Empathy Is a Technical Skill

Empathy isn't a "soft" skill — it's a software skill. That's right. You read that correctly. Empathy is deeply technical and not a fluffy-feely fad. Empathy is a critical component of any tech stack and an essential element for building software systems that are easy to deploy and maintain. In this engaging presentation, software developers, engineers, and the people who support them will walk away with concrete and contextualized practices. You'll look at empathy through a systems-engineering lens and get immediately implementable ideas for using empathy in a technical way to improve code quality and collaboration. Skeptical? Good. This is one talk you won't want to miss.

Andrea Goulet

Andrea Goulet is a prominent thought leader in the software industry around three ideas: managing technical debt, code as communication, and empathy-driven development. She is a sought-after keynote speaker for conferences around the world and the author of Empathy-Driven Software Development. Andrea is passionate about helping technologists deepen their technical skills for understanding and communicating with others. In her spare time, Andrea loves watching her kids explore the world and is a sucker for a good physics documentary. You can recognize her by the JavaScript tattoo on her wrist.