Sam Jarman
Sam Jarman is a Kiwi engineering manager based in Sydney, Australia, with over 15 years of experience in software development. His background includes development and leadership roles in iOS, frontend, backend across startups, agencies, small businesses, and medtech. Sam currently leads a team of engineers at Cochlear, where he focuses on helping the team work efficiently and grow their skills.
Some developers just seem to fly when things get hectic — when bugs pop up, deadlines tighten, or priorities shift overnight. What’s their secret sauce? In this talk, I’ll share the habits, mindsets, and workflows that help you move fast without cutting corners or sacrificing quality. You’ll learn how to shorten your debug loop, master your IDE, terminal tricks, and build a mental map of your team’s work to avoid reinventing the wheel. We’ll explore why sometimes slowing down to really understand a problem can actually speed you up, and how small automations and smart documentation can multiply your impact. Whether you’re at a scrappy startup or a big company, junior or senior, this session is for anyone who wants to get sharper, stay calm under pressure, and deliver better, faster.
As an engineer, there seems to be a slew of contradicting advice on what to do about duplicate code. Never do it? Do it once then refactor? None of it really makes sense. This talk introduces a few new mindsets for reasoning about duplicate code and what to do about it.
Starting off your software development career, especially if it's your first career, can be tough. There is so much to learn, more than just syntax of code! This talk, aimed at junior, intermediate or even senior developers(!) covers some of the key tricks to a successful career, such as finding a mentor, working in a team, finding direction, supercharging your learning, getting your performance reviewed and much more.