Why Governance Matters: The Key to Reducing Risk Without Slowing Down

When you hear “governance,” you might think of red tape, bureaucracy, or someone telling you what you can’t do. But real governance is about alignment and reducing technical risk. And that matters more than ever.

In most cases, engineers aren’t deliberately making risky decisions—they just don’t have clear expectations. That’s where good governance comes in. It ensures everyone understands what “good” looks like, gives teams the autonomy to move fast while staying on course, and provides built-in mechanisms to self-correct before small missteps become big problems.

In this talk, I’ll break down how to implement governance that actually helps, not hinders, including:

• Understanding what’s in your software estate
• Building guardrails and policies that work - and automating them!
• Aligning technology decisions across teams
• Making smart technology choices - and why “boring” is often best

If you want to reduce risk, improve decision-making, and keep your organization running smoothly—without slowing your teams down—this session is for you.