Keynote speaker, panelist, moderator.
4 conferences, 6 panels, 6 podcasts a year on engineering leadership.

Based in Prague. Top stage so far: Elevate SF main stage, 600+ leaders in the room.

Speaking in English, Czech, and Slovak — across Czechia, Slovakia, and the rest of Europe.

Marian Kamenistak keynoting at mDevCamp, arms outstretched with his name projected on the stage screen.Marian Kamenistak at the Engineering Leaders Community conference 2026.Marian Kamenistak at the Engineering Leaders Community conference 2026.Marian Kamenistak speaking at an engineering leadership event.Marian Kamenistak presenting on selling technical ideas at an ELC engineering leadership meetup.Marian Kamenistak presenting on saving one day a week with AI at an ELC engineering leadership meetup.Marian Kamenistak presenting "Stop hiring unicorns, grow leaders" at an ELC engineering leadership meetup.Marian Kamenistak walking the mDevCamp stage in front of a large pink-lit conference backdrop.Marian Kamenistak keynoting at mDevCamp, his name projected large on the stage screen.Marian Kamenistak walking the mDevCamp stage in front of a pink-lit conference backdrop.Full auditorium audience at an engineering leadership conference where Marian Kamenistak spoke.Marian Kamenistak on stage at the Engineering Leaders Conference under the #ELC26 hashtag backdrop.Marian Kamenistak presenting at the Engineering Leaders Conference, client logo wall projected behind him.

Also open to 1:1 mentoring, Leadership Academy, or fractional CTO for your team.

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Watch me speak

Recordings from stages, panels, and podcasts. Click to play.

Mali podcast díl 6. - Marian Kamenišťák - Budoucnost engineering managementu

Mali podcast díl 6. - Marian Kamenišťák - Budoucnost engineering managementu

Podcast MaLi

In the AI Age being Smart is not enough for Tech Leadership with Marian Kamenistak

In the AI Age being Smart is not enough for Tech Leadership with Marian Kamenistak

Pure Performance

The First 90 Days as a CTO: How to Avoid Common Mistakes with Marian Kamenistak

The First 90 Days as a CTO: How to Avoid Common Mistakes with Marian Kamenistak

CareerCrackers

Aligning Product & Engineering Teams — Marian Kamenistak | The DORA Lab #EP02 Highlight

Aligning Product & Engineering Teams — Marian Kamenistak | The DORA Lab #EP02 Highlight

typo

The EUR 30k/y Mistake: How to Advance Your Software Career Like a Pro

The EUR 30k/y Mistake: How to Advance Your Software Career Like a Pro

CodeCon

Jak na performance reviews s Mariánem Kameništákem

Jak na performance reviews s Mariánem Kameništákem

ProgramHRování

Bruce Wang, Catherine Miller & Marian Kamenistak on Fostering a High-Performance Culture

Bruce Wang, Catherine Miller & Marian Kamenistak on Fostering a High-Performance Culture

Plato HQ

#24 | From Day 1 to 90: How to Set Your New Hires Up for Success

#24 | From Day 1 to 90: How to Set Your New Hires Up for Success

Engineering Leaders Community

Boosting Engineering Efficiency with Data and Empathy | groCTO Podcast #EP 18

Boosting Engineering Efficiency with Data and Empathy | groCTO Podcast #EP 18

typo

Jaká je vaše skutečná hodnota na IT trhu a jak to zjistit?

Jaká je vaše skutečná hodnota na IT trhu a jak to zjistit?

Podcast Fuckupy v IT

Most requested topics I deliver

Talks you can invite me for. Each is 45-60 min keynote by default, workshop-ready on request. Click a card for the full talk page.

Marian Kamenistak presenting "Boost your value on the market" at an ELC engineering leadership meetup.
Most requested

How to Turn from Employee to a Portfolio of Skills Delivering Value.

Funds: your core craft. ETFs: product sense, decisions, network. Crypto: agentic AI skills. AI just repriced the market. Time to rebalance.

For: Senior ICs, Staff+ engineers, Tech Leads
Format: 45-60 min keynote or 90-min workshop
Read the full talk →
Marian Kamenistak presenting "12 steps to boost your value" at an ELC engineering leadership meetup.

12 Steps to Boost Your Market Value

One step a week, from uncertainty to hired or boosted. Distilled from 3,400+ mentoring sessions.

For: Senior ICs, Tech Leads, Engineering Managers
Format: 45-60 min keynote or 90-min workshop
Read the full talk →
Marian Kamenistak presenting the 5 levels of AI adoption at an ELC engineering leadership meetup.

What Does an AI Engineering Manager's 8am Coffee Taste Like Today?

Yesterday your team shipped while you slept. This morning you find out what happened.

For: CTOs, VPs of Engineering, Engineering Managers running AI-augmented teams
Format: 45-60 min keynote or hands-on workshop
Read the full talk →
Marian Kamenistak presenting "Stop hiring unicorns, grow leaders" at an ELC engineering leadership meetup.

Learn or Die: 11 Steps to Create a Strong Learning & Growth Culture

Go beyond Coursera and Udemy. Build the learning system talent joins for.

For: CTOs, VP Engineering, Engineering Managers
Format: 45-60 min keynote or 4-hour workshop
Read the full talk →
Audience at Plato Elevate San Francisco engineering leaders conference.

Inspiration: From Developer to Principal Architect in Silicon Valley to Unicorn Builder

Ex-VPE @ Mews. From corporate to solopreneur to Engineering Leaders Community founder.

For: Engineers considering a career pivot, founders, ambitious ICs
Format: 30-45 min keynote
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Marian Kamenistak pointing at a slide scoring AI-assisted engineering skills — agentic coding, AI code review, MCP integration — against a mid-level developer salary.

90-Day Playbook for Building a High-Performing AI Team

Teams underperform for human reasons, not technical ones. Adding AI does not change that.

For: CTOs, VPs of Engineering, Engineering Managers
Format: 45-60 min keynote or 70-min hands-on workshop
Read the full talk →
Marian Kamenistak leading a workshop in front of a screen reading "Measure your team's productivity" with strategy notes on the whiteboard.

Boosting Your Teams' Productivity? Why DORA Will Not Save Your A**

Contrarian take on team-productivity metrics from someone who's implemented them 30+ times.

For: CTOs, VPs of Engineering, Directors, Heads of Engineering
Format: 45-60 min keynote
Read the full talk →
Marian Kamenistak presenting on the real role of Staff and Principal developers at an ELC engineering leadership meetup.

The Tech Lead Who Never Let Go of the Keyboard

Stay technical while your team gets rewritten under you.

For: Engineering Managers, Directors, Tech Leads moving into management
Format: 45-60 min keynote
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Marian Kamenistak presenting on earning a new team's trust at an ELC engineering leadership meetup.

Is Your Coach Worth the Money?

How to tell the ones who will move your team from the ones who'll just make you feel better.

For: CTOs, Founders, VPs of Engineering considering external help
Format: 45-60 min keynote
Read the full talk →
Marian Kamenistak leading a two-day engineering leadership workshop for a small group of managers, presenting at a screen.

Most 1:1s Are Just Surviving. Let's Change That.

The format is not the problem. The habits around it are.

For: Engineering Managers, Tech Leads, anyone running weekly 1:1s
Format: 70-min hands-on workshop
Read the full talk →

Speaking experience

Selected talks and moderating engagements. The pink ones are the stages people ask about.

  1. What it takes to get promoted as an exceptional engineer

    Barclays Capital — Prague, hybrid240+ developers
    2026
    7 talks

  2. Mastering MVP in a large organization

    Dr Max internal conference — Prague200+

    Deliver 80+% of your roadmap continuously with your teams

    Dr Max — internal120

    Boosting your 1st-level engineering managers

    NN — on-site4-day workshop
    2025
    8 talks

  3. First 100 days as a CTO

    First 100 days of a CTO webinar — remote6,000+

    How I created a scalable system to deliver 80+% of the quarterly roadmap consistently

    Elevate HQ — San Francisco, main stage600+
    2024
    8 talks
  4. 2023
    4 talks

How I help you

Two rooms, same job: someone leaves ready to run a different play on Monday.

Public: your audience, my stage time

  • Conference keynote

    45-60 min on a main stage. Elevate SF (600+), mDevCamp (500+), PlatoHQ × Netflix (3,000+ online).

  • Podcast

    Guest slots in English, Czech, or Slovak. 10+ episodes recorded, several in the video section above.

  • Meetup

    I host 12 a year for the ELC community, 120+ engineering leaders in the room each time.

Send your event, date, audience size, and preferred talk. I come back within 48h with fit + fee.

Book a public talk →

Internal: your people, your room

  • Internal conference

    Dr Max put me in front of 200+ people. Keynote plus a Q&A that gets uncomfortable in the good way.

  • Townhall

    Barclays Capital, 240+ developers, hybrid. The same message lands harder from outside than from management.

  • Workshop

    90 minutes to 4 days. NN booked 4 days for their first-level engineering managers.

Send the shape, the room, and the outcome you want. Same 48h turnaround.

Book an internal event →

Booking FAQ

What does Marian Kamenistak speak about?+

Engineering leadership, nothing else. The 10 bookable talks on this page cover the market value of engineers, AI-era engineering management, learning culture, productivity beyond DORA metrics, and 1:1s that are more than status meetings. Every talk ends with an artifact the room takes home: a calculator, a template, a playbook. If you need a motivational keynote about leadership in general, I am the wrong booking.

What formats does he deliver?+

45-60 min conference keynote by default. Also a 90-min hands-on workshop, a panel seat or panel moderation, a podcast guest slot, or an internal townhall. On stage or remote.

What languages does he speak at events?+

English, Czech, and Slovak. Based in Prague, speaking across Czechia, Slovakia, and the rest of Europe.

Where has he spoken?+

Elevate HQ San Francisco (600+ in the room), Netflix x PlatoHQ webinar (3,000+ online), StartupDisrupt at Prague Castle (250+), Barclays Capital (240 devs), mDevCamp (500+). The full timeline of talks since 2023 is on this page.

How do I book Marian for a conference or podcast?+

One email to marian@marian.coach with the date, the audience, and what your event needs to land. Topic proposals tailored to the room come back within 48 hours, fit and fee included.