Too often, leaders get stuck in the business—caught in tasks, firefighting, and reacting to the urgent over the important. Real transformation happens when you step on the business: shaping vision, strategy, and scalable systems that endure beyond daily crises.

This fireside conversation, Julia Austin and Sunita Verma is designed for startup founders, early leaders in scaling companies, and managers in larger organizations who are ready to grow as leaders. Together, they will explore what it looks like to evolve from being the person who executes to becoming the leader who shapes direction.

This is an interactive audience discussion which is a must for leaders at all levels - yes including Engineering Manager, Director and Senior Director levels. They’ll share how to move beyond execution to become strategic partners: influencing company direction, articulating a vision, and ensuring engineering is seen as a driver of growth and innovation. This session will give you tools to empower your teams to own outcomes, build systems that scale without your constant intervention, and measure success not by how much you personally get done—but by how well the business runs without you in every detail. Whether you are building a startup from the ground up or leading within a larger enterprise, this session will help you step beyond execution and operate as a true strategic partner.