Papanii Okai
Executive Vice President, Engineering
Rocket
Engineering Track
Engineering at AfroTech Conference 2026
Systems, Infrastructure and AI at Scale
The Engineering Track at AfroTech Conference 2026 is for the software engineers, architects, and infrastructure leaders driving real-world technology deployment.
Sessions cover AI product development, evaluation, data integrity, cloud and edge infrastructure, and performance at scale, led by engineers from teams like Meta, Rocket and Salesforce who keep massive systems running smoothly under pressure. Join us in Houston, November 2 to 6, 2026.
What You'll Explore
Every session here deals with software that has to hold up outside a demo. Teams deliver battle-tested insights on how AI products reach production, when evaluation matters more than model choice, how privacy and cost shape architecture, and what changes when AI becomes a requirement across the stack.
Featured Sessions
View All Sessions →- Engineering TrackWhat's Next After LLMs? Building AI Products at ScaleCovers production tradeoffs inside Meta AI.
- Engineering TrackThe Engineering EdgeDeep dives into edge compute, GPU caching, and the infrastructure powering AI-driven content at a global scale.
- Engineering TrackThe Invisible Infrastructure Is Writing Itself
- Engineering TrackThe Practical Technologist's Tech Stack Presented by Capital One
Featured Speakers
All Speakers →.jpeg)
Daphne Charles
Senior Software Engineer
Salesforce
Julia Weber
Space Manufacturing Engineer
Planet Labs
Aaron Russell
Director, Network Infrastructure
Meta
Why This Matters Now
AI is putting new pressure on compute, data architecture and the teams responsible for both. Infrastructure choices now decide product cost, privacy, reliability and how far a product can scale.
The engineers making those calls are some of the most useful people in the building to learn from.
Dig Into the Technical Program
Find Engineering sessions by day, time and speaker on the 2026 schedule.
View Engineering Sessions →FAQ
The Engineering Track focuses on software architecture, AI infrastructure, cloud systems, data integrity, evaluation frameworks, edge computing and the technical challenges involved in bringing products into production.
Build your schedule
for AFROTECH
Download the App
Make connections, build your community, and attend events in your city.
