Conference Description
Key Takeaways
- Single-day conference in Berlin on 17 September 2026 examining how artificial intelligence is reshaping software engineering practices
- Five thematic tracks covering AI-driven development, software architecture, platform engineering, security in agentic systems, and AI governance
- Designed for software engineers, architects, DevOps professionals, security specialists, and technical leadership
- Features keynotes from industry figures including Alistair Cockburn and sessions on vibe coding, threat modelling for AI agents, and Kubernetes compliance
- Addresses practical challenges around integrating AI into development workflows, managing token economics, and securing complex AI-driven systems
Introduction
The Entwickler Summit 2026 brings together the German-speaking software engineering community to examine how artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering development practices, architectural decisions, and organisational structures. Hosted at the Filmtheater Colosseum in Berlin, this single-day event moves beyond speculative discussions of AI capabilities to focus on practical integration strategies, emerging security considerations, and the evolving role of human judgement in increasingly automated workflows.
The timing reflects a critical inflection point for the industry. As AI coding assistants mature from experimental tools into production-grade systems, engineering teams face pressing questions about code review practices, quality assurance methodologies, and the skills that will define senior engineering roles in the coming decade. The summit positions itself as a venue for practitioners who have already begun this transition to share concrete experiences rather than theoretical frameworks.
Five Perspectives on Modern Software Engineering
The programme is organised around five interconnected tracks that reflect the multidimensional impact of AI on software development. Modern AI-Driven Software Engineering examines how teams can move from isolated experiments to repeatable methodologies, addressing the gap between rapid prototyping and sustainable engineering practices. Software Architecture and Decision-Making explores which architectural principles gain importance when AI agents become active participants in system design and which early decisions create long-term technical debt.
Platform Engineering, DevOps and the Unpredictable tackles the operational complexity that emerges when AI-generated code enters production environments, while Security and Trust in Agentic Systems addresses novel attack vectors that arise when autonomous agents interact with sensitive data and external services. The final track, AI Governance and Responsibility by Design, considers the organisational and ethical frameworks necessary for deploying AI systems at scale.
Notable Sessions and Speakers
Alistair Cockburn, co-author of the Agile Manifesto, delivers a keynote titled Simplifying Software Design: The Genius of Bureaucracies, which applies organisational principles to software decomposition. The session argues that bureaucratic concepts such as “not my job” and “no need-to-know” can inform cleaner responsibility boundaries in both large-scale system architecture and fine-grained domain modelling—principles that also improve how large language models interpret and generate code.
Dino Esposito’s session 30 Years in Software — and Now Vibe Coding contextualises the current AI transformation against previous waves of automation promises, from CASE tools through low-code platforms, arguing that vibe coding represents a genuinely different paradigm rather than another incremental improvement. Christian Schneider’s Threat Modeling for AI Agents addresses security vulnerabilities that emerge not from individual components but from invisible attack paths across agents, data flows, and tool integrations—scenarios where traditional security checklists prove insufficient.
Rainer Stropek challenges conventional code review practices in Stop Pretending You Review AI-Generated Code Line by Line, proposing that quality assurance must shift from output inspection to input specification, with clear requirements, test data, and automated feedback loops replacing manual line-by-line review. Erkan Yanar’s session on Kubernetes and the BSI examines German federal security requirements for container orchestration, offering practical guidance on compliance implementation.
Emerging Themes: Token Economics and Human-AI Collaboration
Several sessions address the economic realities of AI deployment at scale. Tamar Stern’s The Economics of AI: Engineering for Maximum Value per Token examines how prompt size, retrieval strategies, model selection, and caching decisions directly affect system scalability and operational viability—a constraint that becomes critical as organisations move from experimentation to production workloads.
The question of human-AI collaboration runs throughout the programme. Eberhard Wolff’s session on Feedback Loops in Software Development argues that managing complexity through continuous feedback remains essential regardless of who—or what—writes the code. Sebastian Bergmann’s Tests as Human Language proposes that test specifications become the primary mechanism for humans to remain meaningfully engaged when AI agents generate pull requests automatically. Julius Mischok’s session asks directly who will qualify as senior developers in ten years, suggesting that seniority will shift from implementation speed toward the ability to formulate work correctly, manage risk, and integrate results reliably.
Who Should Attend
The summit targets software engineers, architects, and developers working across Java, .NET, PHP, and JavaScript ecosystems who are actively integrating AI tools into their workflows. DevOps professionals and platform engineers grappling with the operational implications of AI-generated code will find relevant content in the platform engineering track. Security specialists concerned with emerging threats from agentic systems and technical leaders responsible for organisational AI strategy are also core audiences.
The event format emphasises interaction over passive consumption, with thirty-minute high-impact sessions, open discussion formats, and networking opportunities designed to facilitate knowledge exchange among practitioners facing similar challenges.
Event Partners
The Entwickler Summit 2026 is supported by partners including Aiven, BWI, CaptainCasa, Chainguard, Fast Reports, GEBIT Solutions, and VALEO IT. The event is organised by Software & Support Media GmbH and draws from the communities surrounding established conferences including JAX, BASTA!, DevOpsCon, and the International JavaScript Conference.