In this episode, host Kaylee Williams interviews Amy Lindberg and Bo Schatzberg, co-founders of TechFuse Des Moines, a newly rebranded technology conference that merges two decades of community events into one unified platform. What began as separate conferences, Agile Iowa (founded in 2014) and DevOps Days Des Moines (started in 2018), has evolved into TechFuse, a comprehensive event designed specifically for IT and technology practitioners in central Iowa.
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Amy and Bo explain how community feedback directly shaped the conference’s evolution. Recognizing that attendees wanted broader coverage beyond just Agile or DevOps, the organizers expanded the program to include 4.5 tracks covering engineering, product leadership, AI, and new hands-on workshops. This year’s keynotes feature Joel Tosi discussing engineering team signals and Michael Carducci exploring how to maintain humanity in AI-driven work. The conference also features a mix of national and local speakers, reflecting TechFuse’s commitment to supporting the Iowa tech community while bringing broader perspectives.
The conversation touches on AI’s dramatic impact on tech work and programming. Amy and Bo note that roughly two-thirds of talk submissions this year focus on AI, a dramatic shift from 2018 when Kubernetes dominated submissions. Rather than taking a one-sided stance, TechFuse aims to present diverse perspectives on AI adoption, from skeptical views to practical implementation strategies.
The episode also addresses whether in-person events are thriving post-COVID. With nearly 200 early bird tickets already sold toward a 500-person capacity, TechFuse is tracking strong. Amy and Bo emphasize that the conference’s success stems from consistently delivering value, and they’re taking additional steps to support the broader community through partnerships with local user groups.
TechFuse Des Moines runs October 15-16 at the Community Choice Convention Center. Tickets are approximately $300, with sponsorship opportunities available at techfusedsm.com.