Why Docker is excited to co-host the first WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America
When we announced our partnership with WeAreDevelopers, AI agents were still mostly something developers experimented with. Today, they’re becoming part of everyday software development.
That’s why the timing for this year’s WeAreDevelopers World Congress couldn’t be better.
In the months since that announcement, the developer landscape has changed dramatically. If you’re writing software today, your workflow probably looks very different than it did a year ago. You’re prompting AI agents, reviewing AI-generated code, deciding what to accept and what to reject, and thinking about security much earlier in the development process.
Developers are no longer spending all of their time writing code. They’re designing systems that generate code, supervising autonomous agents, deciding what those agents can access, reviewing AI-generated changes, and making sure software is secure before it reaches production.
That shift feels a lot like the rise of data science a little over a decade ago. We didn’t replace programmers. We created an entirely new discipline that blended software engineering, mathematics, and statistics into something bigger.
I think we’re seeing the beginning of a similar transformation. Whether we continue calling ourselves developers, builders, or something entirely new almost doesn’t matter. The role itself is changing.
The best engineers of the next decade won’t simply write software. They’ll orchestrate teams of AI agents, establish the guardrails those agents operate within, and ultimately remain accountable for the systems they create.
That’s the conversation our industry needs to have. It’s also why this year’s WeAreDevelopers World Congress feels so important.
A conference built around developers
From September 23 through 25, thousands of developers will gather at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center for the first ever WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America.
Docker is proud to serve as a presenting partner, but our goal isn’t to make this a Docker event.
Our goal is to help create a place where developers can learn from each other.
That’s why we partnered with WeAreDevelopers in the first place. They’ve spent more than a decade building one of the world’s strongest developer communities by focusing on the people building software, not the companies selling it. As AI reshapes how software gets built, North American developers need more than another vendor conference. They need a place to compare notes, share what’s actually working, challenge assumptions, and learn from peers facing many of the same questions.
The best developer conferences have never been about product launches. They’re about conversations. They’re about seeing how other engineers solve problems, discovering tools you didn’t know existed, and leaving with ideas you can actually use on Monday morning.
That’s what has made WeAreDevelopers so successful around the world, and that’s what we’re excited to help bring to the U.S.
The conversation has changed
Over the last year, nearly every conversation I’ve had with engineering leaders has landed in the same place.
Everyone wants the productivity gains that AI agents promise.
If you’ve spent any time with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or another coding agent, you’ve probably experienced it yourself. You can move faster than ever before. Then you stop and ask a different set of questions.
What is the agent actually doing?
Can it reach internal systems?
What credentials is it using?
Where is my data going?
How much autonomy am I comfortable giving it?
Those questions aren’t theoretical anymore. They’re becoming everyday engineering problems.
At Docker, they’ve shaped much of what we’ve been building.
We’ve introduced Docker Sandboxes so developers can run AI agents safely without changing how they work. We’ve launched Docker AI Governance to give organizations visibility and control over autonomous agents. We’ve continued investing in Docker Hardened Images because supply chain security only becomes more important as AI generates more code.
They’re all pieces of the same philosophy.
You shouldn’t have to choose between moving fast and staying secure.
The tooling should make both possible.
Meet the Docker team
We’ll have Docker engineers and leaders speaking throughout the event, including:
- Mark Cavage, President & COO
- Tushar Jain, EVP of Engineering & Product
- Mark Lechner, CISO
We’ll also have engineers throughout the conference sharing what we’ve learned building for the next generation of software development, from AI-native workflows and developer productivity to security, containers, and the infrastructure that powers modern applications.
If you’ve been experimenting with agents, thinking about governance, or trying to figure out what secure AI development looks like inside your organization, we’d love to continue the conversation.
See you in San Jose
One thing has remained true throughout every shift in our industry.
Developers learn best from other developers.
That’s what makes communities like WeAreDevelopers special. It’s what has always made the Docker community special too.
AI will continue changing how software gets built. The tools will evolve. Our workflows will evolve right along with them.
What’s next won’t be shaped by any one company. It will be shaped by developers sharing ideas, challenging assumptions, experimenting with new ways of working, and building together.
That’s exactly what we hope to see in San Jose.
Whether you’re exploring AI agents for the first time, figuring out how to govern them at scale, or simply curious about where software engineering is headed next, we’d love to continue the conversation.
Come see what Docker is building for the next generation of software development, and join thousands of developers who are helping define what’s next.
Register today. We’ll see you in San Jose.