conf · One-off
Northern DevOps & Platform Conference
A full-day DevOps and platform engineering conference in Leeds
When
Tuesday 19 May
Time
08:00
Venue
CGI Leeds
City Centre
Price
£60
Northern DevOps & Platform Conference is a full-day event co-hosted by Yorkshire DevOps and Yorkshire Azure User Group (YAG), taking place on Tuesday 19 May 2026 at CGI Leeds, 1 Whitehall Quay, LS1 4HR. Doors open at 9:00 AM and the day runs through to 6:00 PM BST. Four years in the making, it brings together practitioners from across the North to talk platform engineering, DevOps culture, AI integration into software delivery, and the organisational structures that make or break both.
The programme is substantial. Matthew Skelton, Founder & CEO/CTO of Conflux and co-author of Team Topologies, delivers the opening keynote on team structures as infrastructure for AI-era agency. Sessions cover augmenting the software delivery lifecycle with AI (Luke Smith, Optum UK), mandated pipelines and architecture (Andy Blagnys, Axiologik), database indexing (Brian Walker, HSBC), pipeline design for platform teams (Vernon Richards, Phrase), and a journey from DevOps to platform engineering (Andy Burgin). A panel on the future of DevOps, Platform and AI features Tom Black (Skipton Building Society), Christina Howell (Fractional CTO & CAIO) and Jonny Brodie (Trustpilot). Lightning talks come from David Sugden (Axiologik), Holly Jukes (Lloyds Banking Group) and Adam King (Digital Endeavours). Additional speakers are still to be confirmed.
Food, drink and cake are provided throughout the day. Community tickets are priced at £60, described as 50% off the standard rate. Registering before 30 April 2026 includes a special edition conference T-shirt. Free tickets are available for those who need financial support — contact ethan.sumner@communitystack.io. Sponsors include CGI (headline), Conflux, Overmind, Searchability and Lloyds Banking Group.
YAG and Yorkshire DevOps are two of the most active technical communities in the region. This conference is their first joint event at this scale, and the speaker list reflects genuine industry depth rather than a vendor showcase.
Why attend
The speaker list is unusually strong for a regional conference. Matthew Skelton is one of the more cited voices in platform engineering globally, and the supporting sessions cover concrete engineering problems — pipeline architecture, database indexing, AI in the SDLC — rather than strategy slides.
The audience will be engineers, architects and technical leads from Yorkshire and the North. With Lloyds Banking Group, Skipton Building Society, HSBC, Trustpilot and Optum all represented on stage, there is real opportunity to talk to practitioners from large-scale production environments. Food and drink are included, and the day runs until 6:00 PM, leaving time for conversation after sessions close.
Agenda
- 9:00 AM — Doors open
- Opening Keynote — Matthew Skelton (Conflux): Team Topologies as the Infrastructure for Agency with AI
- Session — Darren Hull (Skipton Building Society): TBC
- Session — Alexandra Helen Moore (CGI): Enterprise DevOps
- Session — Luke Smith (Optum UK / EMIS Health): Augmenting the SDLC with AI
- Panel — Future of DevOps, Platform and AI — Tom Black (Skipton BS), Christina Howell (Independent), Jonny Brodie (Trustpilot)
- Session — Andy Blagnys (Axiologik): Mandated Pipelines and the Architecture Glue We Pretend Exists
- Session — Brian Walker (HSBC): Types of Indexes in Databases
- Session — Vernon Richards (Phrase): Your Pipeline Wasn't Built For This
- Session — 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)
- 6:00 PM — Close
Speakers
- Matthew Skelton — Founder & CEO/CTO, Conflux; co-author of Team Topologies
- 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) is a Leeds-based community for Azure practitioners, running regular meetups across the region. For this event they are co-hosting with Yorkshire DevOps under the Community Stack umbrella. Both groups focus on practical, peer-led learning rather than vendor pitches.
Venue
CGI Leeds, City Centre
CGI Leeds occupies 1 Whitehall Quay in the city centre, a riverside office building close to Leeds train station. CGI are also a headline sponsor of the event and a regular supporter of the Leeds tech community.
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, the organisers ask that you select an organisation-funded ticket to help subsidise free tickets for those who need them.
- Are free tickets available?
- Yes. If you need financial support to attend, email ethan.sumner@communitystack.io to request a free ticket.
- Where is the venue?
- CGI Leeds, 1 Whitehall Quay, Leeds, LS1 4HR — a short walk from Leeds city centre train station.
- What time does the conference run?
- 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM BST on Tuesday 19 May 2026. Registration opens at 9:00 AM.
- Is food provided?
- Yes. Food, drink and cake are included in the ticket price throughout the day.