leeds, City Centre
CGI Leeds occupies 1 Whitehall Quay on the south bank of the River Aire, a short walk from Leeds city centre rail and bus connections. CGI is also a headline sponsor and event partner for this conference.
FAQs
- How much does a ticket cost?
- Community tickets are £60, described as 50% off the standard rate. If your employer is funding your place, organisers ask that you select an organisation-funded ticket to help subsidise free tickets for those who need them.
- Can I get a free ticket if I can't afford to pay?
- Yes. Email ethan.sumner@communitystack.io to request a free ticket. Organisers have explicitly set aside funded places for people who need support to attend.
- Where is the venue and how do I get there?
- The conference is at CGI Leeds, 1 Whitehall Quay, Leeds, LS1 4HR. Whitehall Quay is a short walk from Leeds railway station and central bus stops.
- Do I get anything for registering early?
- Registrations placed before 30 April 2026 receive a special edition conference T-shirt.
- What time does the event run?
- The conference runs from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM BST on Tuesday 19 May 2026. Food, drink and cake are provided during the day.