A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to São Paulo to participate in the 27th International Conference on Agile Software Development, also known as the XP Conference.

It was not my first time attending the conference. I had previously participated in several editions: 2015 (Helsinki), 2016 (Edinburgh), and 2018 (Porto). However, this time was different because, in addition to giving a talk in the industry track, I also joined the volunteer team. It was a great experience.

The conference was held at Insper, a non-profit institution dedicated to teaching and research that offers undergraduate, graduate, executive education and customized programs.

I had the chance to interact with people from very different places like Vietnam, Italy, USA, Iran, China and Morroco among others. I also interact with some famous people in the Software Engineer community like Joshua Kerievsky, Paulo Caroli and Joe Yoder among others.

This conference usually rotates across European countries. This edition was the first to take place in South America and had approximately 120 participants.

Regarding the content, as expected, many topics were related to the use of Artificial Intelligence. Among the sessions I enjoyed the most, I would highlight:

• Paulo Caroli’s keynote, “From Speed to Direction”.
• The talk by the team from Bradesco Bank, which presented their experience adopting AI.
• Joshua Kerievsky’s talk on Code Smells.
• Alexandre Freire’s talk on AI adoption at Google.
• Rick Kazman’s keynote, «Better Together: How Humans and AI Can Co-Create Software Designs».

One of the things I like most about this conference is the combination of formal/academic content with real-world experiences shared by practitioners.

Another aspect I enjoy about conferences in general is the communities that emerge around them. Each edition of the conference is also an opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, and this XP was no exception. On a personal note, I had the chance to meet again with my colleague Lula, who lives in São Paulo and whom I first met at the 2018 XP Conference in Porto.

I would like to congratulate and thank the organizing team, especially Grazie, for delivering such a great conference experience.