On 30 September, more than 150 of the North’s most senior technology leaders will gather at voco Manchester for a different kind of industry summit.
The CTO Debrief, hosted by Prolific North, has been built exclusively for in-house CTOs, CIOs, and VPs of Engineering who want to step away from the daily noise and focus on what often gets overlooked: the human side of the stack.
Moving beyond the technical fluff
In 2026, senior tech leaders are navigating an unprecedented mix of pressures. Between accelerating AI integration, shifting board expectations, managing remote engineering cultures, and keeping technical debt in check, the role of a CTO has evolved far beyond code and infrastructure. It’s now as much about human resilience, culture, and high-stakes leadership as it is about technology.
Yet, most tech conferences still focus strictly on vendor pitches, platform demos, or high-level buzzwords.
The CTO Debrief was designed to flip that model on its head. There are no product pitches and no vendor speed-dating. Instead, the entire day is structured around the real-world challenges of leading high-performing technical teams.
What to expect: From boardroom strategy to unwinding with an evening of comedy
Held in an invite-only environment, the agenda balances practical takeaway strategy with genuine peer connection:
- Plenary Panel & Plenary Session: Deep-diving into boardroom alignment, modern governance, and navigating change.
- Pragmatic Leadership Workshops: Interactive sessions focused on system adaptability, cognitive capacity under pressure, and preventing burnout across engineering teams.
- Peer-to-peer Roundtables: Small-group, peer-led discussions tackling the burning questions keeping Northern tech leaders up at night.
- Low-Stress Networking: We’re dropping the awkward icebreakers. Color-coded networking and sector-mapped tables make finding your exact peers effortless.
- Live Evening Comedy: Ending the day by unwinding together with live stand-up from Edinburgh Fringe alumnus Tom Short and host Ross Preston, alongside post-event drinks sponsored by Elevate.
Whether you are steering technical strategy for a high-growth scale-up or managing multi-million-pound engineering budgets within an established enterprise, every person in the room is attending as a peer facing similar operational hurdles.
With attendance strictly capped to preserve the quality of discussion, places are being allocated on a vetted, invite-only basis for in-house leaders.
Want to join?
Interested in sponsoring the event? More information here
If you hold a senior technology budget and manage technical strategy within a tech business, you can request your invitation below.
