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.

In this fireside conversation, Julia Austin and Sunita Verma will explore what this shift looks like at the 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. 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 help you how 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.