As we gear up for our fourth major Civo Navigate event, this time in Berlin, I find myself reflecting on the incredible journey we’ve taken over the last few years. We’ve built and grown Civo into a truly unique cloud company and organised a series of eye-opening international conferences. We always knew Navigate was special, but nobody could’ve predicted what a runaway success it would be. With September 10^th just around the corner, I thought I’d share some of the lessons I’ve learned.

In this short time, we’ve seen tech change forever. Businesses of all kinds have felt the meteoric rise of AI, leaving many scrambling to adapt. Our very first Navigate in Florida took place fairly early on in this wave of AI expansion. 18 months later, we’re well into the AI boom, facing a very different landscape. Navigate Berlin reflects these changes. For the first time, the event will feature a dedicated AI Room with a range of talks and seminars on everything from edge computing to machine learning. In-depth sessions will explore how we, as tech companies, can help businesses harness AI while negotiating its challenges. I can’t wait to learn alongside our attendees from some of the most innovative minds in the business.

Organising Navigate has come with other kinds of lessons, too. It goes without saying that it took a huge amount of hard work from our whole team to successfully plan and execute these events alongside a number of complex development projects – but hard work on its own isn’t enough. Whether it’s managing a complex development project, or organising a major international tech conference, it’s ultimately the quality of your teamwork that can make or break successful outcomes.

Thankfully, the Civo team has grown into one of the tightest-knit I’ve ever encountered. Having established well-defined roles that play to our strengths, a culture of clear communication came naturally. This builds trust between team members that allows for adaptable planning. Organising an event like Navigate, as you might expect, comes with a host of unforeseen challenges. Due to our agile methodologies, transparent progress tracking and the level of trust among the team, we’ve been able to meet these challenges head-on. The same approach applies to everything we do at Civo. I’ve found that every Navigate has sharpened our skills and taught us something unexpected about how we can approach development projects.

It’s also important to celebrate successes, both large and small. Recently, our whole team were thrilled to be named winners of the ‘Best Cloud Technology 2024’ by Business Awards UK. It’s vital to always be looking forward, but taking a moment to appreciate how far you’ve come and what you’ve achieved allows you to consider the key factors in those achievements. Recognising shared success also strengthens that all-important team spirit.

Organising the conference has also taught me the value of diversity in thought and expertise. In Berlin, we’ll be hosting CEOs, CTOs, developers, investors and engineers from a range of backgrounds. Leading figures from tech giants converse with startup founders; cloud and Kubernetes specialists share ideas with AI experts and investors; marketing leads share the stage with engineers. When every corner of the tech ecosystem has the opportunity to interact like this, with input from an equally diverse audience, we all start to see things from new perspectives. This is how innovation starts, and Navigate is a perfect environment for these connections to form and ideas to flourish.

Our packed schedule of events this year is carefully designed to showcase and harness this diversity. We have fireside chats and Q&A sessions, offering our wider audience the opportunity to share their thoughts. The Berlin Tech Connectors community panel will spotlight the best and brightest of our host city’s tech talent.  The AI Room will feature sessions from seasoned AI experts like Stuart Harris, but also from speakers like Engin Diri, an experienced developer and solutions architect who describes himself as an ‘AI Beginner’. On top of all this, attendees this year will get the chance to get hands-on in our workshop sessions on machine learning, Kubernetes, cloud monitoring and more!

Last but not least, one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is the importance of community. The response from cloud users, developers, enthusiasts and industry leaders has been astonishing. Navigate has taken us from London to Texas, to Florida, and now Berlin – and everywhere we go, we find new members of the community that drive what we do. I’ve spoken to countless innovators who not only share our vision of a fair, sustainable cloud – but who are working around the clock to realise it.

The overwhelming response to each Civo Navigate event shows that this movement is growing. In the last 18 months, Navigate attendees have heard from industry giants, including Steve Wozniak, Nick Caldwell and Kelsey Hightower. I’ve seen people bat ideas back and forth with some of the figures who inspired them to get their start in the industry. Feeling that electric atmosphere that these exchanges create is among the most rewarding experiences I’ve had, and for me, it’s what Navigate is all about.

For a long time, it’s seemed to many of us that the tech community had fallen by the wayside, with people retreating into their specific areas of expertise. In the last year and a half, I’ve been filled with hope that this trend is reversing. I sometimes wonder why this is. Why are all these hugely talented individuals from such different backgrounds coming together more and more – and why now?

I don’t know the answer, but I can guess. We’ve all always believed that the industry should be better, but now, we’re realising that it really can be better – if we’re willing to fight for it. I can’t wait to welcome Kelsey back to the stage in Berlin, along with Frank Thelen and our incredible range of other speakers, all eager to bring these lessons to life once again.