Dr. Nicole Forsgren is considered one of the most prominent and important minds in DevOps and developer productivity. She is a Partner at Microsoft Research, where she leads Developer Experience Lab and investigates productivity and novel applications of AI to improve software engineering. She is author of two best-selling, award-winning books: Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps, which netted a Shingo Publication Award, and The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability & Security in Technology Organizations, now in its second edition. She is best known for her work measuring the technology process and as the lead investigator on the largest DevOps studies to date. She has been an entrepreneur (with an exit to Google), professor, developer, sysadmin, and performance engineer. 

Nicole’s work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals. Nicole earned her PhD in Management Information Systems and Masters in Accounting from the University of Arizona. She lives in the Southwest and recharges her brain with gym time, tacos, and Diet Coke.