Tech Summit 2026: Full Schedule

9:00am CDT

Thursday September 3, 2026 9:00am - 9:45am CDT

Interactive AI, security, and you.

Speakers

Tim Plocinski

“Tim is a Security Engineering Tech Lead II at Enova, architecting defenses in Go and Rust across threat hunting, MCP server governance, and AI security tooling. Currently gearing up to co-present a security keynote on AI risk and reward at Tech Summit 2026. Lifelong Sox fan and... Read More →

Harris Nadeem

Been in love with computers and tech for as long as I can remember. I studied to be a software developer, but my love for hacking and breaking things made me change course into the security world. When I'm not securing stuff, I'm working on cars, going on a hike beyond my physical... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 9:00am - 9:45am CDT
Marquee Combined

Key Note

10:00am CDT

AI. How to Run LLMs

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:00am - 10:30am CDT

Marquee West

Claire will go over the current state of the art open models, inference runtimes for small scale all the way to production, and tooling like API proxies

Speakers

Claire Raud

A lifelong Linux and open source enthusiast, I’ve been a card-carrying member of the Free Software Foundation for nearly 20 years. When I’m not hacking, I can usually be found exploring Chicago’s vibrant restaurant scene.

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:00am - 10:30am CDT
Marquee West

Tech Talk

10:00am CDT

Shifting Left: Using AI skills to create E2E test plans

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:00am - 10:30am CDT

Airmail

This presentation explores building an AI agent that investigates automated test failures, diagnosing root causes and suggesting fixes, while walking through the incremental build process and the wins/pitfalls encountered.

Speakers

Dan Belasich

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:00am - 10:30am CDT
Airmail

Tech Talk

10:00am CDT

The New Consumer of Engineering Context -- How AI Changes the Economics—and Design—of What We Know

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:00am - 10:30am CDT

Marquee East

This presentation argues that AI's impact depends less on model quality and more on organizational context—ownership clarity, decision visibility, and system knowledge. It explains why identical AI tools can produce wildly different results across teams, and makes the case that the real competitive edge in the AI era comes from making an organization's knowledge and systems legible, not from...
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Speakers

Sunny Liu

Sunny Liu joined OnDeck in DC seven years ago and stuck around through the Enova acquisition. Her employer has been considerably more stable than her address: she moved from DC to Dallas during the pandemic and, most recently, to Chicago. Before entering software engineering domain... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:00am - 10:30am CDT
Marquee East

Tech Talk

10:35am CDT

From Jira to Signed Proof: Agentic API Testing with Hatch

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:35am - 11:05am CDT

Airmail

Using claude to produce hatch test plans

Speakers

Mike Bordner

Michael is a Principal Software Engineer on SMB and has been at Enova for over 11 years, which in software years is roughly a geologic era. He works remotely from Cincinnati (by way of The Business Backer), plays upright bass in a bluesy bluegrass band and electric bass in a punk... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:35am - 11:05am CDT
Airmail

Tech Talk

10:35am CDT

Harness Engineering - A Way to Tame AI

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:35am - 11:05am CDT

Marquee West

How to add determinisitc steps to tame AI (available in English and Português)

Speakers

Mathews Kubrinki

I'm an avid gamer, usually playing League of Legends, indie games, board games, card games or whatever games you can think about. Besides gaming, I enjoy watching anime, listening to electronic music, visiting restaurants or cooking whatever comes to mind at home. Un-fun fact: He... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:35am - 11:05am CDT
Marquee West

Tech Talk

10:35am CDT

Why We Dig In: Putting our Shovels Down to Harness the Power of Conflict

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:35am - 11:05am CDT

Marquee East

This talk explores why engineers' natural problem-solving instincts can backfire in disagreements, causing them to defend fixed positions ("dig in") rather than explore ideas together, which turns healthy debate into unproductive conflict. Using familiar scenarios like architecture discussions and code reviews, it offers approaches for "putting the shovel down"—reframing conflict as a tool for...
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Speakers

Christine Schwerdtfeger

Christine is a Tech Lead II on the Payment Services team. She has been at Enova for 11 years and worked on NetCredit, Headway, and Platform teams. Beyond her work at Enova, she also enjoys studying German and being active outside by running, walking, and hiking, preferably up a mountain... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 10:35am - 11:05am CDT
Marquee East

Tech Talk

11:10am CDT

20 Strangers vs. One AI Prototype

Thursday September 3, 2026 11:10am - 11:40am CDT

Airmail

Speakers

Ben Dib

Ben joined Enova in February 2024 and has since designed experiences across all of Enova's brands. These days, he spends most of his time collaborating with our consumer Product and SE teams, never losing sight of the person on the other end of the screen.

Ben Van Heest

Ben Van Heest has been developing frontend code since the days when JavaScript was written in Notepad and FTPed to GeoCities. Still carries a torch for Flash.

Lewis Cafaro

Thursday September 3, 2026 11:10am - 11:40am CDT
Airmail

Tech Talk

11:10am CDT

AI Reliability at Enova

Thursday September 3, 2026 11:10am - 11:40am CDT

Marquee East

Why traditional monitoring isn't enough for LLM-based systems, and what we're doing about it

Thursday September 3, 2026 11:10am - 11:40am CDT
Marquee East

Tech Talk

11:10am CDT

Writing Code to Agentic Engineering

Thursday September 3, 2026 11:10am - 11:40am CDT

Marquee West

Industry Shift: From Writing Code to Agentic Engineering

Speakers

Max Sydorov

Max is a Technology Manager at SMB within Enova, where he has spent the past 8 years building scalable systems and leading technology initiatives. With a software engineering background and a passion for AI, he enjoys turning complex problems into practical solutions and occasionally... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 11:10am - 11:40am CDT
Marquee West

Tech Talk

11:40am CDT

Get your group photos!

Thursday September 3, 2026 11:40am - 12:00pm CDT

Marquee East

Have a Kodak moment.

Thursday September 3, 2026 11:40am - 12:00pm CDT
Marquee East

BREAK

12:00pm CDT

LUNCH

Thursday September 3, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT

Marquee Combined

Nom-Noms

Thursday September 3, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT
Marquee Combined

FOOD

1:00pm CDT

Ice Breaker! (Mix, Mingle, Madness!)

Thursday September 3, 2026 1:00pm - 1:45pm CDT

Marquee Combined

Mix, Mingle, Madness!Meet your fellow enovans in a fun, fast-paced, ice breaker that gets you out of your seat, on to your feet and into new groups through fun matching challenges. You'll swap stories, learn a few fun facts about your new teammates, and put that knowledge to the test in a lively challenge. Complete all three rounds with your group and everyone walks away with a prize and some new...
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Speakers

Jason Steele

Jason somehow got roped into doing the ice breaker.

Thursday September 3, 2026 1:00pm - 1:45pm CDT
Marquee Combined

GAMES

1:45pm CDT

How planning projects helped plan my wedding

Thursday September 3, 2026 1:45pm - 2:00pm CDT

Marquee East

Applying work skills to real-life projects

Speakers

Lindsay Ladewig

Lindsay is a Software Engineer Tech Lead I on the Platform Services team. She works remotely from her home in Elk Grove Village, a suburb of Chicago. Her work from home coworkers include her dog, Moby, and her two cats, Shrimp and Ebi. Outside of work, Lindsay enjoys playing video... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 1:45pm - 2:00pm CDT
Marquee East

Lightning Talk

1:45pm CDT

Now that we have AI, can we do a Ruby upgrade?

Thursday September 3, 2026 1:45pm - 2:00pm CDT

Marquee West

AI and LLMs are rapidly transforming engineering workflows and exposing vulnerabilities in the open-source codebases we rely on. I’ll share my ongoing experiments to streamline Enova's Ruby upgrade process using AI. It will cover where LLMs can be useful, where they fall short, and actionable best practices that all Enova SE teams can apply to their own workflows.

Speakers

Tom Fitzpatrick

Tom is a Software Engineer with 15 years in tech; 7 of them at Enova. Professionally, Tom has an interest in developing agentic workflows to build quality software at a faster pace. Unprofessionally, Tom is an amateur potter, snowboarder, dabbles in game dev, and spends more time... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 1:45pm - 2:00pm CDT
Marquee West

Lightning Talk

1:45pm CDT

Prompt Engineering & Potty Training: A Survival Guide

Thursday September 3, 2026 1:45pm - 2:00pm CDT

Airmail

How talking to AI is surprisingly similar to reasoning with a two-year-old.

Speakers

Prerit Mahajan

Prerit has spent 3.5 years at Enova, where he now leads the SMB SRE team: basically, he's the guy who tells the systems to calm down. Born in Mumbai, raised near Philadelphia and now 14 years deep in Chicago, he still hasn't found a Midwest substitute for Wawa and has quietly accepted... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 1:45pm - 2:00pm CDT
Airmail

Lightning Talk

2:20pm CDT

Outside the Context Window: The Real Price Tag of Everyday AI

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:20pm - 2:35pm CDT

Marquee East

From a developer who has fully embraced it in his day-to-day work. I will be touching on token costs, cognitive debt and technical skill atrophy, and the environmental price tag of AI

Speakers

Sam Ciucci

Sam has worked at Enova for just over a year in the SMB division, first on the Headway team and now on X-men. When he’s not working, you’ll find him running marathons, playing tennis, and competing in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournaments.

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:20pm - 2:35pm CDT
Marquee East

Lightning Talk

2:20pm CDT

Salesforce meets CI/CD: Integrating with Enova's standard pipeline

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:20pm - 2:35pm CDT

Marquee West

Salesforce meets CI/CD: Integrating with Enova's standard pipeline

Speakers

Priya Viswanathan

I specialize in designing scalable Salesforce solutions, managing complex projects from end to end, and aligning technical execution with strategic business goals. I pride myself on my ability to bridge the gap between technical teams and business stakeholders, translating complex... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:20pm - 2:35pm CDT
Marquee West

Lightning Talk

2:20pm CDT

Tame the Beast Within

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:20pm - 2:35pm CDT

Airmail

"Lucid Coding," the practice of using AI not just to write code but to actively probe and problem-solve around AI's own limitations—collaboratively identifying constraints and working with the AI to circumvent or adapt to them.

Speakers

Andrew Kerr

Andrew joined Enova five years ago fresh to the field, barely understanding what a megabyte is. Now he even knows what gigabytes and terabytes are, but today he’ll be sharing some insight from his life before software development.

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:20pm - 2:35pm CDT
Airmail

Lightning Talk

2:35pm CDT

20-minute Break

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:35pm - 2:55pm CDT

Marquee East

Have a Coke and a smile.

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:35pm - 2:55pm CDT
Marquee East

BREAK

2:55pm CDT

Axe: Accessing Accessibility Abilities

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:55pm - 3:35pm CDT

Airmail

Speakers

Joe Nevin

I’ve been an SE on NetCredit for 6 years. Outside of tech, I’m a new Dad to Blair. Outside of tech & parenting, I like Chicago sports, golf, & reading. Check out my latest side project: https://nixonindex.com/... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:55pm - 3:35pm CDT
Airmail

Tech Talk

2:55pm CDT

Project Prioritization - What I Learned From Video Games!

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:55pm - 3:35pm CDT

Marquee East

Every gamer knows the eternal question: grind the side quest for XP, or push the main story? Turns out, that same instinct you use to decide whether to farm loot or fight the boss is basically project prioritization in disguise. In this talk, I'll level up your prioritization skills by raiding real examples from video games — unpacking what actually makes a task 'worth it,' and how to build your...
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Speakers

Jay Ives

Jay plays too many video games.

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:55pm - 3:35pm CDT
Marquee East

Tech Talk

2:55pm CDT

The Multiverse of Risk

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:55pm - 3:35pm CDT

Marquee West

Quantum Computing, AI, and the Multiverse of Risk: We will explore the intersection of Quantum Computing and AI, two powerful emerging technologies that will reshape the future of engineering and cybersecurity. This talk will separate reality from the hype, explain the risks engineers should understand, and highlight practical steps teams may take to choose the safer timeline.

Speakers

Eliza Straughter

Eliza Straughter is an IT Risk Lead here at Enova. Originally from New Orleans, LA but lives and works remotely in Ohio. Eliza earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University and later obtained her Master’s degree in Engineering from Champlain... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 2:55pm - 3:35pm CDT
Marquee West

Tech Talk

3:30pm CDT

AI and Testing at All Levels.

Thursday September 3, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT

Marquee West

AI and Testing at All Levels.

Speakers

Sam Chihak

Sam has been working with quality and test automation for over 12 years and has been with Enova for 4+ years on CNU. He has 4 kids so outside of work his hobby is his family and trying to keep up with his 3 sons who are all learning jui jitsu

Thursday September 3, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
Marquee West

Tech Talk

3:30pm CDT

Create an AI Skill Pipeline for Fun and Profit (to decompose and optimize large sql queries)

Thursday September 3, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT

Marquee East

This talk shows how that fix turned into a 7-skill AI pipeline (complete with orchestrators, adversarial reviews, and cross-session memory) for turning any gnarly SQL query into something your future self won't dread touching.

Speakers

Mark Hilkert

Mark joined Enova mid-2025 after moving back to the Chicago area from San Francisco. He lives in Naperville with his wife, 4-year old son, and two dogs. Recently he's been tinkering around with his homelab and started running local LLMs, but when he's not doing that you'll likely... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
Marquee East

Tech Talk

3:30pm CDT

Six Years, One Rebuild: What Production Incidents Taught Us About Building Better Incident Management

Thursday September 3, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT

Airmail

Enova Incident Manager is something that nobody wants to see used, but so many people rely on to quickly & efficiently respond to incidents. It We will discuss how we got to this state, how we decided to re-build EIM from scratch, and how the rebuild improved our teams efficiency, and your incident experience.

Speakers

Bryant Schultz

Bryant is a SRE on the consumer reliability team. He initially started as one of the first SRE interns at Enova and has now been here over 3 years. Day to day, he focuses on improving system reliability and observability. Outside of work, Bryant enjoys reading, cooking, and achievement... Read More →

Henry Buster

Henry joined Enova just over a year ago as a member of the Resiliency team. At work when he’s not bugging people to help fix things during Production Incidents, Henry spends time bugging people to tell him how things will be improved during retrospectives. Outside of work, you... Read More →

Thursday September 3, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
Airmail

Tech Talk

4:10pm CDT

Closing Remarks

Thursday September 3, 2026 4:10pm - 4:30pm CDT

Marquee Combined

Thanks to everyone!

Speakers

Josue Feliciano

Thursday September 3, 2026 4:10pm - 4:30pm CDT
Marquee Combined

Closing Remarks

4:30pm CDT

HAPPY HOUR!

Thursday September 3, 2026 4:30pm - 6:30pm CDT

Telegram Lounge

Get your drink on!

Thursday September 3, 2026 4:30pm - 6:30pm CDT
Telegram Lounge

CELEBRATION!

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