2026-06-19 –, A113 (capacity 64)
Ever shipped a "simple fix" at 4 PM on Friday that took down production? Felt like a genius after making Kubernetes work, only to realise six months later you understood nothing? Welcome to the beautiful, chaotic feedback loop of technology work. This talk explores how our brains betray us in the most predictable ways. You'll discover why dopamine hits from solving problems make us addicted to complexity, how the Dunning-Kruger effect means we're most confident when we know the least, and why the tech industry's rapid change keeps us perpetually cycling through peaks of "I've got this!" and valleys of "I know nothing."
James Freeman is a published author, with more than 25 years of industry expertise. He has tackled complex enterprise challenges in real-world production environments using Ansible, often introducing this powerful automation tool to CTOs and organizations for the first time. As the author of five authoritative books on Ansible, James's passion for empowering others continues to inspire engineers and businesses to unlock new possibilities in IT.