Top 8 speakers to watch at CloudFest 2024

If you’re attending Cloudfest this year, you might be slightly confused about how to balance networking, visiting the booths and listening to the interesting topics from the speakers. We’re here to simplify your experience by selecting the top 8 most interesting speakers who are definitely worth listening to at this year’s CloudFest:

1. Kevin Ohashi: Can WordPress Save The Hosting Industry?

• When: Monday 1:10 pm – 1:40 pm (CET)
• Where: La Scala, Hotel Colosseo

Kevin Ohashi is the go-to guy if you’re looking to get the lowdown on web hosting. He’s not just talking out of the blue; he’s got the numbers from analyzing 430,000 reviews of web hosting companies! His benchmarks on WordPress hosting are what everyone else compares to, so he’s got insights you won’t find just anywhere. Kevin’s deep dive into what’s hot and what’s not in web hosting can help you make smarter choices for your own business.

2. Jan Löffler: The Influence of AI in Hosting

• When: Tuesday 5:05 pm – 5:25 pm (CET)
• Where: Dome Stage (Dome)

You must check out Jan Löffler’s talk if you want to stay ahead with the latest industry trends. He’s the tech wizard at WebPros, cooking up all the innovation and cloud strategy. Jan is going to break down how AI is changing the game in the web hosting industry market, making the services way smarter, from running smoother to strengthening up security. Plus, you’ll get some killer tips on how to use these changes to your advantage and keep your business on top.

3. Jürgen Schmidhuber: A Conversation with the Father of Modern AI

• When: Tuesday 5:30 pm – 6:00 pm (CET)
• Where: Dome Stage (Dome)

Right after Jan’s debate about AI in the hosting industry, we have a unique opportunity to learn from “the father of AI” Jürgen Schmidhuber. Elon Musk described him: “Schmidhuber invented everything.”, he significantly contributed to the field of deep learning and thanks to his research, we can now observe the AI revolution all around us. He’s sharing his insights on what’s next for AI, including the potential and the perils. This talk is a deep dive into the AI revolution and a look at our place within it

4. Igor Seletskiy: WebHosting Industry in Numbers by CloudLinux

• When: Wednesday 10:40 am – 10:50 am (CET)
• Where: Dome Stage (Dome)

Igor Seletskiy, the founder of Cloudlinux needs no special introduction. He started CloudLinux and turned it into a big name in the hosting game, especially for making servers work better and safer. Based on the numbers CloudLinux collected across its 500,000 installations, he will provide us with unique statistics about hardware, virtualization, software, and security aspects, including web applications your clients run and software hosters use.

5. Jason Haworth: Understanding Web Traffic: The Good, the Bad, and the Costly

• When: Wednesday 12:20 pm – 12:35 pm (CET)
• Where: Arena Stage (Foyer)

Jason Haworth knows a ton about tech, with 20 years of experience working with big companies and on big projects involving IoT, 5G, and Cloud Transformation. In his speech, he’s tackling the tricky world of web traffic, showing that it’s not just about how many people visit your site, but what those visits mean. With BotGuard, he’s rolling out a new way to manage your website’s visitors, making sure you’re protected from the bad while boosting the good.

6. Abhishek Majithia: Hacking Humans Part 1: Social Engineering Live Onstage

• When: Wednesday 2:30 pm – 2:50 pm (CET)
• Where: Dome Stage (Dome)

Imagine being part of a show where a professional mind reader reveals how social engineering works, making you the main attraction! In just four parts, you’ll learn that no one is immune to the tricks of social engineering. It’s not only super fun to watch but also eye-opening, as you discover just how easy it is for someone to figure out what you’re thinking. Plus, there’s more to come with a panel discussion featuring the head of Cyberdivision for the German Federal Police. With Abhishek’s show, you get to see some amazing mind tricks, like thought control and predictions, that will totally blow your mind.

7. Jesse Friedman: Igniting Innovation

• When: Thursday 9:55 am – 10:05 am (CET)
• Where: Dome Stage (Dome)

Jesse Friedman is a big deal in the WordPress world, working on everything from the main platform to plugins and helping the community grow. He’s taught a lot of people about technology and WordPress at big conferences and used to teach at a university. His talk is all about how important new ideas are to WordPress hosting and what Automattic is doing to help hosting companies do better. Listening to Jesse could inspire you to come up with new ideas for the WordPress community after Cloudfest.

Jesse has two other talks and one extra panel for you during the event:

• Monday 4:00 pm – 4:30 pm (CET) at La Scala (Hotel Colosseo): Automattic Business Innovation: Empowering Hosts for Success
• Monday 4:30 pm – 5:00 pm (CET) at La Scala (Hotel Colosseo): Generative WordPress: Evolving with AI (panel)
• Tuesday 12:05 pm – 12:50 pm (CET) at Ballsaal Berlin: Unveiling the Next-Gen of WordPress Cloud Hosting

8. The Sky is Different Here: Internet Icon Nii Quaynor and the African Cloud

• When: Thursday 3:00 pm – 3:45 pm (CET)
• Where: Dome Stage (Dome)

Nii Quaynor is by many considered as “the African Father of the Internet.”, being one of the first to bring computer science knowledge to the continent. He set up the first ISP in West Africa and has been a key player in developing the Internet across the entire continent. In his talk, he’ll dive into how Africa’s digital landscape is booming and what that means for businesses looking to grow there. Listening to Nii is a chance to learn from a pioneer about the exciting opportunities in Africa’s growing digital economy.