From July 17 to 19, Berlin once again became the epicenter of the international tech industry. At the WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2024, 15,000 tech decision-makers, software developers and IT professionals from around the world gathered at Messe Berlin to discuss the latest trends, innovations and breakthroughs in technology.
Reflecting its profound influence on the global discourse throughout the past year, AI emerged as the key theme of many conversations at the world’s leading event for developers and tech decision-makers. Beyond AI, the event covered recent insights in the fields of modern software development, DevOps, Cloud, Security, Quality Assurance, and Software Architecture, and explored technology’s broader impact on leadership, business, workplace culture, and the future of society.
The conference was opened by David Simas, former White House Political Director under President Barack Obama and former CEO of the Obama Foundation. In his keynote, he addressed the impact of technology on democracy and our responsibility as a society to use its opportunities for good, sharing that “When you face an era of deep fakes and the proliferation of information that destabilizes the society, developers should not wait for others to call on them. Leadership of self, leadership of others, and leadership to serve is part of the civic code that's embedded in everything we do.”
Among many other popular speakers, the renowned lineup included Jonas Andrulis, CEO and Founder of Aleph Alpha, Katrin Lehmann, CIO at Mercedes-Benz, Juergen Mueller, CTO at SAP SE, Prashanth Chandrasekar, CEO at Stack Overflow, Eric Demuth, CEO of Bitpanda, Demetris Cheatham, Chief of Staff to the CEO at GitHub, David Heinemeier Hansson, Co-Owner & CTO at 37signals, Peter Bosch, CEO of CARIAD, Kris Rasmussen, CTO at Figma, Constantijn van Oranje-Nassau, Special Envoy of Techleap, Scott Chacon, Co-Founder of GitHub, Mike Brock, CEO at TBD (part of Block).
Throughout their sessions, talks, presentations and panels at the WeAreDevelopers World Congress, tech leaders, innovators and participants concluded that AI is here to stay, significantly defining the role of software engineers for the future. As Juergen Mueller, CTO at SAP SE, stated “There are different ways of how developers perceive the GenAI era. One extreme is: AI will completely replace developers - that will not happen. The other extreme is GenAI will not have any impact on developers - that will also not happen. So, the truth will be in the middle. As a developer, if you have a learn-it-all mentality, then you will succeed.”
Sead Ahmetovic, CEO and Co-Founder of WeAreDevelopers, believes this year's World Congress served as a catalyst for developers to not only enhance their skills but also to proactively adapt and thrive in the face of ongoing industry disruption. Ahmetovic highlighted, "As developers we carry responsibility not only to ourselves and the companies we work for, but also to the society we are a part of as a whole. The significant expansion of developer's roles, particularly due to the breakthroughs in AI, has placed a greater responsibility on each of us individually to shape a better future for everyone. This newfound influence repositions developers at the forefront of innovation. As the most powerful builders of our tomorrow, developers can directly impact business strategy and success."
"Companies, HR teams and developers rely on each other. At the WeAreDevelopers World Congress, they can connect and engage, leading to not only better software but also a better working environment." says Rudi Bauer, Managing Director at WeAreDevelopers.
Europe’s largest programming competition
CODE100, Europe's largest programming championship, concluded its finale at this year's WeAreDevelopers World Congress. In an unprecedented live coding competition, participants battled it out on stage in front of over 3,000 spectators. The competition started in Zagreb in November 2023, went through playoffs in Manchester and Amsterdam, and now, the grand final was held in Berlin, where Vladyslav Krasnolutskyi emerged as the 2024 CODE100 champion.
Additional media information:
The date for the WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2025 has already been set (09-11.07.2025), information on press accreditation can be found here.
Impressions from the event can be found here. For additional speaker portraits and session videos, please feel free to email us at wearedevelopers@piabo.net.
