In-person event

Your First Step Towards The Dark Factory

June 24, 2026
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From Assesment to Architecture. Where Does Your SDLC Stand?

Most teams don't know how far they are from autonomous software delivery.
Not because they haven't thought about it. Because they haven't measured it.

This evening is about changing that. We'll walk through what a Dark Factory actually means in the context of software engineering, how to assess where your SDLC stands today, and what a realistic path forward looks like. Then we cook dinner together.

No keynotes for the sake of it. No sales pitches. A small group of senior technical leaders, an honest look at where the industry actually stands, and a framework you can take back to your team.

Date & Time 📅 Wednesday, June 24 | 17:00 CEST
Location To be revealed soon - it's a surprise now!
Format Inspiration session, followed by cooking workshops and networking

What the evening covers:

The inspiration session runs 60 minutes across three focused parts.

Part 1: How Far Are You from Dark Factory?
You can't improve what you don't measure. We start with the concept of a Dark Factory — a fully autonomous, self-optimizing software delivery operation — as a practical benchmark, not a fantasy. Then we introduce X-Portfolio Manager, our assessment tool for measuring SDLC automation maturity and evaluating whether your current tech stack is ready to support AI use cases. Live demo included.

Part 2: Where the Market Stands Today
Based on Xebia's work across client engagements, we share what SDLC maturity actually looks like in practice. Anonymized case studies. Common gaps. Patterns that repeat across industries. We also cover our standardized AI-Enablement approach: a repeatable methodology for teams that want to move from assessment to action.

Part 3: The Vision — ACE Reference Architecture
Where can this journey go? We close with Xebia's internal ACE Reference Architecture: a holistic, integrated target state for autonomous software delivery. This is meant as inspiration. A picture of what becomes possible when the foundational pieces are in place.

Who should attend:

  • CIO who drives digital transformation and IT modernization

  • CTO / VP of Engineering who owns the technology vision and SDLC strategy

  • Engineering Director / Head of Engineering who is responsible for delivery pipelines and team enablement

  • Lead / Chief Architect who shapes reference architecture and toolchain decisions

  • Software Engineering Department Manager who runs engineering teams day to day

If you're thinking about where AI fits into your engineering organization, and you want a peer-level conversation rather than a vendor presentation, this is the right room.

Agenda

17:00 - 17:15 Guest Arrival, Welcome Drinks and Personal Introductions Around the Room
17:15 - 17:30 Session Part 1: Access - how far are you from Dark Factory? Measuring SDLC automation maturity using X-Portfolio
17:30 - 17:45 Session Part 2: Market - where the market stands today - real examples from client engagements and the AI-Enablement approach
17:45 - 18:00 Session Part 3: Vision - ACE Reference Architecture a holistic, integrated target architecture for the autonomous SDLC
18:00 - 18:18 Q&A - facilitated discussion: what resonated, what are your biggest blockers
18:15 - 21:30 Cooking Workshops & Networking - guided cooking experience. Conversations continue over food preparation and shared dinner
21:30 Departure

Speakers:

Krzysztof_Kakol-2026

Michal-Szymanski-author-photo
Krzysztof Kąkol
Lead Solutions Architect
Xebia
Michał Szymański
Senior Solutions Architect
Xebia

 

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