James Whittaker

Renowned software architect and technical evangelist, James Whittaker has worked with and made notable contributions to some of the biggest technology companies on the planet. As a previous employee of both Microsoft and Google, Whittaker has excelled himself in technology and now imparts his enthusiasm and know-how to audiences worldwide.

Famed for saying ‘stage presence is my superpower’, James Whittaker knows how to command a room. He is currently developing his manuscript ‘The Art of Stage Presence’ in a bid to aid others in the valuable skill of effective teaching. Taking a side step away from engineering to inspiring others with Microsoft’s endless possibilities, Whittaker has a packed schedule of public speaking engagements at universities, technology conferences, and summits. Most recently, he spoke at the 2019 Contrux software leadership summit.

After graduating from the University of Bellarmine with a degree in Computer Science and Maths, Whittaker became the first graduate of his subject to be employed by the FBI. He worked as a programmer for 1 year until 1988, when he became a freelancer specialising in test automation. Whilst freelancing he did his first project with Microsoft, he later joined Microsoft permanently as a development manager. Whittaker is also well respected as a lecturer. The students he taught at the Florida Institute of Technology between 1996 and 2006, are highly sought after due to their depth of knowledge acquired from Whittaker.

Once established as an engineering genius and gifted teacher, he was employed full time at Microsoft in 2012, initially as a development manager but after a year he transitioned to the role of engineer and technical evangelist. Within this role, Whittaker began combining his abilities in engineering and lecturing to teach and inspire audiences. He has spoken at all major developer conferences in every continent except Antarctica. During this time, at the height of his career, Whittaker published five books focusing on software testing, with two named Jolt award finalists. Whittaker has also won a number of best presentation awards at international conferences.

Whittaker is incredibly experienced in software architecture and engineering, however, what makes him a great speaker is his passion, enthusiasm, and creativity. His aim is to ‘save the world from boredom’ and inspire people to explore the world’s possibilities with his lively discussions. Any audience will be instantly captivated by Whittaker as he talks on technology, working with the world’s biggest companies and never accepting the limits set by others.