## DevOps Society Meetup – Tuesday 26th August @6PM
📍 Location: Veracode Offices, 36 Queen St, London, EC4R 1BN
🕕 Time: Doors open at 6PM
🍕 Drinks, snacks, talks, and community
We’re excited to invite you to our next DevOps Society Meetup — hosted at the Veracode offices in London. This event brings together the DevOps and cloud-native community for an evening of conversation, learning, and networking.
A huge thank you to Veracode for sponsoring this event, and for providing the venue, refreshments, and support!
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### 🗓️ Format of the Meetup:
- 6:00pm – 6:30pm — Networking on arrival, with pizza and drinks provided by Veracode
- 6:30pm – 7:10pm — First speaker will take to the stage
- 7:10pm – 7:20pm — Break for refreshments and networking
- 7:20pm – 8:00pm — Second speaker will take to the stage
- 8:00pm onwards — More networking at the venue and then at a nearby pub
Timings can vary depending on the length of the Q&A after each talk! We've tried to give absolute latest time-scales here.
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We are delighted to welcome two fantastic speakers to our event at the Veracode offices.
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### SPEAKER 1 - Amanda Lee
International Director of Client Success at Veracode
Amanda Lee is the International Director of Client Success at Veracode, a global leader in application security. With over two decades of experience in enterprise technology and cybersecurity, Amanda brings a proven track record of driving transformation at scale. She spent 15 years at Accenture leading complex software implementations for Fortune 500 clients before transitioning to focus on secure software development and DevSecOps.
At Veracode, Amanda leads a high-performing team responsible for helping organisations reduce security risk, accelerate remediation, and build mature, scalable software security programs. She works closely with executive stakeholders to align security initiatives with business goals, ensuring clients maximise the value of Veracode’s platform while strengthening their resilience against evolving threats. Known for her strategic thinking and customer-first mindset, Amanda has helped some of the world’s largest enterprises embed security across the software development lifecycle—improving operational efficiency, regulatory readiness, and overall cyber maturity.
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#### 💬 Talk Title: From Lagging to Leading: Benchmarking Software Security Maturity at Scale
Strategies for Building Resilient Software in a Complex Ecosystem
In an era where software development is accelerating rapidly, Veracode's latest research reveals a concerning trend: 50% of organisations are burdened by critical security debt, with 70% of these vulnerabilities originating from third-party code and the software supply chain. The average time to fix security flaws has increased to 8.5 months, marking a 47% rise over the past five years.
This session will delve into the key findings of the State of Software Security report, offering a comprehensive understanding of the current landscape. Amanda will explore the five critical metrics identified by Veracode that benchmark security maturity and what defines a ‘leading’ or ‘lagging’ organisations.
Attendees will gain insights into:
- The impact of third-party code on security debt and strategies to mitigate associated risks.
- The importance of remediation speed, with fast-acting teams reducing critical security debt by up to 75%.
- The role of AI in enhancing remediation efforts and addressing the backlog of security debt.
- Practical recommendations for improving security posture, including enhancing visibility across the software development lifecycle and prioritising vulnerabilities effectively.
### SPEAKER 2 - - Steve Wade
CNCF Migration Specialist | Fixing Failed Kubernetes Transformations
Steve fixes failed Kubernetes migrations with real-world solutions that actually work. With 50+ successful CNCF transformations under his belt, he helps enterprises go from "drowning in YAML" to "shipping daily" in 30 days.
Known for his "learn by breaking" approach and pragmatic take on cloud-native adoption, Steve speaks the uncomfortable truths about Kubernetes that vendors won't tell you.
Former Flux maintainer turned migration firefighter, he's the no-nonsense expert organisations call when their cloud-native dreams become expensive nightmares.
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#### 💬 Talk Title: The Human API: Engineering Better Conversations
77% of engineering projects fail due to communication issues, not technical problems.
This talk addresses the critical gap between technical excellence and effective communication using systematic approaches that engineers can immediately understand and implement.
Steve reveals how applying familiar engineering principles can transform professional interactions.
Attendees will discover why brilliant technical solutions often fail to gain traction, learn a proven framework for diagnosing and fixing communication breakdowns, and master techniques that measurably improve team dynamics and project outcomes.
Through interactive demonstrations, participants explore the surprising factors influencing how technical contributions are perceived and valued. Real case studies demonstrate quantifiable improvements in team effectiveness and career advancement.
Unlike traditional "soft skills" training, this engineering-minded approach treats communication as a technical challenge with systematic solutions. It is perfect for engineering teams, technical leaders, and organisations looking to amplify the impact of their technical innovations.
Please RSVP to book your spot. The space is limited, so it's a first come, first serve basis! We look forward to seeing you all again (it's been a few months).
Ben & Vytas - Co-organisers.
