What started as a random conversation with my sister turned into a great experience. The question was simple: “Do you want to go to Black Tech Fest with me this year?” For me, it was a no-brainer. I got straight to work—buying tickets, planning the journey, and mapping out which talks I wanted to attend. Black Tech Fest was an event I’d been wanting to experience for years but had somehow kept missing. This time, I wasn’t going to let that happen.

Event ticket? ✅. Train tickets? ✅. Snacks? ✅. Itinerary? ✅. Game time! What stood out most was the diversity of experience in the room—new grads, bootcamp graduates, career pivoters, hiring managers, founders, and people just getting started in the industry. Seeing the vast representation of different backgrounds, cultures, and ages all taking in the experience was an amazing way to kick off the event.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to some of the earlier talks I was interested in. However, I was still able to gain useful insights that will come in handy on my journey through tech. A few sessions that stuck with me were:

‣ "A Recruiter's Lens on Career Progression"

Led by Arsema Fessehazion, Ben Vanlint, and Dominic Smith, gave a crisp breakdown of how recruiters evaluate candidates beyond a simple checklist. They shared many practical actions that people like myself can take, such as: how to frame impact in a CV so it reads like decisions made and problems solved rather than a task list; which signals actually matter to recruiters during initial screens and how to make those visible in a short message; and the importance of building meaningful connections with people along your journey, from recruiters to team members. Those tips felt like immediate levers I could pull when refining my portfolio and outreach.

‣ "A Revolution or a Riff on an Old Tune"

Led by Shantelle Awomoyi, Amber Shand, Khalifa Idris, and Toyib Ahmed, challenged assumptions about how teams express culture through code and rituals. What struck me most was how differently “vibe coding” is perceived from person to person, each with their own definition. I’d always thought of vibe coding as heavily AI-driven development—reliant on prompts without necessarily understanding how the code works or whether it’s scalable and secure. But after this talk, my perspective has definitely shifted. Amber Shand and Toyib Ahmed’s views particularly resonated with me, especially the idea that vibe coding has always existed in tech. Whether it’s being in the zone—completely focused and locked in when coding—or building projects before AI was so popular, relying on spaces like Stack Overflow for solutions you may not fully grasp but know work and can be implemented. For myself, I now see my prototype and proof-of-concept projects as vibe coding: using as many resources as possible to show that an idea has legs. Once it’s proven, that’s the perfect time to gain a deeper, clearer understanding of the code, what I’m trying to achieve, and how I plan to do it. It’s something developers should embrace, but also be clear on what it means to them.

All in all, I’m excited to see how my career grows and develops in the future. I’ll be keeping my ears open for BTF 2026—this time with more experience, bigger growth, and new ideas under my belt.