Yorkshire DevOps #39 - Axiologik - Leeds

Axiologik will host Yorkshire DevOps for our September 2026 event at their Leeds office.

Two talks this month, both circling the same question from different angles: where AI and automation actually earn their place in platform work, and where human judgement still has to sit.
You can find our code of conduct at yorkshiredevops.dev

Don't configure what you already know
Andy Blagnys, Architect at Axiologik
Your organisation already knows almost everything your application config contains. It's just scattered across cloud inventory, application metadata, Vault, platform standards and environment-specific infrastructure, so someone ends up assembling it by hand for every environment from DEV to PROD.
Andy makes the case for stopping that. He walks through the journey from AI reviewing configuration, to AI generating it, to agentic approaches that pull those contexts together, with deterministic automation and human judgement still firmly in the loop.

Five forces for platform teams
Mike Rossiter, Senior Consultant at Enablis
Most engineering metrics were built for delivery teams. Platform and infrastructure teams don't fit the typical SDLC model, and the mistake is assuming every metric layered on top transfers cleanly. Some travel. Some don't.
Mike offers a simple, research-grounded mental model for platform engineers, whether you're trying to improve generally or bring DevOps ways of working into your organisation. He's Leeds-based, holds an MSc in Digital and Tech Leadership from Northumbria, is a DevOps Institute Ambassador, and came to all this after a career teaching and playing guitar.

On the night
17:45 Arrivals and networking
18:25 Welcome and introductions
18:30 Andy Blagnys
19:00 Break
19:10 Mike Rossiter
19:45 Close

Coming up: DevOps & Platform Leaders Summit
20 October 2026, at Accenture in Leeds, five minutes from Leeds City Station. A single-track day for platform, DevOps and engineering leaders, with practitioner-led, vendor-neutral talks on internal developer platforms, delivery models, AI in engineering and running production at scale.
Speakers include Rachael Morgan (Lloyds Banking Group), Sam Cunliffe (Howden Insurance), Kate Gawron (DoiT), Ian Watson (ArisGlobal) and Keith Moyo (NHS), with Andy Shepherd (Microsoft), closing with a recruitment panel on building teams where women thrive. Find more here: https://www.communitystack.io/conferences/devops-platform-leaders

Thank you
Thank you to Axiologik for hosting, and to Ada Meher and Digital Endeavours for their ongoing support of the group. To speak, sponsor or host, please email ethan.sumner@communitystack.io