Engineering & Ethics: Responsibility by Design
I am very honored to deliver the opening keynote at DevOpsDays Zürich 2026 (in Winterthur, of course) on May 6th, 2026 with my new talk, "Engineering & Ethics: Responsibility by Design".
As engineers, we might build systems that shape millions of lives, but it’s easy to lose sight of their broader impact. How do we balance the pressure to ship fast, or even AI-fast, with our responsibility to society?
That's the topic of this talk, which I think is very relevant at a time where things are evolving really fast in our industry. It's too easy to lose sight of the ethical aspects of what we are doing, as a form of ethical blindness as described in the talk.
Links
Here are links to material that's presented in the talk.
- Therac 25 history by Tom's Hardware.
- ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
- Infomaniak's data center, recovers 100% of its energy to heat buildings.
- CNBC's article on Steve Wozniak - happiness equals smiles minus frowns
- Digital Ethics, EPFL
- Digital Ethics Canvas, EPFL
- Ethics-by-Design Canvas Paper
- Responsible Software course videos, EPFL - available without login
- Responsible Software course exercises, EPFL - available without login
- Cal Newport's books
Video recording
I'll add the video here as soon as it's available!
Slides
Abstract
I'd be very happy to give this talk at other conferences (aussi en français si vous préférez), here's the talk abstract if you're interested:
As engineers, we might build systems that shape millions of lives, but it’s easy to lose sight of their broader impact. How do we balance the pressure to ship fast, or even AI-fast, with our responsibility to society?
This talk draws on 40+ years in software engineering to explore practical approaches to ethical decision-making in technical roles.
I’ll share concrete examples of how individual engineers can make a difference, with empathy and persistence, and discuss when it makes sense to just walk away.
I’ll also discuss strategies for raising concerns effectively, how to advocate for ethics without derailing your career.
There’s no magic recipe for being an ethical engineer, but you can develop your own principles and the courage to act on them. This session will help you start building that practice, whether you’re early in your career or a seasoned veteran reconsidering your path.