Tech Events in Birmingham

Microsoft Build //localhost is a global series of community led hands on, in person learning events designed to extend Microsoft Build content into local technical communities.

Register for this event here.

https://developer.microsoft.com/reactor/events/27310

Welcome!
We organise friendly informal networking events for people in Tech to share ideas, learn from each other, and have genuinely useful conversations. There’s no PowerPoints or speeches to sit through - it’s all about great conversation and building connections.
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⭐ IMPORTANT: join the Birmingham Tech Network (BTN) at BirminghamTechNetwork.com ⭐

(it's free to join the BTN Discord group, only takes a minute and you can get to know everyone before/after the event, find new clients, new hires, co-founders, investors, people with similar tech interests etc in the group)
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Who are the events for?
People working in tech who want to connect with others in the Birmingham tech community, including:

• Software engineers
• Product managers
• Data / AI professionals
• Startup founders & operators

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You’ll meet people who are:

• Working in software engineering, product, data, AI, or startups
• Building projects, products, or growing their careers in tech

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Why should you join?

• Learn from others working in tech
• Expand your network to help your career
• It could lead to collaborations or new opportunities
• It’s a lot of fun!

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✨ How it works
RSVP on Meetup
Secure your place and join a group of people working in and around tech.
Just arrive at the venue

• Grab a drink, find the group, and settle in
• Ask the bar staff for the "Birmingham Tech Network" table booking
• Expect a friendly, welcoming group and a great atmosphere. The gatherings are generally self hosted with support from the venue.

Have better conversations

• You’ll be surrounded by people interested in tech and building things
• Discussions are naturally more engaging and relevant 🤝

Build connections + opportunities

• Meet people you can stay in touch with
• Learn from others in the space
• Potentially collaborate on projects or opportunities ⚡

About Birmingham Tech Network (BTN)
We're building a private community of awesome Software Engineers, PMs, Designers, Founders, VC investors, etc, in Birmingham. Membership includes access to their platform and events (online & in-person) to help with hiring, investment, finding clients & meeting people with similar interests!
​It only takes a minute to apply to join BTN: BirminghamTechNetwork.com

📍 Location
We host events at relaxed venues in central Birmingham:

• Easy to get to locations
• Pubs or bars with a good atmosphere
• Spaces that are ideal for conversation 🍻

Spots are limited to keep the group high quality.

If you work in tech and want to meet others in your space, you’ll get a lot from this 👋

Ryan Lee will be speaking on Fx in Go, with the full talk details to be announced soon. We may also have another speaker joining the lineup, so keep an eye out for further updates.

Are you a maker? Interested in taking a tour of the space? Come on visit the space see what facilities we have and if membership is right for you.

On 24th June, we’re hosting another evening of product conversations at ProductTank Birmingham — this time with two product leaders sharing lessons from scaling products, organisations, and teams in very different environments.

We’ll be joined by:

SPEAKER
Vladimir Pronin

The Talk: Why App-First Transformations Fail (And What Actually Works)

Talk Description:
Many organisations declare themselves “app-first” as mobile usage grows, yet still treat the app as a side project owned by a small central team.
In this talk, Vladimir Pronin shares lessons learned from leading an app-first transformation inside a large omnichannel organisation, where a single mobile team evolved into a scalable platform supporting 10 product squads delivering to mobile in parallel.
The session explores the organisational and ownership challenges that most often derail app-first initiatives, including siloed teams, unclear accountability, and competing channel priorities.
Rather than focusing on tools or metrics, Vladimir introduces practical mental models around platform ownership, omnichannel collaboration, and decision-making that help mobile scale beyond a single team and become a first-class product across the business.
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SPEAKER
Hamzah Hafesji

The Talk: The AI Adoption Trap: Why Most Product Organisations Aren’t Ready

Talk Description:
Everyone wants to “do AI.”

Executives want AI strategies. Teams are experimenting with copilots, automation, AI-powered features, and faster ways of building products than ever before.

And while some of it is genuinely transformative, many organisations are moving faster than their product foundations can support.
Teams are reacting to hype cycles. Roadmaps are shifting rapidly.

Ownership and governance are often unclear. And product leaders are being asked to turn AI ambition into meaningful business impact without the operating model to support it.

In this talk, Hamzah Hafesji explores why AI adoption is not just a technology challenge, but a product leadership challenge.
Drawing from his experience leading products across SaaS and enterprise environments, Hamzah will share practical lessons on how product teams can embrace AI without losing sight of customer value, strong product thinking, and long-term product health.

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SPEAKER BIOS

Vladimir Pronin
Vladimir is a Principal Product Manager at Holland & Barrett leading app-first transformation and platform strategy across multiple squads. His work spans omnichannel experiences, loyalty, platform evolution, and AI-assisted customer experiences. Before moving into product leadership, he spent over a decade in mobile engineering and leadership roles, giving him deep expertise across mobile platforms, scalability, and delivery.
He is also the co-founder of Nova Ocean and Mindlist, where he builds and scales consumer products hands-on.

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimir-pronin-growth/

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Hamzah Hafesji
Hamzah is Head of Product, People & WFM at OneAdvanced and an experienced product leader with a background spanning SaaS, hospitality, education, HR, agriculture, and non-profit sectors. His experience includes scaling products through strategy, pricing, go-to-market execution, and AI-driven transformation initiatives.
Alongside his product leadership work, Hamzah is also a co-founder, mentor, and active contributor to Birmingham’s product and startup community.

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamzahhafesji/

👥 Agenda

• 6:30 PM - Arrival, Networking & Food
• 7:00 PM - Welcome
• 7:10 PM - Talk - Vladimir Pronin
• 7:50 PM - Break
• 8:00 PM - Talk - Hamzah Hafesji
• 8:35 PM - Q&A
• 8:50 PM - Networking
• 9:30 PM - Event Ends

🍕 Food & Drinks
Thanks to our sponsor AND Digital, we’ll have pizza and drinks available, and we'll be ready to connect!

🤝 Thanks to our Sponsors

AND Digital – A digital delivery partner helping ambitious companies build world-class digital capabilities and close the digital skills gap.

x+why Foundry – A flexible workspace provider combining purpose-driven design with entrepreneurial energy to create impactful workspaces across the UK.

Coinley – An entirely new payment infrastructure, built with blockchain technology, to simplify global crypto transactions, empowering modern businesses with crypto payments.

IntelStream UK – A Birmingham-based content and storytelling company, providing professional photography, videography and PR content for events.

Join us for our next Flutter Birmingham event on 25 June, featuring two exciting talks from Manu Kenchappa Junjanna and Damilare Bakare.
This session will explore the future of mobile development from two important angles: how user interfaces may become more adaptive through GenUI, and how mobile apps can become faster, smarter, and more private through on-device AI.

Talk Title: From Fixed Screens to Intent-Driven Interfaces: UI -> GenUI

Talk Description:
UI/UX designers spend a lot of time understanding users and creating better, more thoughtful interfaces. But there will always be some users whose needs a static UI may not fully cater to, and that’s where GenUI comes into the picture.
Join this talk at Flutter Birmingham to explore how GenUI could shape the future of UI. We’ll discuss how we are slowly moving from fixed screens to intent-driven interfaces, and how Flutter’s reactive approach can help make this possible.

Speaker Bio:
Manu Kenchappa Junjanna is a Flutter Developer at BrightHR, where he works on the BrightSafe and BrightConsult apps used by over 100,000 clients. His experience spans Flutter, Android, clean architecture, mobile performance, CI/CD automation, and native-to-Flutter integration.

He has also contributed to AI-powered and agriculture-focused mobile products, including Pezego, a Flutter application supporting maize farmers in Ghana, and has worked on mobile SDKs used across banking applications at scale. Manu is especially interested in building thoughtful mobile experiences that combine strong engineering foundations with practical user value.

Speaker: Damilare Bakare

Talk Title: Edge AI on Mobile: Building Faster, Smarter, and More Private AI Apps

Talk Description:
AI features are becoming a major part of modern mobile experiences, but sending everything to the cloud is not always the best option. In this talk, Damilare will explore how mobile apps can run AI features directly on-device, improving speed, privacy, and user experience.
The session will cover practical lessons from building AI-powered mobile experiences, including what works well, common challenges, and why edge AI is becoming increasingly important for mobile developers.

Speaker Bio:
Damilare Bakare is a Senior Software Engineer with an MSc in Advanced Computer Science from the University of Hull. He works at MosaiQ Labs, building scalable web and mobile products used in real-world workflows. His work focuses on engineering fundamentals that make products dependable, clean system design, performance, reliability, and a thoughtful developer experience. He’s especially interested in practical AI: turning emerging capabilities into useful, user-friendly experiences that are safe, measurable, and maintainable. He enjoys sharing what he learns through talks and community knowledge-sharing, helping other engineers move from prototypes to production with confidence.

Explore the positive impact women are making across the tech sector, and how organisations can build on this momentum.

Join us for an interactive & engaging session hosted by Mills & Reeve in partnership with the Reed Women in Technology Community.

While conversations around women in tech can often focus on barriers, this session takes a more optimistic and practical perspective. We will spotlight the value women bring to organisations, the role they play in shaping technology that works in practice, and the benefits businesses are already seeing from more inclusive approaches.

12:00–12:30 – Lunch and networking

12:30–13:15 – Panel discussion

• Rebecca Michael, Commercial Lawyer – Mills & Reeve
• Charlotte Mullan, Director – Broking & Placement Technology, Gallagher Re
• Vikki Symanski, Business Design Lead – The Pensions Regulator

Our panel will share:

• Practical insight into what is working well today
• Real examples of how inclusive teams are delivering better outcomes
• Ideas on how organisations can continue building on current progress

13:15–13:20 – Coffee break

13:20–14:00 – Breakout session: Persona Stress Testing

• Kat Storey, Senior Product Manager – Experian

A unique, interactive and most importantly fun session. Attendees will work in groups to complete a task while immersed in an alternate persona. There will be props!

This will give attendees a chance to explore how inclusive thinking can be applied in practice when designing products and services.

14:00 – Event finishes

With the room available afterwards to continue conversations

Who should attend

This event is open to anyone with an interest in the tech sector, including:

• Those working directly in technology
• Professionals supporting tech-led businesses
• Anyone interested in how inclusive decision-making supports better outcomes

We welcome women, allies and advocates from across the industry.

If you have any dietary requirements or require adjustments to take part, please complete our requirements form upon registration.

Please note that this event is being hosted jointly by Mills & Reeve and Reed. When you register for the event your details will be processed by both organisations, and you may receive relevant news, updates and invitations from both Mills & Reeve and Reed after the event. You will be given the option to unsubscribe from emails at any time.

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The Reed Women in Technology Community is a 4,100 person network established in 2019 to help close the gender gap in the Technology industry. We do this by:

Supporting women in technology and transformation to achieve their goals and ambitions. Through:

-Access to mentoring (Over the last 7 years we have created over 1,850 mentoring relationships)

-Access to personal & professional development opportunities (weekly webinars, workshops. coaching sessions)

-Access to networking opportunities (In person and virtual)

Bringing more women in to the industry. By:

-Increasing visibility of female role models

-Demystifying tech roles

-Providing the above support to people trying to enter the industry (transitioners, returners, early careers)

-Creating better pathways in to technology careers

Take a Note of UI in .NET 10

Take a Note of UI in .NET 10 is your ambitious whistle-stop tour through the A to almost Z of first-party Microsoft application user interface technologies that are supported in .NET 10 with C# including ASP.NET Web API, Blazor, Console, .NET MAUI, Windows Forms, Windows Presentation Foundation, WinUI with Windows App SDK and more!

See what's possible in .NET 10 with C# using the latest Visual Studio 2026 and how GitHub Copilot helped accelerate the process of creating an epic notes app demo. Get a showcase of first-party Microsoft application user interface technologies possible in Windows 11 along with those that are cross-platform with Take a Note of UI in .NET 10!

Agenda:
18:30 Arrive, Network and Food.
18:45 Introductions and catch-up.
19:00 Talk
20:30 Close and head off to pub (The Good Intent?) for some more talking.